How to Find a Write In

On the NaNoWriMo home page there is a tab labeled Regions. When you click on that tab you will find several drop down links including one called Come Write In. When you select it the above page opens up and you can click on the light blue box to find Write In locations. They suggest you contact the location for dates and times. Remember, you home region will list Write Ins as well and they usually have more complete information there.

At the time I took this screen shot there were 1,029 entries. Write in your location in the search box and it will immediately sort out the closest upcoming Write Ins for you. My next post will talk about why attending a Write In can be such a boost.

Find Your Region

In the brown bar near the top of the home page at nanowrimo is a tab labeled Regions. This tab will help you find your closest region and be your link to local nanowrimo happenings. When I click on the tab, find a region this pops up. As you can see my closest region is USA;;Ohio::Dayton. There are nano chapters all over the world.

When I click on my region first I get this screen.

And when I click again, I get this. This lists my municipal liaisons, those are folks who volunteer their time to organize nano events and foster a sense of community. You can see that my page also has notes and a constantly updated list of Write Ins.

I am fortunate that there is a second region very close to me USA::Ohio::Elsewhere that is only one county over. You can only choose one region to be your home region but you can belong to facebook groups for as many as you like. The advantage for me is that it gives me more opportunities to find a Write In. I'll post more about Write Ins later.

You've Got NaNo Mail!

I loved the movie You’ve Got Mail and recently watched it again. I had forgotten about hearing the electronic signal when I opened up aol, followed by the cheery voice saying “You’ve got mail.” I don’t get the electronic noise and there is no voice announcement but I get the same anticipatory frisson when I see the little envelope next to Hello, novelone! and a number indicating I have new mail. I tend to save my email for the duration of the 30 days, just feels right somehow. I can go back and read the most recent pep talk (more on those later), check out upcoming write-ins (more on those later too), and see what my buddies have sent my way.

I try to send an email to at least one of my buddies every day. They always write back, usually just a few words but the connection keeps my writing energy up and I hope does the same for them.

One more hint on how to add a Buddy, once you are on your email page on the left side will be a brown box saying Invite a friend. If you know the person’s NaNo name you can fill it in there and buddy up that way. And before you know it you’ll be connected. Expand your tribe!

Choosing Your NaNo Name

When you sign up on the NaNoWriMo site you have to choose a name. At first I thought well, I HAVE a name, why not just use that? I asked the writer friends who were encouraging me to try NaNo who they were on the site and was delighted by the variety and ingenuity of their chosen monikers. Some took the name of one of their characters. Some rearranged the letters in their name to create something new. Some just flat out made something up. Some used their email address. Some used a version of their favorite author’s name. Some used their actual name. Some used initials. Writers are so clever and creative!

After considerable thought I called myself, drumroll please, novelone. I liked the word play. I was working on my first novel and I am a little quirky (well maybe a bit more than a little) so I AM a novel one. Clever, huh? Novel one creating her novel one. I did mention I am writing a series? I liked it so much I have kept it although it is very easy to change your name by simply registering again. You can preserve previous years by just letting them be.

 So have a little fun choosing your NanNo name. Think about how it will look on someone’s buddy list. Think about how you want to be greeted each time you open the page. If you look at the cream box on the top right of the accompanying illustration you can see my Hello novelone! I love it. It reminds me who I am and what this is all about. If you want the site to be where “everybody knows your name” then start buddying people right away. Tomorrow’s post will detail how to do that. It’s easy and fun and you will be creating your very own virtual Cheers writing bar. Admit it, you have that theme song in your head now too. Posts are coming soon about NaNo music!

Love Your Data Charts

Every day when you update your word count a page with this chart on it will pop up. I LOVE this graphic! The average words per day and words written today is a good snap shot of your current pace. The fun part is looking at words remaining, the date you will finish at your current average rate, and when you will finish if you keep that pace. If you have been jackrabbiting because it is early in the month and you are in that first flush of writing power but are worried about sustaining the pace, you can look at the words per day you need to finish on time. In this example because I am a bit ahead, I only need 1,564 words per day to be a winner on the 30th.

Of course if I stay with my personal goal of 2,000 words or more per day I will finish early. I like to post my total on Thanksgiving morning and then spend the day celebrating and relaxing with my family and friends.

Tomorrow we will talk about how to choose a nano name.

Tracking Your Words

The goal is to get to 50,000 words! NaNoWriMo's site provides a quick and easy way to track your count. Once you have registered your novel and sign in, click on My NaNoWriMo  and select dashboard. There you will find a white box (see above) where you can type in your daily total. When you push update, your new word count appears.

The most satisfying part of the day is filling in the new number and then watching the bar graph jump. As you can see, I am just a bit ahead as of the second day. Assuming 1,667 words per day, I would need to have 3,334 to be perfectly on track. As I have 4,670 today, I am a bit ahead so I am above the target line. I know from past years that there will be days where I will not get to 1,667 so having a little cushion feels good to me.

Tomorrow I will show you the second set of stats that appear when you update. If you like to track your words and see exactly where you are and what you need to finish, tomorrow's post will be for you.

It's NaNo Time!

Welcome!  This is my fifth National Novel Writing Month effort. I have been participating since 2012 and have been a winner, completing my 50,000 words, all four years. This year in addition to writing on my work in progress, I am going to blog daily about the process, my progress, and any helpful hints I can share for the good of us all. My humble desire is to collect the best from these blog posts and compile them into an e-book to share with future NaNo writers. I have benefitted so much from this experience; I would like to have something to give back. In the spirit of NaNo’s just write, don’t revise, these posts will not be perfect writing. But also in the spirit of NaNo they will be done and I will have something to revise and polish later.

That is actually the first thing I want to share. The “just write the words” mantra. That was truly a gift to me. Before NaNoWriMo I was writing and revising as I went, sometimes obsessing over one page for hours. Folks, that makes for very slow progress! I wasn’t that way when I journaled. I wrote those words just for myself and was not worried about being judged on accurate grammar, perfect spelling, or beautiful sentences and vocabulary. Yet, when I mine my journals for memoir work, they are exactly the resource that I need.

This time, as I write fiction, I am using this first draft in exactly the same way. I am getting the words down so I can mine them later. As is often said, you can’t revise what you haven’t written! I am crafting a Christmas book and in doing so scratching a writing itch that I have had for several years. It has a character from one of the novels in a series I am writing. And I might as well share the big dream here because I believe in the power of speaking my desire to the universe and then matching that with hard work and purposeful intention, I want this book to one day be a Hallmark Holiday movie.

The photo at the top is a quote on a Kelly Rae Robert's art piece. I see it first thing every morning and am inspired. I love her work and highly recommend it.

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Radiate Possibility (dream bigger)

I am dreaming bigger this year. I am dreaming of completing a first draft of a Christmas book that will one day be scripted for a movie. I am dreaming of writing thirty blog posts that I can turn into an e-book of gratitude and hope.

I hope you will follow my blog and post comments. I welcome your feedback and invite you to dream bigger along with me!

It’s NaNo Time! (Yes, I am singing that to the MC Hammer tune. I am also dancing. Feel free to bust your own moves! More on NaNo dancing and music in future posts.)