NaNo note to self - Part Three: THE PLAN

As I approached my third time to take the NaNoWriMo challenge, I took time to write a letter to myself as a way to remember some of the things I had learned in those first two years.  

I pull it out from time to time as a bit of instruction and inspiration and eventually posted it here in four installments.  (Disclaimer:  This piece is full of all kinds of silliness and fun.)  

This is Part Three: THE PLAN.

NaNo Tips:

What Worked 

What Didn’t Work

An open letter to my current self

from my former self as a NaNo novice

by Kaye Sims

October 27, 2012

 

Part Three: THE PLAN

I decided that I had to come up with some kind of plan, some strategy, some sort of procedures that would work for me.  ... Actually I don’t know that I decided anything of the sort nor that I came up with much of anything in advance.  More accurately, this strategy sort of emerged in the process.

The format

There are probably lots of different word processing programs that would work fine for NaNo.  I ended up typing on Microsoft Word and then sending myself regular backups via e-mail attachment.  During the month you submit only your word count number to NaNo and then once you reach 50,000 words, you cut and paste the actual document into their little window thingie for them to certify the word count.  I discovered that their counter calculated just a little differently than mine – so I made sure to have a few extra before submitting.  By the way, I ended up with 61,000 last year.  I don’t remember my count at the end of the first November, but I did choose to continue after submission to finish writing the ideas I had and I think I got to nearly 70,000 words by mid-December.

Build a routine

I have learned enough about myself to know that I need routines – particularly in my writing habits.  Time of day is very important for me.  Some things work well in the evenings or mid-day, but things like walking or writing must be early in the day while I am feeling somewhat energetic.  I realized that for a project this ambitious I was going to need to get started very early in the morning so that I could get it done before my day got busy with other obligations – or I would fall behind and get discouraged.  Many of my writing friends use very different schedules, but this is the way I must do it or it ain’t gonna’ happen.

Write early in the morning

This may necessitate me being a bit more diligent about a decent bedtime so that I can wake up early.  Once I am up and moving, I begin with a few basic practices.  

Word count: 2000 words/day

To reach 50,000 words in 30 days means writing an average of 1667 words per day.  My goal is to write 2000 words each day.  I choose to do this for a couple reasons.  First, it gives me a small bit of a cushion so that I can take a day off once in awhile or in case of an unproductive day.  But maybe the real reason is the psychological edge.  Through the years I've noticed if I am walking with other people, it is not wise for me to walk behind them.  For some reason, I “feel” behind and quickly get discouraged and end up slowing down until I get farther and farther behind. It feels like my short legs can't possibly keep up with the longer ones of my companions. But if I walk at the head of the pack, I tend to push myself to walk much faster (maybe because I don't want to get anybody upset with me...) and will somehow find extra energy in the process.  That has always puzzled me a bit because it sort of seems like the natural thing would be to walk faster if I am feeling left behind, but it doesn’t seem to work that way for me.  I notice something similar at play in my writing.  Feeling ahead of the game is motivating and exhilarating to me, where falling behind invites the negative vibes and procrastinations.

No editing now

In order to serve my word count goal, I postpone editing for another time.  Generally I don’t take time to fix things unless it is something easy and/or obvious.  If I know that I don’t like something or it isn’t flowing well or I want to try changing it to something else, I find ways to take note of those thoughts – usually without deleting much of what I’ve already typed.  Since my goal is to crank out the words, I don’t want to waste time fussing and deciding what works best at every little point.  But I do make lots of notes to myself by using parentheses and braces and brackets and the bold and italics and color highlight buttons with abandon.  An added benefit: all of these extra notes end up in my word count.  Is that cheating?  According to whom?  It’s my book; I’m the author and I make the rules – and I have decided that this is perfectly acceptable.  Remember; I could be typing “I am writing a novel during November” repeatedly every day if I wished to.  Nope, I have discovered that this works for me and I’m the boss.  I guess you could say some control issues have surfaced and I rather love being the one in charge.

Speaking of which, there are those squiggly lines that keep popping up and trying to take authority.  They try to tell me that I’m doing something wrong.  It is my nature to notice them and to want to fix them and sometimes I do.  But sometimes I choose to ignore them.  And sometimes I yell at them and express my displeasure – through the keys, of course.  Seriously.  Not kidding.  Yep, yep, it helps the word count.  Hee-hee.

Writing wardrobe

One fun part of my routine is that I can write in my PJs – which provides a couple benefits.  First of all, it is fun and comfy and rather rebellious.  Secondly, it feels like an artistic writerly thing to do.  You know?  You hear about eccentric writers who have their own signature garb.  Why not?  Thirdly, it kinda’ helps define my boundaries.  I’m a person with often blurry boundaries between the different parts of my life.  I tend to have too many things going on at once, trying to meet multiple demands, starting projects and not finishing, etc.  You will probably have at least one other goal for November besides NaNoWriMo.  Lots of my writer friends have real jobs and/or school.  So yes, there are other parts to my life, my day, my schedule.  My writing uniform helps remind me that I must finish today’s writing quota so that I can then get dressed and ready for the rest of my day.  

Internet 

During the rest of the year, in my non-November schedule, my normal practice is to get online as one of my first waking acts.  This is not a good idea during NaNo so I generally avoid the internet until I get most or all of the day’s writing done. It is astounding how productive and creative I can get when I am not “tuned in” to the interwebs and how dull I become when I’m online.  And yes, I admit that this unplugged practice appeals to me for the rest of the year as well.  I do love me some technology, but I keep thinking about implementing this change for all year long.

Write every day

I have experimented with various ideas about whether to write every day or not.  I thought maybe I would write on Monday through Friday and take the week-end off.  Some NaNo buddies tend to write in bigger bunches.  Methinks that plan would not work for me.  Again I hate to feel behind, but mostly I need that routine, that daily-ness, that regularity.  I have noticed that the “here I am again, I can do this thing” is a gradual muscle builder.  By writing 2000 words a day, I do have that cushion so I can take a day or two off if I choose to, but I seem to prefer to at least flex those muscles and keep the habit alive – because yah, once I break the routine, it is so easy to let it go again… and again… AND it is so hard to get it back.  Ack!  

...

Okay; so I made the commitment.  I will do this thing. I will write 50,000 words.

I even began to develop some sort of plan which I can keep perfecting.

Then I began to figure out the actual process...

NaNo note to self - Part Two: THE COMMITMENT

I first took the NaNoWriMo challenge in 2010.  During my third year I took time to write a letter to myself as a way to remember some of the things I had learned in those first two years.  

I pull it out from time to time as a bit of instruction and inspiration.  I have since posted that letter here - in four installments.  (Disclaimer:  This piece is full of all kinds of silliness and fun.)  This is Part Two: THE COMMITMENT.   If you missed Part One, you can read it here.

NaNo Tips:

What Worked 

What Didn’t Work

An open letter to my current self

from my former self as a NaNo novice

by Kaye Sims

October 27, 2012

Part Two: THE COMMITMENT

If I’m going to do this thing, I’d much rather have it be some kind of success than for it to be a failure or a fizzle.  Therefore I have decided that I need to decide whether to commit to it or not.  Yes, I used the word “decide” twice in that sentence.  So sue me.  Deciding involves asking certain questions.  

Will I do this thing?

I can “give it a try” or I can decide to make it happen.  If I simply give it a try, I may or may not end up with a document.  If I consciously decide to do this thing, then I must determine what that means and what will comprise success.  Yes, this is my book; I am the author and I make the rules.

Side note:  NaNoWriMo’s rules are pretty simple.  It is all about the word count.  Between November 1 and November 30, you must compile 50,000 words.  That’s all they care about.  So yah, you have to wait until November 1 to start writing and you submit your 50,000-word document by November 30 to win.  Other than that you make the rules.

What exactly will I do?  What am I committing to?  

You will probably have more than one goal or priority with this project but you need to know which one is your highest priority.  For me, the over-riding goal is to crank out the words, to meet that word count.  Yep, yep; even if it means that I end up typing “I don’t know what to write.  What in the world shall I write about now?  Okay; I have 300 words; where in the stink can I find 1700 more?  Let’s see; I think I’ll write about such-and-such.”  Yes, I am fully aware of the silliness of such a venture. I mean... why would I want to end up with 50,000 words of useless gibberish?  But I decided to let anything go – simply because the word count was my top priority – and I have been happy to note that I rarely end up going down the total nonsense route.  Oh, yes, I have taken advantage of that self-granted freedom to write anything, but usually something has grown out of it.  It reminds me of the movie Finding Forrester when he told the kid to start typing anything, specifically instructing him to copy from Forrester’s own work.  (Remember to read these lines in Sean Connery's voice!)

Sometimes the simple rhythm of typing gets us from page one to page two.  And when you begin to feel your own words, start typing them.

Punch the keys, for God’s sake!  YES!  You’re the man now, dog.

GREAT movie, by the way!

Why do I make the word count my priority?

Confession time:  I am not a good finisher.  I start way too many things that end up fizzling or languishing in a file or a pile.  I can admit that one of the greatest things for me about NaNo is the push to get ‘er done.  The sense of accomplishment is uber-important for me, most healthy and needful for my self-esteem.  Not only that but it is great to have such a large body of work in my repertoire.  Oh, yah, I am very well aware that what I end up with may not be usable – certainly not without a lot of work.  But I still contend that a very, very rough first draft is better than no draft.  (See Anne Lamott’s chapter on shitty first drafts in bird by bird.)  Even if I can use only teeny, tiny bits and pieces of it in the future, at least I’m beginning to build my collection of writings.

But perhaps even better than the accomplishment itself is the experience – the opportunity to learn.  If my primary reasons for doing NaNo are the satisfaction of completion and the acquisition of a body of work, my secondary reason is nearly as important – and that is the practice that it gives me.  It was an invaluable opportunity to get to know myself as a writer, to become familiar with my own writing patterns and then to analyze which things were working and which weren’t.  It was alternately discouraging and exciting to see how I would react to the beginning of a day’s work, to the inevitable occasional verbal constipation, to the moments of panic or boredom, to how slowly or quickly the words counted up, and to how enthralled I would get when thoughts and fingers were flowing freely.  By pushing myself to write such a large quantity of words in a day, I had to push past several obstacles.   I began devising ways to compensate for the things that bogged me down and to facilitate effective ways to capture the thoughts that were swirling faster than my fingers could race.   I also noted that having these dedicated hours at the keys eventually provided a venue for a few ideas that had been languishing – particularly if I had taken care to record somehow, somewhere at least a smidgen of that particular notion.

What else is most important to me?

While cranking out a certain number of words is my first task, I also hope that I will end up with something somewhat cohesive and maybe even usable – even if only fragments and after much editing.    Presumably this hope of something usable is more likely to become reality if I have some sort of plan and probably a general idea of direction or theme or topic or plot.  Oh, yah – plot – since this is supposed to be fiction or at least a novel.  Forgive me for momentarily forgetting that.

The plot 

You probably aren’t planning to do NaNo unless you have an idea.  However, the idea may not seem clear until you start contemplating the project.  I think both years my idea came together in the last couple days of October.  This was one of the first lessons I noticed: often inspiration waits for me to prepare a space for it and to welcome it.  What is really cool is when several old ideas start to gather themselves under a bigger theme – and once a few of them have clustered together I may be able to come up with enough stuff – or at least way more than I could for one of those single topics.  

So yes, I figured out that I needed to come up with a plan...

NaNo note to self - Part One

I first took the NaNoWriMo challenge in 2010.  A couple years later I took time to write a letter to myself as a way to remember some of the things I had learned in those first two years.  I pull it out from time to time as a bit of instruction and inspiration.  I have since posted that letter here - in four installments.  (Disclaimer:  This piece is full of all kinds of silliness and fun.) 

NaNo Tips:

What Worked 

What Didn’t Work

An open letter to my current self

from my former self as a NaNo novice

by Kaye Sims

October 27, 2012

Part One:

I have participated in NaNoWriMo twice now – two years in a row.  I consider it a success for several reasons – mostly because of the sense of accomplishment, but also for some of the things that I learned in the process.

I have discovered that it is helpful to go back and see some of my notes leading up to the previous experiences, to remind myself of what works and what doesn’t and to get caught up again in the fun of the project.

This is a compilation of ideas and thoughts and gimmicks and warnings – some of which were well-thought out, some were just stumbled upon, and some are mere observations.  You will probably heed some of the advice and let yourself ignore most of it.  That’s okay because this is your novel and you make the rules.

Before going any further, maybe we should address this novel thing.  The first year I did NaNo, my Miss Goody Do-Everything-Right-and-according-to-the-Rules struggled with whether I could legitimately call this thing a novel.  I had never written fiction before and hadn’t the foggiest clue how to go about it.  Nerd that I am, I searched around for definitions until I found that there is such a thing as an autobiographical novel.  Aha!  That’s what I could do!  So that’s what I did that first year. I wrote an autobiographical novel.  Sort of.  

When the second year came along, I decided I could fudge a little and just write whatever I dang well felt like writing.  After all, this was my novel; I am the author and I can make the rules.  Only problem was that I had no clue as to the direction I wanted to write – so I started out simply exploring that dilemma – of the girl who wanted to write a novel, but didn’t know how.  Yah, yah, silly idea, I know.  But you have to admit it is a rather novel idea. And so I began typing nonsense about the girl who wanted to write a novel, but didn't know how...  Turns out I got a little better acquainted with that girl in the process.

It seems that there are three phases to participating in NaNo:

• The commitment
• The plan
• The process

(To be continued...)

Simply gifts

Thankful Thursday

~  ~  ~

Some of the best things in life

are not tied to my great performance

or even to right behavior.

They are simply gifts.

I can try to justify my right to have them

or I can simply choose to be grateful.

~  ~  ~

I choose thankfulness.

October steps

Soft and steady steps on hard-packed gravel

Raucous joyful crunch

of brittle poplar leaves lining the pathway eventually surrendering to the hush of silent carpet

Whispered steps

barely perceptible

in the amazingly lush October grass