NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Pep Talk with Lizzie Gudkov

Posted by in NaNoWriMo, News |

Look. Right there… See? That’s where you’ll be at the end of November, smiling, happy with everything you’ve accomplished. Whether you’ve written 50,000 words or not, whether you have reached your rebel goals or not, you’ll be there, smiling. Do you know why? Because you’ve worked hard. And that’s reason enough to smile. If you’re ahead of the game, congratulations. You are doing a great job. You’ve managed not only to keep up with the amount of words needed for each day, but you’ve also succeeded in going beyond what was expected of you. If you are behind, don’t panic. You still have five days left and I’ll give you a few ideas on how to survive the rest of the month. So, did you know Milk Wood keeps a lot of hidden secrets that will help you boost your word count? You didn’t know?! Oh, yes, it does. Come closer. Listen. On the main table, there are four books, neatly piled up. Floral Therapy, All About Roses, Women’s Power and Fashion. They look like pretty regular books, right? Well, in fact, they are code books for highly sensitive documents. Ssh. It’s a secret. Also, someone is Storing Memories in a scrapbook. Oak and chestnut. A heart and a branch. Next to that scrapbook, there’s a recipe on a notebook. I can’t read it though. The notebook has a few markers sticking out. What’s so special about that one marker with an arrow? I feel tempted to open the notebook and snoop, but the table is packed with people. Perhaps you can come over and check it out yourself. Oh, oh… And look at the planner: 584 Linden Lane SL, 90210 They are sending something to this address, a mail package. Deadline at 3:30pm. What could that be? And who is this “they”? Perhaps it’s a “she”. Why does she have a deadline? Tricky. And did you know there are some people in the Chapel? They are whispering something. Can you hear them? I wonder what they are talking about. I think it’s something about the old cemetery. Farther away, a lonely sailor is drinking too much by an old wooden boat. Who is he waiting for? Is he sad? I wonder… And why is he sad? At the beach, the picnic blanket is set. A fruit board, croissant sandwiches, and a cooler packed with drinks. Everything is ready for… Lovers perhaps? Oh, but wait! A thief! A thief is stealing the hot dogs. I can see a chase coming. In the meantime, the radio plays a soft tune. At Last. Is that Etta James? Walk around Milk Wood and you’ll be surprised with the number of ideas you can get just from taking a stroll through the sim. People, objects, colors and sounds, these are only a few examples that might trigger questions. Questions trigger ideas. Ideas trigger words and words boost your word count. Look. Right there. See? That’s where you’ll be at the end of November,...

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NaNoWriMo Pep Talk: More Than Halfway There

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And suddenly, it was the halfway point. Could you call that Hump Day? Or is that reserved for Wednesdays? I think that’s an American thing, because this Brit had never heard of it for a long time and then thought it meant something completely different. Nomenclature aside, here we are at the halfway point, or possibly a little beyond by the time this gets posted. That graph thing on the website would have us be around the 25,000 word mark by now, but, well, if you read my previous post, you know what I think about that idea. You are where you are and that’s just fine. We’re all different. Some can do it at a steady pace. Some can sprint at start and then amble in for the finish. Others dawdle and prevaricate and then do a massive sprint towards the end (which is how most of my university essays got done). And, some, like me, write in fits and starts, as and when time and energy allows. My progress graph will probably end up looking like the ECG of a very sick person. You are wherever you are, however many words you have above or below that mythical halfway point and you are doing just great. Don’t go stressing about it. It’s meant to be fun after all. Halfway is just some arbitrary point along the way. And, just like Hump Day in the week, it’s different things for different people. For some it means that the worst is over and they can glide to the end of the week, for others, it means they have to ramp things up to get things done by the weekend. For me, Wednesday is just fish & chips night, because that’s when the fish & chips man comes round our way in his van. Which is great, because that gives me more time to write. There are many different reasons for doing this – a personal challenge, like doing a 5k or a Marathon; or doing it because, like Everest, it’s there; or doing it just for the fun of it. Whatever reason, somewhere in there you are doing it because you have a story to tell, a tale to relate. That’s the important thing – they are your words, your tale, your creation – a story only you can tell. So don’t worry about how well, or not, other people are doing. What you are doing is unique, and it will be wonderful because of that, and only you can do it. However far along the way you are, pause a moment, give yourself a pat on the back and a rousing cheer. You’ve got this far, and that in itself is an achievement. If you got this far, you can make it to the end and feel proud. You can do this! About Nathaniel Ballard Nathaniel Ballard is a fictional character in Second Life® who also now serves as his creator’s alter-ego online and as said creator’s pen-name....

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Pep Talk with Nathaniel Ballard

Posted by in NaNoWriMo, News | 1 comment

How can it be over a week already? Wasn’t it Preptober only yesterday? And yet, here we are, already nearly two weeks into NaNoWriMo. And what a busy week it has been. When I’ve not been trying to bash out my own daily dose of words, I’ve been watching the Nano community around the world. I’ve been reading comments and questions on the NaNoWriMo Facebook group, watching my buddies on the website, having discussions on my local group’s channel on Discord, and noting the progress of those people I actually know in Real Life™. Everybody is at a different place. Some are roaring ahead like a sprinter, getting words down like crazy. Some are toodling along, more or less maintaining the pace, and some, at this early stage, are struggling to keep up. And, of course, everybody is having to deal with Real Life™ getting in the way – sickness, broken-down computers, extra work shifts. I know that one. I can always tell when it’s NaNoWriMo because I suddenly get loads of texts asking me if I can cover for xxx at another shop, do a couple of extra days while yyy is on holiday. But, that’s life. It happens to everybody, and we keep on going regardless. We work around it somehow. The thing to remember is, whether you are at 500 words, 5,000 words, 20,000 words, or staring at a blank screen and a pile of scrunched up paper – at least you are giving it a go, at least you are trying. You are doing something a little scary, but amazing and wonderful and beautiful. It’s an adventure. Maybe some of you are writing an adventure story, but the very act is an adventure in itself. And, like any adventure story, things aren’t always going to go to plan, things aren’t always plain sailing. There are bumps and detours, setbacks and small victories before your adventurers get to their goal. It wouldn’t be an interesting story otherwise. It’s the same with your novel’s progress. That dotted blue line on the progress chart doesn’t really show the true picture. When you climb a mountain, it isn’t a smooth slope. When you climb a mountain, there are going to be easy bits, level bits and steep bits. Sometimes, you might have to go downhill for a while before you start to ascend again. Sometimes, you even look at the stretch in front of you and think “how the hell do I get past that?” Or you look ahead and can’t even see the peak. But, you can get there and you will. You will get to the top, and the view from there is glorious. Don’t worry too much about where you are relative to that blue line, concentrate on the words that are in your head, queueing up to get out and down on the page. Get them written and worry about the blue line later. Wherever you are on your adventure, however far you are up...

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Virtual Writers: NaNoWriMo Events 2019

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  NANOWRIMO AT MILK WOOD We are excited to announce that we’ll be hosting a selection of online workshops again this year. Click on the links below to participate at the specific time. These workshops are held in Second Life®. All scheduled events take place online at the Milk Wood Writing Group area (unless otherwise stated) or in the writing room at Book Island (Sundays at 12 noon PT).  All are welcome to join us.  ══════════════════════════ Writing Workshops & Write-Ins══════════════════════════ What’s NaNoWriMo and how do I join?Hosted by Harriet Gausman Tuesday 29th October, 20198am PT / 11am ET / 3pm GMT Want to know what all this NaNoWriMo nonsense is? Well, join us at 8am and we’ll run through the details and provide you with some great resources to make the challenge easier. We’ll share some plot storyboard and character development resources in readiness for November, and we’ll begin to plot in a timed writing session. About Harri In 2007, Harri conceded her élan vital to pixels and created the atmospheric Milk Wood, inspired by the Dylan Thomas radio drama, Under Milk Wood. Over the years, the sim has become a literary home to many artists and continues to offer a range of writing and reading events, providing opportunities for writers to cultivate their craft, develop literary poise, and establish a strong artistic voice. Harri is experienced at planning and hosting online events, and applies a unique approach to promoting and supporting writers. She is a NaNoWriMo veteran. Click here to be taken to the online event. ——–Huck’s Cube of NaNo – this year with added BrexitHosted by Huckleberry Hax Thursday 31st October, 20191pm PT / 4pm ET / 8pm GMT It’s National Novel Writing Month again! Prepare yourself for pep talks! If there’s one thing aspiring novelists can rely on in the month of November (besides sleep deprivation and bleeding fingertips) it’s other writers delivering their ‘top tips’ for getting 50,000 words written in the space of 30 days. Huckleberry Hax has absolutely no intention of deviating from this formula (chiefly because it makes him feel for an hour like a real, grown-up writer), and will be once again delivering his ‘Cube of Nano’ talk at Milk Wood as novelists assume the crouch position, ready for the starter’s gun. Why ‘cube’? Because he has six tips, and six without the framework of a cool geometric shape sounds like it really ought to be edited down to five – BUT WE DON’T EDIT DURING NANOWRIMO! Join us for an hour in voice on 31st October at 1pm SLT. Please come voice-enabled so you can hear Huck talk. Every person who types the line ‘When is it starting?’ five minutes into the talk *will* be given lines to write. About Huck Huckleberry Hax writes virtual reality novels, many of which are set in Second Life® (the best known of which is ‘AFK’). He has completed NaNoWriMo eight times. Click here to be taken to the online event. ——– NaNoWriMo Kick-Off...

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Pep Talk from Doyle Slen

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Here we are: Another November. Another NaNoWriMo. Another Fangsgiving. Another hectic down-to-the-wire rush for some, and a “how did I get here, and why did I do this to myself again?” moment for others. What with the bulging, red-rimmed eyes and over-caffeinated blood, and the sideways stares from loved ones, and the aching back from sitting in that position for too long, and wondering if that sentence fits there, and did you get all the research done, and what was that thing that had to be done, and did you get the dry cleaning (you just can’t remember, you have too much going on in your head to remember unnecessary things like that, right now), and dinner (What! Don’t they know its NaNo month? – you told everybody this was going to happen), and that run on sentence that you just can’t seem to fix; you wonder if it’s all worth it. Yes, just take a deep breath. It’s almost over. Well, the hectic part is. The rush to slap down fifty thousand words in a sloppy rush is. The heaping pile of rough draft that no one can make any sense of is almost over. The late night, “what the hell was I on when I wrote that mess?” is almost over. Just take a deep breath and cross the line. Even if you don’t make the tally you run the race to the finish line. You do it because you started the journey, and the journey is worthy of the struggle. December begins the real work. The making sense of the mess. The slogging through rabbit trails and putting the frayed ends together. NaNoWriMo is the beginning not the end. Now you have to put the pieces together and finish what you started. The mad dash is winding down and the tempered thought process needs to begin. Take another breath. Get more coffee. Stay up late. Shake off the looks. Talk to those characters and plunge on to the finish line. We need your...

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NaNoWriMo Pep Talk from Ercila Robbins (aka Susan Agatha Davis)

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Welcome scriveners, cursive writers, typists, poets, scripters, and authors of all types. NaNoWriMo is well into its third week and I’m already two weeks behind. Well, I won’t get discouraged, and neither should you. As a matter of fact (unnecessary cliché), this is the time to put your shoulder to the grindstone (or is it the wheel?) and press forward. Yes, some of us will surpass our wildest word counts. Others will languish behind and swear to be better next time – and maybe we will. The important thing is this: You showed up! We’ve all heard these words of wisdom (more clichés?): 90% of the battle is just showing up. True story – I decided to take up walking around a track, once. I had multiple health problems. The first day, I got a quarter of the way around the track (1/16th of a mile?) and quit. I couldn’t breathe. So, I made my goal to just show up at the gym and put my gym shoes on. That was it. That was my entire goal. A year later, I was walking 2 miles. When you get discouraged, sit down at the computer (notebook, desk, under your favorite tree, etc.), and write SOMETHING. It doesn’t have to be good. It doesn’t have to be related to your award-winning novel. It doesn’t even have to make sense. Just write. Just show up. That habit will get you farther along the road to being published than anything else you do. For all my friends (and those who hate me right now) who are struggling, keep one thing in mind. All it takes to get anything done is to show up and put one foot in front of the other. Wait a minute, that’s the adage about a thousand miles, right? Let me rethink that. Oh, yes! All it takes is to put one word after another. Enough words, you have a sentence. A few more: a paragraph. More: a chapter. Before you know it, you’ll have a book! If you can do one chapter a month, you could have a book in a year or two. If that sounds discouraging, keep this in mind: the time will pass anyway -if you do nothing, a year or two will speed by and still no book! I’ve often quoted the adage that the only difference between failure and success is that the successful person stands up one more time than he/she falls down. Get up, put your gym shoes on and write! Ercila Robbins About Ercila Retired criminal attorney and author of five crime novels – and more in the works. Ercila is also a former journalist and newspaper editor, and a published poet. She is a mother, grandmother, and veteran. Website | Facebook | Amazon...

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