Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 12107 Location: Objection!
Posted: Oct 29, 2009 11:05 Post subject: Tsuclass!: NaNoWriMo Tips!
Tsuclass: Tsuney's Unsolicited NaNoWriMo Tips!
So, you wanna write a novel, eh? Well welcome to insanity! This is going to be a life-changing experience for you. It's going to be scary! It's going to be nerve-wracking! There'll be days when you want to give up! But if you take the proper precautions, you can get through this!
Below are some tips I've learned from writing novels myself that may help you! They come from a year of researching blogs, reading books, and writing novels myself. Some of this is even from the official NaNoWriMo book No Plot? No Problem! So good luck!
HABITS ARE THE KEY TO SUCCESS
In order to get yourself to the finish line, plot, writing style, ability to be awesome, blitzkrieg characterization skills, and an English degree DO NOT MATTER. What matters more than anything is actually sitting down and writing the thing! This is just a matter of effort and habit, not creative ability. Your goal here is to write a novel, not write a good novel. No novel is good when it's done, you have to make it good in the editing process! But that's at the end! Right now you want to go forward and to do that you need to set up some writing habits.
1. Consistency - The more consistent your writing environment, the better. If you can manage to write at the same time of day at the same place everyday, you're golden. Once you've established that place and time, your mind will automatically go into "writing mode" once you sit down at that desk and turn on that computer. This is no different than exercise: the more you do it, the easier it gets.
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2. Rituals - This may be difficult/impossible for some of you with alternating schedules. Maybe you work some nights and not others. Maybe you have a sports practice or a club activity or you go out on dates. That's fine! But if your time can't be consistent than work on making something else consistent. For example, maybe you choose to hand write it, so always use the same pen. Or, if you're typing, use the same computer. Maybe you listen to the same song (many people make NaNoWriMo playlists) or do a little dance!
In the book The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp (famous dancer/choreographer for those of you unfamiliar) she discusses how many artists do certain rituals to prepare for their work. For a dance it might be a stretch routine. For a composer, they may play through the same piece of Bach. Some painters do yoga. By performing this ritual, you're preparing your mind to enter a creative space!
Tsu Side Note wrote:
Does Tsuney have any rituals?
Why yes I do! And it probably will either make you groan or it won't surprise you at all.
If I'm about to write (I write every night) and I don't feel like it (uninspired, tired, etc.) then I always watch a TTGL clip. Usually it's when Kamina confronts the Ganmen in Episode 1. Sometimes it's the "Gattai!" speech in Episode 8. Lately I've added Leeron's introduction to Episode 21, Kamina's defiant yelling to Tymiliph in Episode 7, and the "Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann" combination sequence in Episode 27.
None of these are particularly long clips, but they get me fired up and in the writing mood. So see, your rituals can be anything at all!
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3. Security Blanket - Another way to form a consistent writing tool is to have an object. Chris Baty, the founder of NaNoWriMo and the author of it's official guidebook No Plot? No Problem! says that having a special object that you only have while writing can also create this mood. He says the most common object is a hat: wear the hat, now you're writing! Take the hat off when you're done.
Tsu Side Note wrote:
That's where I got the term "plothatting" from, by the by.
It doesn't have to be a hat. Maybe a scarf? Or a ring of power! Or a bracelet of awesome.
There are a lot of ways to set up consistency! Find the way that works for you and make writing a habit.
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4. Forward Momentum! - Never EDIT. NEVER. Let me say it again: NEVER EDIT. Editing is for the end! Editing is done by novelists, and youre not a novelist until you're done. Sometimes you may have to make a change, or rewrite a small section if you were too tired (drunk?) the night before. But you always want to be moving forward with your writing, never backwards. You'll have 11 months to edit it, spend this one writing it.
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5. Write or DIE - I will tell you how most people will fail. They'll set out to write a certain amount every day. Something will happen, and then they'll get behind. Then they'll realize "OH CRAP I HAVE TO WRITE 3000 WORDS TODAY" in order to catch up. That'll seem too big for them, so they'll wait another day. Now they're up to 4,500. Then 6000. Then 7500.
Then they'll give up.
Try to hit your goals every day. If you can't, fine, keep pushing. So maybe you only get to 45,000 by the end of the month, who CARES? Novels aren't done in a month. A month is an artificial time frame. Do the best you can.
But doing the best you can means no procrastinating! If you need help, try out this write or die tool. It forces you to write a certain number of words in small amounts of time. If you wait too long, it'll start to make noises and flash the screen. If you set it to Kamikaze mode, it'll start deleting your words ONE BY ONE. It really helps people concentrate.
Hell, Kipper used it to write 500 words in ten minutes! If he can do it, surely you can.(Love you, Kip xD)
No, I hate it!
It's not for everyone. Don't use it if you don't like it.
Important Health Warnings
1. When you're developing your habit, do not add something self-destructive into your atmosphere. Many writers drink or smoke while they write, and they get into the habit of needing those things before they can write. Since most of you are too young for that, also avoid needing to eat a bunch of junk food while you're writing. The sugar will screw you up anyway, and you don't want to get fat because of your writing! Myself, I always drink water or tea while I'm writing, a habit I consciously developed to prevent me from becoming a soda addict.
2. This may cause some of you to type more than you have ever done before. BE CAREFUL. When I first wrote the first Tsunovel, my arms and hands ached like crazy. I didn't rest them enough and had to wear a brace for a few days for both my wrist and my elbow. Make sure you're typing correctly with good posture and an ideal keyboard. And if your hands, eyes, butt, or any part of you hurts, TAKE A BREAK. Writing a novel is not worth killing yourself over.
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If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them here. :'D
YAY tsu your the best <--- worlds largest procrastinator also YAY for mispelled words!
Edit: also just like it say's find a buddy to help keep you on track. Or tell all your friends that your writing a novel and if you dont get it done you'll look like bad. _________________
Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 12173 Location: At my computer.
Posted: Oct 29, 2009 13:50 Post subject:
Hell, I did it TWICE in the same day! Write or Die REALLY helped me stay focused on what I was doing. I was so frantically trying to save my words that before I knew it I had breached my goal by TWO HUNDRED words.
Great tools and great tips. _________________ God, let me dream again; take me where I have never been. . .
Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 12107 Location: Objection!
Posted: Oct 31, 2009 11:24 Post subject:
Would you like tips from a realsies-published-makes-money author? Then you can ask questions of Justine Larbalesteir! She's an Australian YA novelist, married to YA novelist Scott Westerfeld. The two of them will be giving tips throughout November, you may want to check them out. Justine is looking for questions, so if you have some, post them on her blog. She may pick yours!:
My wurst habit, is the one you listed as being the wurst of the wurst... DON'T GO BACK AND EDIT!! I do my best when I push forward and get the thing written then go back and edit......... Thanks for the tips, and if I spent more time at home I'd use that WriteorDie, but since I'm gone more then I would really messed up with it! lol! Best of luck Tsuneo! _________________ Click here to view my Character page!
Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 12107 Location: Objection!
Posted: Nov 11, 2009 15:17 Post subject:
NaNoTips from one of my favorite authors.
http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=1921 _________________ "Pfft, azns and their azness! They always walk in pairs on school campus, speaking in their foreign codes! " - Sasuke
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