NaNoWriMo – Page 2 – Gwen Hernandez

Brain on fire

November 6, 2014Gwen HernandezWriting Life8 Comments

My brain is on fire.

In a good way.

I’m not officially participating in NaNoWriMo this year, but I’m still writing as much as possible. One of the benefits of working on my book every day is something I’ve noticed during NaNo in years past: The more I write, the more ideas come to me at all times of the day. Last night I even had a dream that rehashed the scene I was working on, something that rarely happens to me.

I love this state.

The joy, this constant flow of ideas, is how I felt when I first started writing nearly six(!) years ago. I thought about my characters while walking the dog, jogging, driving, shopping, eating, sleeping, cooking… At any time, I might get hit with the solution to a troubling scene, an idea for how to make the stakes higher or deepen the emotional impact, or a great twist.

Sadly, this phenomenon also works in reverse. Worse, I’ve tested the theory several times. 😉 The less I write, the less motivation I have to write, the more time passes between great ideas and thoughts of my story, and so I write even less. I sit down and stare at the page with no idea where to go next.

That loss of excitement and flow is the reason I signed up for NaNo the second time (and 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th). To remind myself that consistency was the key to getting my writerly brain back, banishing the infernal internal editor who blocks me, and rediscovering the joy of telling stories.

It also reminds me that I can write way more words than I think I can.

When it comes down to it—like with anything—the key (for me, anyway) is to keep working at it. When it’s a slog, I brainstorm, free write, or reread parts of the story that I’ve forgotten. I do research or write backstory scenes to get to know my characters better. Anything to keep my head in the game.

Anything to keep my brain on fire.

Leveraging Scrivener for NaNoWriMo

October 30, 2014Gwen HernandezTech Stuff, Writing Life8 Comments

For the first time since I started writing, I’m not participating in NaNoWriMo. Not because I doubt the value of it, but because I’m nearing the end of my book and I need to focus on finishing and revising, rather than stressing over daily word count.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t remind you of all the ways I think Scrivener is great for NaNo. 🙂

The key to making your 1667 words per day is to never stop writing. Don’t edit, don’t research, don’t stare at the wall trying to craft the perfect line of dialog. Just write. Scrivener can help.

Since this post has become an annual tradition—and I don’t think I can top my suggestions for last year—here’s the lowdown on Scrivener’s best features for NaNoWriMo—and a bit of inspiration—from 2013.

Time-delay the Idea Fairy

Create a couple of text documents somewhere outside of the Draft/Manuscript folder before you start.

1) A document to jot down concepts that come to you for future scenes. When an idea hits, you can make a note of it and get back to work. I call mine “Ideas”. Clever, yes?

2) A change log to keep track of changes you want to make to existing scenes. Don’t go back and make the revisions, just note them in the log and keep writing as if you already did. In another dazzling display of brilliance, mine is named “Change Log”.

Just Keep Writing

Next time you get stuck trying to figure out the witty dialog in a scene, the ideal name for your fictional corporation, or the mating rituals of the Asian long-horned beetle, create an annotation (Format—>Inline Annotation) or a comment (Format—>Comment) to make a note of it and keep writing.

Later you can go back and use Edit—>Find—>Find By Formatting to search for annotations and comments when you’re ready to work on them. AFTER you hit 50K.

Block Distractions

Free yourself from distractions with Full Screen Composition mode. Called Full Screen in Windows and Composition mode on the Mac (to avoid confusion with Mac’s full screen option), this feature blocks out everything but your blank page so you can just write.

Consider adding a custom background color or image to keep you in the right frame of mind.

Add a pair of headphones or earbuds—with or without music—and you’re ready to rock.

Pre-Plot, If You Prefer

If you’re a plotter, consider creating your scene documents beforehand either in the Binder or the Corkboard. If you like to plot using index cards, then select the Draft/Manuscript folder, make sure you’re in Corkboard view (View—>Corkboard if you’re not), then click the circular green Add button on the toolbar to create a new card. Title it, add a brief synopsis of the scene and repeat.

Once you have all of your scene documents created it’s merely a matter of filling them with words starting November 1.

Keep Important Info at Hand

You don’t want to spend your precious writing time searching for a key piece of information. Before November rolls around, import into your project any research documents, images, or references you must have in order to write. Select the desired folder (outside of the Draft/Manuscript folder) and go to File—>Import. For web pages, you might want to use References instead.

Track Your Progress

Your goal is 50,000 words, and Scrivener makes it easy to track your progress with project targets. Go to Project—>Show Project Targets (Mac) or Project–>Project Targets (Windows).

You can set a target for the entire manuscript, as well as one for each writing session. The session target is nice because it lets you track your word count either over the course of a whole day, or in smaller writing “sprints”.

One thing to keep in mind with word count is that the NaNoWriMo site might calculate word count slightly differently than Scrivener. For example, Scrivener counts a hyphenated word as two, while the NaNo counter looks for spaces to identify each new word and only counts hyphenated words as one. So, you might want to shoot a little beyond the 50K finish line just to be on the safe side.

Download the NaNoWriMo Template or Trial Version

Current Scrivener users can download a special NaNoWriMo template that comes loaded with predefined project statistics and compile settings.

For those who are new to Scrivener, Most Wonderful Keith and his crew at Literature & Latte have put together a NaNo version of the Scrivener free trial that gives you extra time to play with the program and includes the template I mentioned above. If you decide you love Scrivener, wait for the NaNoWriMo discount at the end of November before you buy.

Remember the Point

Don’t forget that NaNoWriMo is intended to be fun. It’s supposed to be a challenge that forces you to re-evaluate what you’re capable of. 4000-word writing days? You betcha. Writing for three, four, or eight hours in one day? I know you can do it.

And in the end, even if you don’t reach 50K, you’re still a lot further ahead than you were on November 1st. That makes you a winner no matter what.

Good luck!

For more information on the features mentioned in this post, check out Scrivener For Dummies or sign up for an online class.

5 Year Anniversary!

By the way, this week was the five year anniversary of my blog. I can’t believe I’ve been writing posts for that long, or that some of you have stuck around with me since nearly the beginning. For my followers—new and old—thank you for your continued support.

If you're curious, here’s my first blog post from October 27, 2009: Goal, Motivation & Conflict. At that time, I’d been writing for less than a year. It wasn’t long before I put up my first Scrivener post, and the rest is history… 😉

If you aim at nothing

December 4, 2013Gwen HernandezWriting Life

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”
~ Zig Ziglar

I didn’t win NaNoWriMo (again) this year.

I’m okay with that.

The first two years I participated in National Novel Writing Month—2010 and 2011—I won. It wasn’t easy by any stretch, but I managed it.

The last two times I attempted NaNo were a different story. In both cases, I was in the middle of editing another manuscript while trying to work on my 50K. It was probably unrealistic of me to expect that I even had a chance when I wasn’t going to be able to devote myself more fully to writing. So why bother?

Because it’s not really about the 50K for me, it’s about the push.

Sure, I didn’t make my goal, but I still wrote 37,735 words! I accomplished that even though I only wrote on 20 of the available 30 days, which gives me an average of about 1887 words per day. For me, that's a really good average. If I’d done that every day, I would have hit 50K three days ahead of schedule.

The main thing is that I now have almost 38,000 words that I didn’t have on November first.

Score! If I got nothing else out of NaNo, that would be plenty. But I always get more out of it.

I’ve reminded myself that I can keep writing even when I think I can’t. Those times when I thought I didn’t have any words left, but I still needed to squeeze out 200 more (or ten more minutes), I somehow found a way to keep writing. Several times I got on a roll and kept going for significantly longer.

In fact, some of my best work came after I pushed through a block.

My most productive day was 4.5 hours of writing that yielded almost 3200 words. It’s easy to forget that I have the ability to tune everything else out and do that, then repeat the feat again the next day. It’s a capability I have to keep in mind if I’m going to be as prolific as I’d like.

Participating in NaNo is the annual adjustment I need to remember what’s really important (the writing), and how to make sure I get it done (turn off and tune out distractions, keep putting my rear in the chair until I’ve met my daily goal, push through the hard times, write even when I don’t think I have nothing to say).

The more I write, the more the ideas flow. Somehow I always forget that. I tend to get stuck in a story and want to dwell on the fix for days by brainstorming, making outlines, reading other people’s books… 😉 But if I just sit and write—maybe even another scene or just random notes and ideas—the solution comes. Every time.

The few minutes after I awake each day are more productive than ever when I’m writing consistently. They produce very few ideas when I’m in “brainstorming mode.”

So for me, it’s not about the 50K so much as the rejuvenation of my writing mind and soul, the cultivation of the habits that help me get the work done, and the increased output that is still a huge leap for me, even if I don’t “win.”

For me, that is a win.

—

Image credits:
Aims, By Youth Hostel (Own work) (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
Quote, by http://addicted2success.com/quotes/60-colorful-picture-quotes-to-empower-your-life/

Igniting the writing

November 13, 2013Gwen HernandezWriting Life

My writing brain is on fire! In a good way.

It’s because of NaNoWriMo. One of the things I like best about participating is that it reminds me of a few key points that I seem to forget over the course of the year.

For example, when I’m stuck on a current or future plot point, I tend to quit writing and brainstorm until I figure it out. This sometimes means days or even weeks of not writing. During NaNo, however, I have to keep going or I’ll never meet my goal.

And a funny thing happens.

The more I write, the more ideas I have, and the easier they come.

This month the plot bunnies have been multiplying like, well, bunnies in my mind. I’ve been waking up with new visions for my storyline, thinking of story concepts while walking the dog, and solving character dilemmas while driving in my car.

When I first started writing—and couldn’t wait to sit down to do it every day—this happened to me all the time. I was full-to-bursting with ideas on where to take my stories. Somewhere along the way I lost my trust in that process, and I lost the constant flow of revelations.

Pushing myself through NaNoWriMo reminds me that my brain works best when I’m writing.

Sure, I may go off on tangents, and I may end up cutting a lot of what I write later, but that’s okay. If that’s the price of the ideas I need, I’ll take it. And often, even what gets cut becomes useful down the road. If nothing else, it’s practice.

The other thing this challenge always reminds me is that I can write more than I think I can.

On a normal day, I might reach 1000 words and feel like I can’t do much more. Or I might get stumped after writing 876 words and decide it’s a good spot to quit while I ponder what should come next. But since I now need to produce more words to meet the 50K goal, somehow I just push through the 1K barrier, I force myself to write through the tough spot.

And you know what? I can. Every. Time.

Someone remind me of that when January rolls around and I’m struggling again. 😉

These are some of the reasons I participate in NaNoWriMo. It’s about much more than getting down 50,000 words in 30 days. It’s about reigniting my writing.

What about you? Any lessons learned—or relearned—from NaNoWriMo so far?

—

Image credit: Match: By Sebastian Ritter (Rise0011) (Own work) (CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)), via Wikimedia Commons

No Easy Day for writers

November 6, 2013Gwen HernandezWriting Life

How is NaNoWriMo like SEAL training? It’s not.

(Well, except that the Navy loves its partial word acronyms too. Like NAVSPECWARDEVGRU and COMNAVSEASYSCOM to name two.)

But after reading No Easy Day by former U.S. Navy SEAL Mark Owen, I think there are a few things we could learn from special forces operators that might help us reach 50K in 30 days (or any other tough goal).

Owen survived BUD/S (SEAL training) by concentrating on making it to his next meal. That’s it. He didn't worry about what was coming in the next day, week, or month. He just had to survive until breakfast. Only until lunch. If you focus on the seemingly endless days of hard work ahead, it’s easy to give up.

Stay grounded in the present. Set a goal for this hour or this day and work on that. Each day of NaNo you need to write 1667 words. If you have three hours to write, then each hour you only need 556 words. Piece of cake, right? 😉

Something else Owen mentioned that really stuck with me was the idea that he had to “be comfortable being uncomfortable”. There’s nothing comfortable about constantly being cold, wet, and sandy while working your mind and body beyond all reasonable limits.

For most people, the same is true of a stretch-goal like NaNo, giving up sugar for a month, or self-publishing a trilogy. Goals like that push you outside your comfort zone. And that’s okay. If you can be comfortable being uncomfortable, you can do just about anything.

Leo Babauta of ZenHabits talks about this a lot too. He recommends watching yourself be uncomfortable. Watch the feeling rise and fall. Own it. And then keep going.

In No Easy Day, Owen mentions the traits he thinks the best SEALs possess. Some of these don’t directly apply to my career. After all, my work isn’t life and death. But I found them interesting. I’ll bet in some way you’ll find that most people who are successful in their chosen career—by their own definition, not society’s—embody at least some of these.

Especially the first one.

1. Fear of failure.
This is a recurring theme in many of the special forces memoirs and biographies I’ve read. These guys will do anything to avoid failing at something they start.

2. Always striving to be their best and provide the most value for the team.
Writers may not be part of a team in most instances, but those who strive to put out their best work and give their readers a good story (along with quality editing and covers, if self-pubbed), are most likely to sell well.

3. Always ready and waiting to go to the next thing. Don’t just want to train for it, want to do it.
These guys train hard, but eventually they want to test their skills in the real world. They want to be useful. Many of us want to be published. We want people to see our work. We read about writing, take classes to improve our craft, and dabble in it. But to get published, you have to take the next step. Write, polish, query, submit, repeat. Or, eventually, self-publish. Don’t just train for it. Do it!

4. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.
I’m not sure there’s a real metaphor for writing here, but most of us write in hopes of sharing our stories with others, maybe even making the readers’ lives a little better with our words. Putting yourself out there—whether submitting to agents and editors, entering a contest, or dipping your toes in the self-pub waters—can be terrifying. You have to be willing to face the metaphoric death embodied in rejection. Over and over. Writers may not defy death, but writing for publication is not for the faint of heart.

You don’t have to be a SEAL to do amazing things. If you’re not participating in NaNoWriMo—maybe you’re not even a writer—go set some other stretch goal for yourself and approach it like a SEAL. You might be astonished at what you can do.

—

As a side note, I thought No Easy Day was very well done. Plenty of action interspersed with the author’s personal background and experiences, and not too terribly political like some of the other spec ops books I’ve read, or tried to read. Pretty fascinating, really. If you like this kind of thing, put it on your holiday gift list. Or buy it now. 😉

Photo credits:

(1) Unknown Author (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons

(2) By Shane T. McCoy (http://www.navy.mil/view_ahhphotos.asp) (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons

NaNoWriteMore with Scrivener

October 30, 2013Gwen HernandezTech Stuff, Writing Life26 Comments

Anyone else gearing up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? You know, the craziness of attempting to write 50,000 words in 30 days?

I’ve been playing with some early scenes in my next manuscript to help me flesh out the story and get to know the characters better, and now I’m trying to hammer out more of the plot details.

Although I consider myself a pantser, I’m working on having the major turning points and motivations figured out before I get too far into a story these days. Otherwise, I end up doing a lot of backtracking. Plus, having an outline–even a bad or spotty one–helps a lot during NaNo when you don’t have time to spend figuring out what comes next.

Unless, of course, you work like that. I can, but it’s not pretty.

It’s now a tradition for me to remind you of the fabulous ways in which Scrivener can make NaNoWriMo easier. Here are some of my tips for using it to your best advantage in November.

The key? Don’t stop writing for anything, especially not to edit or do research.

Time-delay the Idea Fairy

Create a couple of text documents somewhere outside of the Draft/Manuscript folder before you start.

1) A document to jot down concepts that come to you for future scenes. When an idea hits, you can make a note of it and get back to work. I call mine “Ideas”. Clever, yes?

Just Keep Writing

Later you can go back and use Edit—>Find—>Find By Formatting to search for annotations and comments when you’re ready to work on them. AFTER you hit 50K.

Block Distractions

Consider adding a custom background color or image to keep you in the right frame of mind.

Add a pair of headphones or earbuds—with or without music—and you’re ready to rock.

Pre-Plot, If You Prefer

Once you have all of your scene documents created it’s merely a matter of filling them with words starting November 1.

Keep Important Info at Hand

Track Your Progress

Your goal is 50,000 words, and Scrivener makes it easy to track your progress with project targets. Go to Project—>Show Project Targets (Mac) or Project–>Project Targets (Windows).

Download the NaNoWriMo Template or Trial Version

Current Scrivener users can download a special NaNoWriMo template that comes loaded with predefined project statistics and compile settings.

Remember the Point

And in the end, even if you don’t reach 50K, you’re still a lot further ahead than you were on November 1^st. That makes you a winner no matter what.

Good luck!

Need more help? Sign up for an online class, read more Scrivener articles, or schedule a private training session. If you don't already have it, you can download Scrivener here.

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NaNo OhNo

December 4, 2012Gwen HernandezWriting Life

There's a lot to learn from participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Usually it teaches me that I can do more than I ever thought possible. It rejuvenates my writing soul and builds my confidence. Plus, I love winning! 😉

But there's something to be learned from failure too, which made this year's NaNo a different kind of learning experience for me.

At the end of October I talked about how I need a better outline before I begin writing. And I had a good start on one before November 1^st hit, but I hadn't finished it. Still, I thought it was enough to take the plunge.

Wrong!

So I ended up with about 16,000 words before I realized I had no idea where I was going with the book and that I could spend all of November stressing out while writing a bunch of crap to make a goal, or I could relax and work on my outline.

I chose the second option. Which was hard. I’m really competitive, and one of the reasons NaNo works so well for me is the specter of public humiliation if I don’t meet my goal.

But if you’re working on the wrong goal, completing it doesn’t help you, it only wastes time and energy. It’s like driving 70 miles per hour toward New York when you’re supposed to be heading to San Francisco.

Outlining takes so much longer than I expect to do it right, but I’m amazed at how much the story idea changed—for the better—when I sat down to work on it further. In fact, at some point I had a brilliant (I reserve the right to change my mind about that later) idea, and my hero’s entire story arc and background just fell into place.

So, no three-peat for me this year, but I think I gained something more valuable than 50K. Namely, a better understanding of the process I need to go through, and a growing outline of what I hope will be my next finished novel.

And next year, I’ll make sure I have a solid understanding of my story before I dive into NaNo for win number three.

I’d love to hear your NaNoWriMo stories. What did you learn this year?

Photo credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WrongWaySign.jpg