NaNoWriMo Update

Hello! I can't believe November's almost over. I think it went by so quickly because it's been such a busy month.

I won on the 21st, the earliest I've ever completed NaNoWriMo!

However, despite how quickly I was able to write, I'm not completely happy with how the quality of the story turned out. After I won, I decided tot rewrite the entire last third of the story to make it much longer and more exciting. This has required a lot of thinking through the story on my part. I need to make the stakes higher and the goal more satisfying to reach for my characters, and this is more difficult than I expected.

However, doing this has allowed me to learn a lot about writing. I'm used to being really content with stories as I write them, especially toward the end when it all comes together. This year's novel just fell flat. Actually needing to reason through the ending instead of just having it come to me is a new experience, but also a rewarding one.

I always thought of editing as a kind of escape from NaNowrimo -- I can finally delete the bad bits and edit without worrying about changing the word count. This year, however, I realize that NaNoWriMo is an escape of its own: a creative escape, not the structural escape editing provides. During NaNo, I can write with abandon. I can decide that the heroine's mother has the answer, so she must journey home to get assistance. I can kill of characters I would never have dreamed of killing before. Because I only worry about accruing words, I don't need to stress over keeping readers engaged right now. And when the time comes to edit it all down, I will have thought of more plot possibilities than I would have otherwise, each with the potential to lead to a satisfying ending.

This doesn't mean that I've written a ton yet. As you can see from the graph, I've taken a slight break over Thanksgiving weekend. But I've already gotten started on rewriting that last third and it's starting to look more promising. I plan on writing well into December, too.


As for my word count incentives, I've rewarded myself with all of them except for the final one, which is Christmas shopping. I had a bag of popcorn at 25,000 and watched Dreamworks' The Prince of Egypt with my sister at 40,000. I'm also considering buying another album off iTunes to reward myself for the final win. I plan on starting the Christmas shopping this week.
Here are some other things that have happened to me:

• I found a note in a school notebook from October reminding me to "pour a year's worth of inspiration into November." I was really struggling at this point, so it was a great reminder to just let my imagination run wild.
• I went on a four-day trip for Thanksgiving with a four hour long car trip each way. I wrote very little on these drives, opting to do homework instead, because I was kind of sick of writing at this point.
• I completely revised the plot twist toward the end of my novel, replacing it with something more complicated and satisfying. I'm really proud of that part, even though the sections after that disappointed me.
• I listened to a lot of Haydn and Red Velvet. New music helped me reach the finish line, because I always want to write when I'm listening to music I really like. 

How has your November gone so far? Have you won yet? Did your plans for your novel change drastically like mine did? Good luck in your writing!

NaNoWriMo So Far

Hello! Happy November 8th. We've been through a whole week of NaNoWriMo already! Can you believe it? I sure can't. I wanted to give an update on how my month is going so far.

I just returned from a 4-day-long trip, and it surprised me just how many words I was able to write. It turns out that the NaNo site stayed on my home time zone, but this didn't affect my ability to reach my daily goal at all. I also loved the extra hour we got over the weekend!

I wrote about 3,000 words on the plane ride there and a little less on the way back, but everyday I had time set aside when I could get some writing done. By the time I got home, I was 5,000 words ahead of that day's goal!

Here's a photo I took in my hotel room:

And this was my view from the airplane:

And here are my stats right now!

I'm currently at 17,000 words, but I plan on writing the standard 1,667 words today anyway.

I've also decided on some word count incentives/rewards. I've listed them on the November "tasks" page of my bullet journal, and I'll cross each off as I accomplish it. Here they are:

• 10,000 words: buy an album from iTunes
• 25,000 words: eat a bag of popcorn
• 40,000 words: watch a movie on Netflix
• 50,000 words: start holiday shopping

I've reached 10,000 words, so I bought the new Twice album:

Because very few of Twice's songs are on Spotify, it was a special treat to buy the album on iTunes, which is something I don't do often. I really like all the songs on it, and they're great to listen to while I'm noveling! I've never set word count rewards for myself before, but I plan on doing it from now on. It's the greatest feeling to see my word count reach the goal number and to finally be able to treat myself to something. I'd highly recommend it.

My story itself is going well. I'm still very invested in it and am coming up with new ideas every day. I've been unable to get excited about writing for around two years now, but I think I'm finally breaking out of that lack of inspiration. Resting periods are so important for creativity, and it's great that all that time is paying off now!

Last but not least, I signed up for the care package swap on the forums, and my package from my partner arrived over the weekend. This is kind of a messy photo, but look at how cute it is! I got tea and chocolates from my partner.

I know that week two can be hard. We're entering the section of the month when the excitement has died down a bit and it's time to focus on getting those words out. Did anyone participate in Double-Up donation day? I would have, but I already donated during the Great NaNo Road Trip, which was a lot of fun! Double-up Day looked like fun too.

Happy writing!

Traveling During NaNoWriMo

As much as we may want it to, everyday life doesn't stop in November when NaNoWriMo comes. For those of us in the U.S., Thanksgiving comes in November, and this could mean we have to travel. During each of the four years I've done NaNoWriMo, I've vacationed with my family for Thanksgiving. I'm doing the same this year, as well as a trip to New York City right at the start of the month, so I will have had lots of practice with traveling during NaNoWriMo. Here are some tips that I've found useful so far:

Make Use of Travel Time

I was surprised by this at first, but parts of traveling during November can make it a helpful thing instead of a setback. One of these parts is the time spent getting there. If you're a passenger in a car, airplane, train, or boat, these can be the best places to get some writing done. I will be taking two six hour plane rides and a three-hour-long car trip this year, which means that I'll be sitting for a lot of time. Here are some ways to prepare for such an opportunity:

• Make sure your seating arrangement is good for writing. For me, this means sitting away from my family on the plane (they're very understanding about this) and sitting in either an aisle seat or a window seat. If I'm in a car, I like to sit next to the window and lean up against it as I write.
• Have your music on hand. I use Spotify, so I'll need to "download" my playlists for offline listening before I get on the plane. You may prefer to use iTunes or another service, but make sure you can still listen if you won't have internet access.
•  Have a plan to give yourself more privacy. This may just be a personal preference, but I have a hard time writing if I feel like someone's peering over my shoulder. Even if my screen could possibly be watched by someone in the car or airplane, I feel self conscious. I have two strategies to feel more like I'm in not in a public space: I angle myself so that my back's to a wall, or I drag my word document to the bottom of the screen. The former means that only the wall and I can see what I'm typing, and the latter works because nobody's going to see the bottom of your screen from just a glance. And if I keep just a line of text visible, I'm more likely to forget about word count and write the story line by line. It's a win-win!

Take Advantage of your Hotel's Business Center

I use business centers every so often when I need to do homework on a trip. The same can be said for NaNoWriMo writing. As I'm going to be sharing a hotel room with my family this month, having a separate space to write in is going to be especially helpful. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Look at the hotel's website before you go, and make sure it has a business center or seating in the lobby.
• If you have homework or another kind of work, it helps to treat writing as a part of that. Just tell your friends and family that you need time and space for homework, and then add some writing into that time. But more on that in a moment...

Write Before Homework

I know what you're thinking. Shouldn't homework be a priority? What if you have a never-ending to-do list that just cannot wait?

That to-do list is exactly why you should put it off to write first, at least if you study the same way I do. I like to spread out my homework when I do it, which means that I do a little bit of each subject every day of a weekend or break. However, this means that I'm never done with homework; I don't leave time for a Sunday off, but I don't take Fridays off either. What does this have to do with NaNo? Well, it means that I will never have long chunks of time for non-homework activities because I always have some kind of studying to do. So the best course of action for me is to write before I even think about homework, and that way I make sure I have that writing time.

Connecting this back to travel: writing first also ensures that you have the whole trip there to write! A concentrated block of writing time works wonders, and your homework will be waiting for you when you reach your destination or get home.

Use a Hotspot for Internet

When I figured this out, it was a life changer. Because my Thanksgiving vacation spot has terrible internet reception, using a hotspot on my phone is extremely helpful when I want to log my word count into the NaNo website. If you have an iPhone, just go to Settings>Personal Hotspot>On. Then connect to the hotspot on your laptop using the given password, and viola, you can use the internet anywhere your phone gets service! Alternatively, you can go to a coffee shop, library, hotel or restaurant with wifi and use that.

Some More Quick tips:

• It's really important to mind the time difference! See if the NaNoWriMo website still separates days based on your home time zone, and if it's important to you, make sure your daily goal is reached within those hours.
• Keep a bullet journal! I will likely have a post on this later, but I'd recommend keeping the journal even when you're on holiday. It will keep you on task and aware of the date.
• Turn your phone on airplane mode and hide Spotify's friend feed. Though a trip may require you to connect and interact with people more than usual, you can cut back on online interferences by disconnecting. (The Spotify tip is crucial for me; I always get caught up in watching what my friends are listening to, and it makes me want to listen alongside them as a social activity. But if I hide the feed, I can focus on my writing while still listening to music.)
• This is likely obvious, but try to write a little extra on the days you aren't away. This will give you more freedom to write a little less on the trip.
• Don't forget to bring a laptop charger!

Lastly, remember to have fun on your trip. While NaNoWriMo only happens once a year, vacation time is also special. I will try to be present with my family and not stress over word counts, and I hope you will be able to, too!

How I Prepare for NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) starts next month! 2017 will be my fifth yeart of doing the event. There are so many great tips out there for how to prepare for a month of writing, but I'd like to share a few of my own. Hopefully you'll find at least one of these new and helpful!

Watch and Read Everything You Want to in October

This may seem simple, but for me it's an important step that frees up so much time once November rolls around! I like to make a list of all the Netflix shows and movies I still want to watch, as well as the books I've bought that I've been meaning to read. Then, I will try to watch and read these things in October so I'm not itching to do so when I should be writing. Even if I don't get around to all of them, at least I know what to look forward to once November's over.

Create a Pinterest Board for Inspiration

The great thing about Pinterest boards is that they don't even have to be public. What I do before November is create a new secret board where I can pin anything that inspires me, so I can refer back to it every time I get stuck throughout the month.

What kinds of things you'll put on the board will probably differ depending on what you're writing! I like to pin lots of Youtube videos -- of songs that go with my novel, or clips of films I'm drawing inspiration from, etc. I might also pin quotes from books I've read that make me want to write. Even reminding myself of books I've read in the past can open up a new train of thought that gets me out of an unproductive period. Lastly, I'll search Pinterest and the internet for any images related to my story. I'm writing fantasy this year, so I've got lots of images of pretty dresses and palace interiors!

Create a List of Ideas/Consult Tropes

Some time before November, I'll open a new Word document and start adding ideas to it whenever they come to me. These can be as simple as "takes place during the holidays" or as complicated as an entire plot outline. Most of them fall somewhere in the middle, such as premises, possible character struggles, or character dynamics that interest me.

Also, you'll probably hear this a lot from me, but I'm kind of obsessed with Tvtropes as a resource for complicating a plot. Open the link, search for your favorite piece of media, and see what tropes it uses! You just might find something you want to include in your own story. Here are links to some of my favorite tropes:

1. Chekhov's Gun (or skill or gunman)
2. Not Brainwashed
3. Mobile-Suit Human
4. Once More, with Clarity!
5. Becoming the Mask
6. Meaningful Echo (or Ironic)
7. Tomato Surprise (or Tomato in the Mirror)
8. The Unchosen One

Start an Outline

This isn't mandatory, of course (many NaNo novelists are "pantsers"), but for me writing is always easier if I have even a loose plan. Maybe you want to figure out character names and leave it at that. Or you might have every single scene planned. It's up to you!

What works best for me is to start at the beginning and plot out the general movements of characters from there. If I know what happens in the middle, I might skip to this section and come back to the beginning later. What generally happens is that I fill in a lot of the beginning and leave much of the middle and end to be planned. This way, I feel confident starting out the month with a thoroughly planned beginning. This also lets me come up with ideas for the middle as I start writing, and big plot twists can come from a sentence I write on a whim.

Take Advantage of the NaNo Forums

I'm sure you've been there already if you've done NaNoWriMo before, but if not, here's the link.

The forums are certainly not only for November! I find them especially helpful during October, right after the forums wipe and while everyone is gearing up. They're pretty self-explanatory, but here are some threads on the 2017 forums you might find helpful:

1. Post a Synopsis, Get a Playlist
2. Worldbuilding Respond, Answer, Ask
3. Adopt a Title
4. NaNo Dares
5. Care Package Swap

There will certainly be more to explore as the forums start filling up, too!

Before I Go, Some More Helpful Links:

1. Writing Prompts Tumblr
2. Random Word Generator
3. Seventh Sanctum
4. Fake Word Generator
5. NaNo Prep: How to Make a Timeline

I will post again soon, but in the meantime let's all NaNo prep! November's going to be fantastic.