Camp Nanowrimo

[Kessie]

So, who all is doing Camp Nanowrimo on June 1st? www.campnanowrimo.org/

They have another one in August, in case you can't make the June one.

I've been outlining a story and doing some research, so I'll hopefully not get bogged down in the Big Swampy Middle. From what I've heard, that's what kills a lot of Nano writers. They sink into the BSM and are never heard from again. :-)

Anyway, I'm pumped to start writing!

[newburydave]

Kessie;

as a NNWM "winner" the advice I found the most useful was "Give yourself permission to write junk".

In practice that means just pursue the plot and your inspiration without worrying about grammar, punctuation or style. Just hammer out the story at super speed.

The other bit of "wisdom" I discovered was "Daily wordcount is the only thing that matters." Keep short accounts with your wordcount page in the NNWM website. For the most part the Anomaliens who fell behind by more than a couple of days on wordcount were not able to recover and finish in the month.

Let your watchword be:
RUSE- Resist the Urge to Stop and Edit.

NNWM is about completing a 50k rough draft in a month. Actually this is a realistic exercise of what it's like to write to a contract deadline.

1. Rough (concept) draft
2. Edit for plot and structure
3. Edits for style, punctuation, grammar and internal flow
4. Edit, Edit, Edit, ... until done

I learned that NNWM was only step #1. It gets the raw material for your book down on paper.

I wrote out a two page cursory outline by hand and just ran to it. That strategy worked for me.

Hit it hard Sis and win!

SGD
dave

[birdnerd]

Dave,

I actually edited every day when I did NaNoWriMo and wouldn't have made it if I hadn't.

See, when I'm in draft mode, my writing is very description-deprived. My first editing pass is always to go add more description.

That probably isn't an issue for most folks, though.

[dragonlots]

I'm enrolled for June. Need to finish 'Winter Emergence'. I'm done through Chapter 5, but will start my count with Chapter 6. Figured it would get me motivated to get it finished so I can start the revisions while I work on 'Winter Moon' right afterward.

[newburydave]

Well, my strategy worked for me. I guess I should have added the caveat that "your mileage may vary".

When I write my rough drafts I usually go overboard on description, backstory, what my POVs are thinking at any given time and anything else that flies through my mind.

It's kinda' like pulling out all my tools and spare lumber when I start a new project and don't quite know what I'll need until I get into it. I'm sort of a kinesthetic thinker. I jump in the middle and see what works.

My first editing pass is usually reshuffling and deleting stuff that doesn't really fit.

Soooo, if that's your MO what I said might work for you. Otherwise....

But I stand by what I said about WordCount is king. Pump out your wordcount every day by whatever method works for you to git'er done.

I probably won't do NNWM this year, too many other irons in the fire; one of which is the editing on my novel from last year's NNWM. But then who knows, the Lord drops inspiration on me out of the blue so to speak and I have to stop and take dictation.

We shall see.

At any rate; Go Team Anomaly !!!

SGD
dave

[Kessie]

Dave: Point taken! The only editing I do while writing is spellchecking as I go. My only worry is that my daily average is about 900 words (has been for years), and I'm not sure I can reach the daily minimum. But we shall see.

[newburydave]

Kessie;

In that case use NNWM as a stretching exercise. Let your word processor program worry about spelling, after the fact; just go for the count every day.

I had to pump out 2k-3k on a couple of days when I fell behind (we won't talk about the quality of that hurry up work) but hitting the 1,667/day was my daily inch-pebble goal. A couple of my fellow Nanomaliens fell behind and then quit trying after the word count hole got too deep for them to imagine writing their way out of it.

It's all psychology, kind of like finishing a marathon; push yourself each day and stretch your capacity.

I actually got started a few days late while I dithered about whether to even do it. The Lord gave me the outline in about an hour on day four of the month (if I remember correctly) and I started behind the curve. It was a really cold start since I hadn't even considered it until Nov. 1, I hadn't done any of the prep that you seem to be doing. Starting with a deficit I had a higher daily word-count to hit; but I ended my NNWM with 63k words.

So go for it girl, maybe 900/day is your norm but NNWM challenges you to stretch your ability. When you're a nationally known author, living comfortably off your royalties; and impacting the thinking and lives of millions of people you'll be glad that you ovecame the challenge.

Write on Sis

SGD
dave

[Kessie]

Wow Dave, that's cool, even starting behind the curve. I've never actually done Nano, but I've written parallel to it many years. I already have the daily writing habit. It's just knowing what in the world to write.

I have another story that I need to finish before I start my new one, so I'm going to brainstorm for the ending of that one. I have, what, two days? :-D

Thanks for the advice! I'm getting so pumped.

[newburydave]

When I get writers block or the plot just seems to hang without resolution I pray about it. As Christian writers our "Muse" is the Sovereign God of the Universe.

Sometimes I think He lets us write ourselves into a corner or run dry just to remind us that this gift is not something that we possess in ourselves or command by our own will. It's just like everything else in our walk with Christ, He longs for us to seek Him in every endeavor of life so He can show Himself mighty in us.

I've pushed my way through to a "result" more than once by force of will only to look at it and think, "this is really deadly dull" .

When I took the time to wait on the Lord, pray and meditate some (Yeah I pray about plot and style, He said bring everything to Him as a little child; "It's broke papa, fix it please.") He gives me the plot, detail and inspiration to make it Soar and Sing. ;D

He writes a lot better stuff than I do. More than once I've read over some prose that's rested for a while and think "Wow, this is really good; did I really write this?" Sometimes I feel like a recording secretary.

Do some "brainstorming" on your knees and see what He'll give you for your missing pieces. He called you to this, He'll supply all you need for both Godliness and Life in Christ.

Write on Sis

SGD
dave

[yoda47]

I'll be there!

I did NaNo for the first time last November... and learned a lot.

It took me about 4 years to do the first draft of my first book, and I got a (really) rough draft of my second done in a month!

I'm one of those writers that leaves out description and has to edit it back in. But in Novmeber I still got about 54K of words done. It will probably end up closer to 80+K when I'm done.

For June, I was planning on finishing another of my Works In Progress, but then my wife and I watched Thor and I had a really cool dream (that wasn't really related to the movie, but...) so I wrote it down instead of just telling her about it, and it's turned into a whole novel concept. So, I'm working on that. (look for it in the Sandbox sometime after June...)

[mldonovan]

Wow that's good advise Dave!!! Good to remember why we do what we do!
I especially like, "Do some "brainstorming" on your knees." I have experienced this too. I get stuck with a plot where I need to go from point D over to Point E and just can't get there...so I'll take a break and go do something mundane, like going to the bathroom...while I'm going there, I pray and talk to the Holy Spirit, usually before I can ... well, finish, I've got something and cannot get back to the computer fast enough!!!!!

[mldonovan]

PS, I'm in for June!!!

[dragonlots]

Figures - tomorrow is the first day of 'camp' and I've got a Networking meeting in the morning and errands that have to be run in the afternoon. Grrrr.

Maybe I can get some writing done in the evening. Now there's a thought.

[yoda47]

May 31, 2012 19:15:42 GMT -5 dragonlots said:

Figures - tomorrow is the first day of 'camp' and I've got a Networking meeting in the morning and errands that have to be run in the afternoon. Grrrr.

Maybe I can get some writing done in the evening. Now there's a thought.

I had to get most of mine in lying in bed back in November...

[paulinecreeden]

Dave gave some great advice, and I, like him had to not edit or it would stall me!

I'm in for both June and August with two different projects!