Inspirational Vegas

I Win, originally uploaded by Kevin Labianco.

When I learned that I would be taking a two-day business trip in the midst of novel-writing season, I was concerned that the distraction would adversely affect my word count. In fact, it did quite the opposite. This was due to a combination of two factors: long, uninterrupted time in the air, and inspiration from being in a strange environment.

I don't have to explain the benefits of working on the plane. With nothing to distract me and a three hour flight stretching out ahead, I just turned on my laptop and plugged away. I typed over 5,000 words on both flights combined. That's 10% of my novel right there!

Then, the atmosphere in Las Vegas was tremendously helpful for stirring up my imagination. Everything on the strip was bright and sharp and designed to get a reaction. Plus it was a great place for watching and meeting interesting people. On the taxi ride to the airport, I told my driver I was from the Twin Cities, and he told me that he served with the founder of Groth Music. There are stories everywhere.

NaNoWriMo: a winner is me

I wrote 50,000 words in 30 days (actually within 24 days). I wasn't doing too well with writing on week days, so I decided to use this holiday weekend for a marathon novel finish. My final count when I stopped to check around 2:25 this afternoon was 50,100 words.

Here's a fun graph that shows my total word count creeping up towards the 50k goal. The blue line represents the minimum average words/day needed to reach that goal by November 30. The red line is where I would be if I stayed on track with exactly 2,000 words per day. I finished precisely one day ahead of schedule.

The next graph charts my daily word count. I was all over the place! This is why it's a good idea to aim high. Even though I completely missed a couple of days, I had built up enough of a buffer that I never fell below that minimum line.

This was my fourth year doing NaNoWriMo. It is always kind of tedious most of the time, with brief flashes of inspiration, and a great feeling of accomplishment at the end. This was my most solid effort to date. I wasn't done telling the story when I hit the finish line, so I still have to write the finale of my novel, and maybe one day I'll even edit this one into a legible first draft. Until then, please enjoy the photo journal (click to see all posts for the month of November and read from the bottom up for a visual approximation of my story).

NaNoWriMo: your novel is bad

Ode to Jack Kerouac, originally uploaded by Olivander.

There are people who fuss about trying to make everything perfect. They delete. They edit. They agonize over the perfect turn of phrase. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and guess what happens after all this work? They fail at NaNoWriMo and their first draft is still shit.

Don't be this person. Think of their example as the Goofus to yesterday's Gallant.

There is one essential thing you need to know about your novel if you want to get through this: it's going to suck. Make your peace with that. It's just a first draft. They all suck. The thing is, your first draft doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't even have to be good. You just have to finish. The NaNoWriMo word counter doesn't care the writing is good or bad; if you managed to type 50,000 words, then you are a winner.

Good luck, writers! I'll see you on the other side.

NaNoWriMo: writing tips for new participants

Underwood 1, originally uploaded by Isayana.

As a 3-year veteran of the month-long writing marathon that is NaNoWriMo, I feel qualified to offer a little advice, on the off chance that anyone aspires to follow in my steps. First of all, it's less like footprints in the sand and more like a butt-print on my desk chair. To type a 50,000 word novel in 30 days requires a serious commitment to sitting. If that sounds like something you want to do then read on, and Godspeed, dear reader.

• Make a schedule. Set aside some uninterruptable typing time, if possible. I do my writing in the evening, when I feel most creative.
• Type 2,000 words per day. It's a good, clear, round number goal. There's a cushion of 333 words/day if you fall short later, and you'll finish with five days to spare if you maintain this schedule. Party time!
  
• Don't delete. Ever! Pry the backspace off your keyboard. The words you have typed are words in the bank. No withdrawals allowed.
  
• Don't edit. There's a whole other month for this. Don't proofread, analyze, or agonize over what you've already written; keep moving forward.
  
• Fix it later. This is the corollary to the previous rule. Make it your mantra: "I'll fix it in the re-write."
• Free your mind. The rest will follow. This type of writing is a Zen exercise. Don't think; just write!
  

Here's most of the same advice in longer form and 3 years older. Tomorrow, I'm going to keep talking about this stuff, so check back in December everyone!

NaNo Technology: speech recognition

PhotonQ-Nanobiobots BloodReplication's PetriDish, originally uploaded by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE.

In previous NaNoWriMo years, I had lots of free time to write at home (or at work, as the case may be). This year, I'm spending up to two hours in the car every day, driving to a job that actually challenges me and keeps me busy. That doesn't leave lots of time to write a 50,000-word novel.

What's the ideal solution? Writing in my car, of course! By dictating during my commute, I could reach my quota before I get home, and keep my evenings open for family time. Therefore, I started researching speech-to-text solutions.

This PC World article lays out the procedure for pairing a digital voice recorder with speech recognition software. The writer sounds satisfied with the results he got using a Sony ICD-SX57 and Nuance Software's Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9, but other reviews have been less favorable. I'm leaning towards an O'Reilly-recommended Olympus DS-2. It's less expensive but still more than I can afford right now. Does anyone out there have a recommendation for doing this on the cheap?