Oh, by the way. While I was hiding under a rock, pretending NaNoWriMo didn't exist, this happened:
When Ends Don't Meet
Yes. That would be a review of my novel in the New York Times Book Review.
I haven't been this happily hyper since my sister Heather and I went on weekend-long Pixy Stix binge in the late nineties. Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. There should be a maximum amount of Pixy Stix two teenage girls are allowed to buy without parental consent.
Today's challenge: Work Pixy Stix into your NaNo wordcount for the day.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Today's Bad NaNoWriMo Advice: Do As I Say, Not As I Do
I'm embarrassed to even show my face.
Remember the last time I blogged my "daily" NaNoWriMo advice? What was that, over a week ago now?
As Clementine would say, "Or ten days. Okay, fine."
Yeah. That's the last time I wrote on my NaNo novel, too.
There was a train, see. And a city. And a sister I haven't seen in a year. And when it was all said and done, there were 11,000 very bad, very boring words of a novel I hoped never to be forced to read, let alone write.
The thing is, when I was writing every day, I could force myself to keep going. And if I had kept going, I probably would have ended up someplace okay. Then I could have revised okay into decent, and decent into all right, and all right into good, and good into great, and great into fabulous, and I would have had a finished novel.
But I stopped.
And when you stop while the novel is still awful, you won't start again.
So don't stop. Don't be like me. Don't do what I did and go from 11,000 words to ... 87.
As for me? The month isn't even half over and I'm not done yet.
See you tomorrow. I mean it!
Remember the last time I blogged my "daily" NaNoWriMo advice? What was that, over a week ago now?
As Clementine would say, "Or ten days. Okay, fine."
Yeah. That's the last time I wrote on my NaNo novel, too.
There was a train, see. And a city. And a sister I haven't seen in a year. And when it was all said and done, there were 11,000 very bad, very boring words of a novel I hoped never to be forced to read, let alone write.
The thing is, when I was writing every day, I could force myself to keep going. And if I had kept going, I probably would have ended up someplace okay. Then I could have revised okay into decent, and decent into all right, and all right into good, and good into great, and great into fabulous, and I would have had a finished novel.
But I stopped.
And when you stop while the novel is still awful, you won't start again.
So don't stop. Don't be like me. Don't do what I did and go from 11,000 words to ... 87.
As for me? The month isn't even half over and I'm not done yet.
See you tomorrow. I mean it!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Today's Bad NaNoWriMo advice: Coffee!
It's no coincidence that Starbucks releases their winter specialties November 1. They do it on purpose. They know we're NaNoing and they want to provide us with caffeine and comfort in one fell swoop.
It's known as the Peppermint Mocha, and I could write at least a thousand words about it, and most of them would be "love."
Of course if Starbucks isn't your thing, you can always make a cup of tea, or break out the french press, or fire up the coffee pot, or do the Dew. Whatever it takes to sufficiently caffeinate yoruself for the insane and sleepless charge to 50,000.
Because sleep is overrated. Just like spelling, syntax, and all the other things we will be foregoing during the month of November.
How's everybody holding up?
It's known as the Peppermint Mocha, and I could write at least a thousand words about it, and most of them would be "love."
Of course if Starbucks isn't your thing, you can always make a cup of tea, or break out the french press, or fire up the coffee pot, or do the Dew. Whatever it takes to sufficiently caffeinate yoruself for the insane and sleepless charge to 50,000.
Because sleep is overrated. Just like spelling, syntax, and all the other things we will be foregoing during the month of November.
How's everybody holding up?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Today's Bad NaNoWriMo Advice: Forums!
This is the worst advice EVER if your goal is to stay on task and increase your word count.
If you're looking for a study-breaker, a good laugh, or a reason to feel better about your own mistakes, though, this is a must.
On the NaNoWriMo forums, there is a magical place. A magical place reserved for all the typos, all the mixed metaphors and nonsensical thoughts that occur when you write a great volume of words at high speed.
This magical land of wonder can be found here, in the NaNoisms thread.
But first, a touch of good advice: put put down the coffee. I wouldn't want you to ruin your keyboard.
If you're looking for a study-breaker, a good laugh, or a reason to feel better about your own mistakes, though, this is a must.
On the NaNoWriMo forums, there is a magical place. A magical place reserved for all the typos, all the mixed metaphors and nonsensical thoughts that occur when you write a great volume of words at high speed.
This magical land of wonder can be found here, in the NaNoisms thread.
But first, a touch of good advice: put put down the coffee. I wouldn't want you to ruin your keyboard.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Today's Bad NaNoWriMo Advice: Do Not Backspace!
To paraphrase Yoda, Type or type not. There is no backspace.
The backspace key is addictive. Once you start backspacing, you can't stop. You'll have to fix all of it. The typos. The dangling participles. The disappearing, reappearing, re-disappearing characters. The settings that magically change from the beginning of the sentence to the end of the sentence. The nauseatingly flowery descriptions. The forbidden adverbs. The bad dialogue. The messed-up line spacing. The plain old bad writing.
Do. Not. Backspace. No matter what. To paraphrase Monty Python, the backspace key is no more. It is an ex-backspace key. At least until December first, at which point you'll have 50,000 misspelled, ill-used adverbs of completed first draft to revise.
In other words, don't backspace until after you've written a novel.
The backspace key is addictive. Once you start backspacing, you can't stop. You'll have to fix all of it. The typos. The dangling participles. The disappearing, reappearing, re-disappearing characters. The settings that magically change from the beginning of the sentence to the end of the sentence. The nauseatingly flowery descriptions. The forbidden adverbs. The bad dialogue. The messed-up line spacing. The plain old bad writing.
Do. Not. Backspace. No matter what. To paraphrase Monty Python, the backspace key is no more. It is an ex-backspace key. At least until December first, at which point you'll have 50,000 misspelled, ill-used adverbs of completed first draft to revise.
In other words, don't backspace until after you've written a novel.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Today's Bad NaNoWriMo Advice: Write First, Caff Second
When you get up in the morning, write a little bit before you have your morning coffee. You are much less likely to try to stop yourself to make corrections or check for typos.
The flip side? You are also much less likely to remember to turn on the computer before you start typing.
Happy November!
The flip side? You are also much less likely to remember to turn on the computer before you start typing.
Happy November!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Today's Bad NaNoWriMo Advice: Wing it!
Don't spend today mapping out your plot, like you would if you had any sense. Instead, do what I do. Spend it sleeping (because you won't be doing much of that the next thirty days). Eating (like a chipmunk preparing to hibernate. Do chipmunks hibernate?) Buying an extra can or six of coffee, and possibly an extra coffee pot, to hold up to the demands of November. Walking your dogs, who are soon to be neglected. Make sure your laptop's plugged in to charge. If you're one of those crazy people who can write by hand, buy pens.
But don't spend too much time today stressing over your plot and whether it's going to make sense. Leave that for, oh, say, November 25-ish.
So have you signed up for NaNoWriMo yet? Who's with me?
But don't spend too much time today stressing over your plot and whether it's going to make sense. Leave that for, oh, say, November 25-ish.
So have you signed up for NaNoWriMo yet? Who's with me?
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