So I'm avoiding typing on my Novel for this morning. I don't know why. Maybe I'm not awake enough. I certainly don't hear people knocking around in my head saying 'But what do we do about the dead bodies in the living room?' or 'He can't get away with that, can he?'
There's a few things I did this nano that I want to remember for next Nano.
1- I set up a cool place to write. This year is was the bedroom, with a cool comforter that makes the room somehow feel like a bed and breakfast. I got everything sort of cleaned, and I was able to sit comfortably and type without interruption. The problem I ran into was after a while, I was too comfy and falling asleep. I think next year I should probably set up a desk or something somewhere where I won't be bothered every twenty minutes to do something or talk to people. The bedroom is still a good idea, but next year, I might have to either switch so I'm writing when I'm not tired, or find a way to avoid falling asleep at the keyboard. I still like the environment. I think this year's colors were blue and white. The comforter is blue and white. I had a blue fancy glass I used for drinking white liquid. Next year if the same colors don't work, I might have to try other colors.
2- Writing more than the 1667 words a day. There were a few down days. but for the most part I supposedly wrote about 7k a day. This has put me near 200k so far, and I'll probably break that today and tomorrow. I'd like to keep this next year, but with a little more consistency. The down days with only 1k or 2k need to stop. I'm fully capable of writing 7k a day, so I should try to keep it even. Or even just aim for 5k a day and no less.
3- Planning in October. I didn't over plan, and maybe under planed just a bit. After all, the story isn't over yet. But then, it's a really large story, and I guess I underestimated how long it was going to be. But being able to get the characters in my head, and do an outline in October meant that when NaNo started I had everything fresh. I was able to dive in and do everything without being burned out on it.
4- Allowing myself to do quick on the spot research. If the need arrived for me to look something up, I allowed myself to search Google for it. I gave myself the first 5 results to find the answer I wanted, and if that proved nothing helpful, I just said 'screw it' and kept typing. If it was really important, I posted to the Nano Forum and that helped me keep going.
5- Having a ritual. This goes back to #1. The cool place to type was part of the ritual. The other part was the glass, the drink, the music. I had everything that I did to set the mood. I knew when I went in there, I had to type. I knew I could have my soda, and only that soda, so it kept the mood. But when i was having that soda, I was typing, not lounging in the living room or out with friends. It kept the mind frame for me.
6- Setting up a playlist ahead of time. I added all kinds of songs, and set it to random. I think I had a 50/50 of music with lyrics and music without. This meant I had some that faded to the background, and kept the mood with their beat and music, and then I had some that set the mood with the lyrics. Also, I put some songs on repeat during certain scenes, because they worked to get me into the mind set. Oh, and headphones. There was nothing more helpful that setting a song on and pressing headphones to my ears to drown out everything else, closing my eyes, and just getting into that zone. It was awesome
7- Turning off the inner editor. This might cause issues later on, but honestly, I found I wrote so much better when I didn't have to look at the underlined words and think 'how's that wrong?'. Being able to just keep going was awesome. typing in notepad was a brilliant idea I had.
8- Typing in notepad. Aside form the above, typing in notepad allowed me to sort of view things in book format. It allowed me to size the screen and look at the text to find short paragraphs and long ones. It allowed me to put different scenes in different save files. It allowed me to have one open to read and one open to write. It allowed me to flip between things when a POV died or a muse for that scene died. It allowed me so much freedom.
9- Going to Write-ins. It feeds the creative and competitive side of me, and if I could get over the fear of talking to new people I think it would help me work out new ideas. I know it's fun, because I do enjoy going. I also get to get out of the house, refresh my thoughts, and eat something. So, while it breaks my routine, it's still cool. If I have the money next year, I want to go to one of the overnights at a hotel or something. Maybe figure out what it would take to do one at the Magnolia. >.> Even if next year I'm not doing the WoD stuff, that would still be cool.
10- Finding someone to 'beat'. As much as I bitch about JS and her word count, she's helped me buckle down and write. Logging in to see I'm 30k behind, not fun. But it makes me type until I catch up and pass her. I enjoy it. I want to rip my hair out half the time, but I still like the moments when I can say 'I passed her!'. Also the war with Glasgow... has helped. I'm usually figuring out how many words I'd have to write to help people catch up if they are being, so that we're still winning. It helps me beat JS and it helps us beat Glasgow. And since both of these are not in Denver, I find I don't have a problem doing th war. It's not like I'm going to come face to face with them and go 'you're going down.' Not that I'd do that to JS... I think I did it to Glasgow however. Which is only fuel for me not eating my words.
11- Hitting the forums in October, and continuing in November. I started in the Adoption forums, and found some lines that helped me find scenes. I found other things too, but mostly it was the lines that got me going. I also found them great for answering questions. I really need to hit them next year. It's been a great help, and now that I know how to bookmark a thread, it's easier getting back to it.
12- Doing a cover. I asked for a cover from someone, and I'm hoping she gets to it. However, I went ahead and made myself one. I can look at it when I need inspiration. It's great. Also, I have all the pictures for the characters, so when I have to think about them, and who they are and how they would react, I can pull up a picture, and look at it for a while, until I get them in my head. Oh, and the background for my laptop. It's a nice picture, with the word count goals on it. Mind you, I blew passed it in a heartbeat, and if I do 5k or 7k next year I'll need to make a new one. But, it's still an awesome background.
13- Notebook and voice recorder. Since I wasn't allowed to write anything down before the 1st, I took the voice recorder and recorded things. It allowed me to talk things out, make notes for later, and get things worked into my head by repeating them. Also, the notebook. Even if I haven't used half the book and probably won't, it gave me a place to write things down, work things out and organize. I even could keep track of all the notepad docs and their word counts for each reference later. It's been nice.
Okay, that's all I can think of at this time. I probably will come up with more, but these are the ones I really want to make sure I do again next year.
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