June Update on 2022 Goals

  

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I posted in December 2021 some of my 2022 writing goals.

Six months into 2022, let's check my progress.

1. Unpack from the move. 

    Hooray! I have some boxes left to unpack. I am still figuring out how to organize my studio, and I have made significant progress in unpacking several stacks of boxes. Any tips on organizing paper? Marie Kondo and Clea and Joanna have been helpful, so I have been working through their systems to get myself organized. Labeling shoe boxes of art supplies was more satisfying than I anticipated. 

2. Get my writing office set up.

    Not exactly what I want my final set up to be, because making rainbow pen holders has been on the list for a while. It is nice to see my fountain pens again and get back into writing letters. It has been much too long.

3. Schedule bi-weekly write-ins with my people.

    Well, I have scheduled some write-ins with my people, but I was definitely not consistent. With the office set up, and adjusting to my new job hours, I hope to have more write-ins in the next three months.

4. Show up to scheduled write-ins.

    I showed up to the ones I scheduled. I have not been able to attend others that my friends have scheduled due to work schedule changes.

5. Sit down and plan what project I will tackle in the new year.

    I am definitely focused on working on my graphic novel project and a Beauty and the Beast retelling at some point this year. I am combing through my old NaNo projects to see what projects I would like to start rewriting and editing. The plan is to work on the graphic novel project during July Camp and then outline the Beauty and the Beast retelling, probably for November NaNo.

6. Plan my next NaNo novel. 

    In the works. My plan is to see what happens in July Camp, and start planning for my November NaNo project. I want to try Save the Cat, StoryGrid, and The Hero's Journey for July Camp, and then make a decision from there of how I will plan my November NaNo project.

7. (Maybe do Camp in April and July).

    Ok, I am going to be doing July Camp NaNo. So I will be working on my graphic novel. I did not participate in April due to switching jobs in April. 

8. Make writing a daily routine. 

    Not quite there yet. It will be easier to dig into a writing routine once unpacking and studio organization is more polished. In the meantime, I will write during the bi-weekly write-ins. 

What are your tips for organizing your writing spaces? Any special ways that you organize/sort/display paper, like writing drafts and rounds of edits?

6 days...until NaNo Begins

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National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts in 6 days. Then the goal of writing 1,667 words a day for 30 days will begin.

I finally decided what I will work on this year, which is my 13th NaNo. I am a fan of Reverse NaNo, which is a different word goal from the 1,667 a day to have a larger word count goal for the first two weeks. This method works for me because when I begin to struggle in week 2, I have a word count cushion when I get stuck. 

But this year I decided to tackle one of my long term NaNo goals, writing a double NaNo. This year my goal is to write 100,000 words in 30 days. 

What? Why now?

Mostly because I need to work on a nonfiction work about my day job, and I still want to work on my usual type of NaNo project, a fantasy, sci-fi, or literary novel. This year will be a fantasy novel.

So I will work on my nonfiction project and and then work on the novel.

How is your plan for NaNo going? What will you work on in November? What are your goals this year?

 

83 days...until NaNo Begins

I can't believe it is 83 days until November 1, when National Novel Writing Month begins with writing 50,000 words in 30 days (or 1,667 words per day).

What is unusual is that I have not chosen what to write this year, and I usually choose a project by June.

I have always wanted to write a Dare novel, where you add scenes following Dares on the NaNo forums. Some Dare examples here.

And one day, probably not this year, I would like to do a double NaNo where the goal is to write 100,000 words in 30 days. 

I will have to ponder what story I want to tell this November.

Are you thinking about NaNo yet? If yes, what are you going to write in November? Do you have dreams and goals for future NaNo projects?

NaNo Prep! #NaNo #NaNoPrep

Well, October continues, which means November and NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) is fast approaching! I am still reading Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder and kicking myself for not reading it earlier in my writing career. I had also intended by this point to have filled out my Story Grid by Shawn Coyne. Or even just made a final decision on a log line or one sentence summary of the novel I want to write this year.

While I was hoping to be more ahead in plotting (there is time blocked on Saturday, and four days before the first starting now), I was instantly sad to not find my copy of The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. Perhaps it is time to rearrange my bookshelves and give the search another go. While I suspect this novel may not be my usual journey story, I wanted to look at the archetypes like mentor and trickster to include as I flesh out my secondary characters.

But the good news is that even though my plotting is not ready and there is some time to take advantage of prep before I begin chapter one, I do have a clean house with meals prepped and planned. 

So that's a win, and I'll take it.

Sneaky #NaNoWriMo #WriteTip #NaNoTip

I've participated in NaNoWriMo on and off for the past five years or so, although I only won in 2018 and 2019. To be honest, I'm still not sure if I'm going to participate this year - I sure don't have a lot of time left to decide! Whether I choose to do it or not, I have a few tips to offer from my personal experience that have made NaNoWriMo easier the past few years. They're sort of sneaky tips, things that might be a little writer-unethical, but they'll get you there in the end.

1) Give yourself permission to write badly. Like, really badly.

It's something that's so hard for us as writers, but it's kind of the whole point of NaNoWriMo. Our only goal is to get the words written, no matter what they are. Let yourself write your worst manuscript without stopping to edit along the way. If you really need to change something, make a note to go back and do so after NaNoWriMo is over. Remember, words written are words written - the last thing you want is to make an edit and find out you have fewer words now. We're going for quantity over quality here. 

Take an example from my 2019 NaNoWriMo manuscript. As I was getting to the end of my MS, I was seriously running out of steam. I used the phrase "Then something bad happened" twice on the same page just as a way to transition to the next plot event. And you know what? 

Who cares?

Who cares if your first draft is messy? Who cares if you talk around that word you just can't remember in the moment? Who cares if you use the word "just" five hundred times? All you have to do is get to the end of your manuscript, regardless of how you get there. 

2) Use juicy scenes as a reward.

I usually write from an outline, so I usually write my manuscripts sequentially. Sometimes, though, I get bored of a particular section, or I lose my momentum thinking of how much I have left to write. So, I tell myself that if I hit my word count goal for the day, I can skip ahead and write a scene I'm really looking forward to. It's an excellent motivator, because it gets me three wins: I get my daily words in, I get a little extra done with the bonus scene, and I end my writing time on a high. 

Good luck to everyone who's participating this year! We hope you've picked up a new tip or trick to make your 2020 NaNoWriMo experience a little better.

Make Writing the Reward #NaNoWriMo Prep #Nanotip #Writetip

Make writing the reward.

Go ahead, play a video game for a little bit. "I'll just play for 20 minutes or until I unlock this achievement." 

Scroll on social media.

Whatever activity you do that keeps you from writing.

BUT FIRST

Write this down:

"I will (whatever activity) until (whatever time or goal). Then my REWARD will be GETTING to write (for whatever amount of time or word count)!"

Then read it to yourself. For that second sentence, use all your enthusiasm. 

It will feel silly at first.

Keep doing it. Every time. Every day. 

The goal is to trick your mind into believing that writing is your reward.

All too often we reward ourselves for stopping writing. "I hit my 1,667-word count goal for the day, so now I'm going to do something fun."

It wires our brain to treat writing, our creative gift, as work. As something we HAVE to do. Which kills the desire and passion.

So make writing the reward. Decide that it is. Say that it is. Phrase it that way. 

When you actively think about writing as a reward, it will become one. You can get yourself excited about it again.

Don't say you HAVE to write 1,667-words a day. Say you GET to write them. 

Not even that you want to, hope to, or plan to. Phrase it as a reward. "When I get this other stuff done, I'll let myself write those words."

Remember to use enthusiasm. Sound upbeat. Even if you're just saying it in your head. Strike that- ESPECIALLY when you're saying it in your head.

And after you've written your words, cheer for yourself. "I got my reward! Yay! I'm excited to get more of this reward."

If you have a bad writing session, you can say, "I wish I was able to enjoy this reward more. I hope I can sleep on it and get another chance tomorrow."

Keep that mindset. 

Sometimes we do get rewards in life that don't live up to our hopes. But it's still something we didn't have before. Every word you get on the page is one more that wasn't there before. It's one more that can be edited, be improved, and counts toward your lifetime of words. It's better than none. It's great practice, at the very least.

This costs nothing to try. You don't need to buy any special software. Give it a shot. And please share your success stories in the comments!

Suzanna's Intro to #NaNoWriMo #Nanotip #Writetip

 

Ah, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming! I cannot believe that this will be year twelve for me. Twelve! I have so many tips that I do not know where to start. But I will start with an introduction here and a couple of tips because I will be posting about NaNo every Tuesday in November with more in-depth information.

Take a deep breath.

Seriously.

I highly recommend doing all the household chores (laundry, vacuum, whatever you need to do) and maybe plan a basic food menu to survive November. I love procrastinating with cleaning and cooking, but if you can have a clean home and the first week of meals planned for November, you can take advantage of the first week excitement and get ahead in your word count.

I tend to get the second week blues very badly every year. I start to lose momentum, something goes off plan in the writing or life, and I must dig myself out of the muck. So, I take advantage of the first week excitement and double down on word count with Reverse NaNo. Instead of 1,667 words on the first day, I aim for 3,346. Check out the word count goals here.

Every NaNo I try to innovate my approach to finding a smoother way to get through NaNo. Each novel has a notebook (no more loose-leaf paper). I clean and meal plan before November. I begin to go on a social media and gaming diet to prepare myself to make more time for writing daily. I begin to look at the region schedules to find write ins to attend, which are all virtual this year. Find a buddy to create and exchange a gift box with small gifts at word count milestones. Make it fun with candy and journals and unique gifts. It is nice to open a present someone picked for you in addition to the reward of reaching a word count milestone.

Have fun with NaNo, and it may be one of the best months of the year.

 

Preptober: Gearing Up for National Novel Writing Month

I know what you're thinking: "NaNoWriMo ALREADY??? Pump the brakes, Ortega, NaNoWriMo isn’t for another month!”


Yeah well I’m an overachiever I guess. I’m also very, very superstitious. And it's time to start planning.

Image courtesy of Fangirl Likes

Last year, I used the 90-Day Novel process to prep for NaNoWriMo. In this post from last October, I was only on day twelve and very worried about actually keeping up with the daily writing requirements. Well, as it turns out, the process worked really well for me and acted as a super awesome amazing rad way to get myself in the right mindset for writing that manuscript. And ultimately, that’s the manuscript that helped me sign with my agent. So I’d say the foundations I laid down last October were not a waste of time.


Of course, my superstitious habit-driven brain has been screaming at me for the past month that I have to do things exactly the same way this year or I WILL FAIL.


Being in my brain is fun J


Anyway. I’m starting the prep process on October 3. For the past month, I’ve been writing down ideas as they came to me – my coworkers think I’m a very diligent note-taker, and I am, but it’s half work stuff and half fiction – and I already have about 30 pages of world building, character notes, and a rough outline. I'm very excited to get started, but I'm also trying to manage my expectations. I very much doubt that things are going to go as well as they did last year. But I can dream.

Anybody else doing NaNoWriMo prep in October, aka Preptober? How do you prepare? Are you more of a pantser or a planner, or maybe a plantser? Drop a comment and let us know!

Prep for National Novel Writing Month

The time is nearly upon us! National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is mere days away. Don't worry if you're not feeling ready - is anyone ever ready for this? As we count down the hours, the OA team has some tips for surviving the month of November.

1. It's okay to fall off the wagon. Accept that this might happen to you. It happens to me every other year: I hit my word count the first three days, forget on the fourth day, and then slide into nothingness with a whopping NaNoWriMo final word count of 5,821 because it was too much of a struggle to catch up. Sometimes life gets in the way, and that's okay. As much as you can, instead of trying to catch up to where the NaNoWriMo site tells you you're supposed to be with your word count, just try to hit that 1,700-word mark for the day. You never know, you might catch up on your own when you get a sudden burst of inspiration!
2. Find a community. It's been said time and time again: writing is a solitary thing. And with a goal seemingly as unattainable as NaNoWriMo's 50K words, it can feel that much more isolating. Many major cities have write-in events, which are increasingly taking place online. Find a buddy, find a group, find someone on the other side of the globe!
3. Save everything everywhere. The last thing you want is to be nearly done and lose your manuscript in a sudden computer Blue Screen of Death. Have backups of your backups. Save frequently. Email drafts to yourself, email them to your mom, email them to your high school volleyball coach - just keep backing everything up. Save to a flash drive, print a physical copy, put it on the cloud, do whatever you have to do.
4. Keep going... The hardest thing about NaNoWriMo is doing it. Whether you're a planner or a pantser or somewhere in between, everything you do before NaNoWriMo can easily seem like it wasn't enough. Just keep pushing forward, even when the writing isn't going well. If you feel like you don't have time to sit down and write, work during your commute by writing on a Google Doc on your phone. Give yourself permission to write badly. This is a first draft; it doesn't have to be perfect. 
5. ...but you can always stop. When NaNoWriMo gets to be too much, it's okay to shelve a project. Especially as we get toward the end of November and it seems like everyone is claiming their NaNoWriMo win, it's really hard for those of us whose projects just didn't work out for one reason or another: didn't have enough time, lost the thread of the story, couldn't figure out that one plot hole. It's okay to stop. It's okay to say, hey, I thought this story/plot/idea would work, and it just isn't right now. November isn't a magical month where the writing pantheon opens its gates and pours down inspiration onto the masses (as awesome as that would be). It's a month like any other, and sometimes we need a break.

No matter what you end up doing during NaNoWriMo, when it comes to writing, pennies are money - every word counts, and every word matters. Don't worry, just write.

You can find more tips at this link, which is a handout from J's local NaNoWriMo community! If you have more ideas, please leave a comment!