I've been seriously wiped out since the TechCrunch meetup and while I have done some writing, I want more done before I post another update. I'll be putting it up later on, probably when I've finished chapter 4, and maybe again when I've got some of 5 done. Just hang in there a bit longer!
Scrivener for Windows
Scrivener Tips for NaNoWriMo
I love NaNoWriMo. I also love Scrivener. It should come, then, as little surprise that I use the latter when taking part in the former.
As I like to do, I've come up with a small collection of tips to help people out during NaNoWriMo. It can be a pretty stressful time of year for those who are participating, and every little bit helps. Here are my top tips for using Scrivener to organize yourself for meeting your daily word goals and winning at the end of the month.
Set Up a Structure
I've got pre-set chapter templates, with each chapter earmarked for roughly 2,000 words. Within these chapters, I set up "session" documents. This is where I do the bulk of my writing. Each session is short; how short, I'll get to in a moment. But because they're short, I can tear through them with almost no effort.
Set Up Word Count Targets
I wrote about these last year. I've refined my approach in the year since though, and so I think they're worth revisiting in a big way. The core of what I wrote then still applies - setting small goals that you can finish easily is still a big part of my strategy.
Each of the sessions in my chapters are targeted to 250 words. 250 words is nothing; anyone should be able to write 250 words in 10 minutes, 20 if you're slow. 5 if you're really fast or on a roll.
In order to hit the minimum daily target of 1,667 words, I have to finish 7 of these session documents, but man, 250 words is such an easy target to hit! I've had absolutely no problem doing it this time around.
Don't Be Afraid to Stray
You might be looking at all those structure documents in those chapters up there and be thinking to yourself, "Wow, that looks awkward. Do I really have to stop writing and skip down to the next file to keep going?"
Of course not, it would be crazy to say that you must do it that way. I actually do exactly that though, because it keeps the session files looking small and harmless, but if you prefer to just keep writing in the same continuous file, go for it. Like I said, my session files often end up longer than 250 words. 350-450 isn't uncommon.
Color-Code Sections
Scrivener lets you color-code by label. In the image above, I've set chapters to be green (for now) and sessions to be yellow. For the moment, that's of limited value to me. Later on when I'm further into the book it can become indispensable.
If you followed along as I wrote The Ship of the Unforgotten for June's Camp NaNoWriMo, you may remember that I had one group of characters that split off into protagonists and antagonist, and then the protagonists further divided into sub-groups as well.
I used color-coded sections to keep track of who was active in what part of the story in Scrivener's section list (what they call the Binder), which made it much easier to ensure that I was giving sufficient coverage to all the parts of the story that needed it.
I think that's good for this year; I do have to get back to my NaNoWriMo project, after all. Good luck with yours, if you decide to participate!
NaNoWriMo 2012
It's November, Halloween is over, and that can only mean two things.
First, it's the 1-year anniversary of my leaving my old day job. This past year has been incredible, and has shown me the path I have to take, even if it's not the easiest path in the world.
Second, it's NaNoWriMo time once again, and so I begin another 30-day, 50,000 word writing odyssey. As I write this, I have no idea what my book will be about, but that's okay. I consider brainstorming and outlining within the 30 days to be an optional part of the challenge. I'll work it out later today. And then I'll likely change it as I write it, and that's fine too.
Good luck to anyone else who's taking part in the challenge this month! My NaNoWriMo writer's profile is at http://nanowrimo.org/en/participants/mcleodg. Feel free to add me as a writing buddy, if you're so inclined.
An Improbable First Year
in News
Happy Birthday to Fiction Improbable! Sort of.
I started this crazy writing experiment of mine one year ago today, October 29th, 2011. At the time, the site I designed was called Scribblings with the Mist, a simple Blogspot blog that I used for NaNoWriMo 2011.
In this past year, I've done quite a bit of stuff.
- Left my day job, thanks to layoffs. Best thing that ever happened to me.
- Completed NaNoWriMo 2011.
- Started the Fiction Improbable site proper on Squarespace.
- Wrote 14 stories and works-in-progress, several of them novella and/or novel-length. (And I promise, I have not forgotten the unfinished works-in-progress.)
- Finished June's Camp NaNoWriMo 2012.
- Published Determination to the Amazon Kindle store. (I even sold a few!)
- Gotten amazing encouragement and support from some frankly shocking people and places.
- Somehow acquired actual fans! Thank you!
I can't believe it's been a year already, and I'm about to publish my second story to Amazon.
And yes, this means it's just about time for NaNoWriMo 2012, and you bet I'll be taking part again this year. By the time I'm done this time around, I'll also have finished WIP500, the challenge to write 500 words a day every day for a year, reaching a total of at least 182,500 words for the year.
This has been a fantastic year, and even though I am going to have to find a new day job soon, I expect year 2 to only get better. Hope you'll stick with me to find out what happens next!
Stephen Fry is my New Language Hero
in General
My use of language has changed considerably over the last year, at least in my own mind. I don't know that anyone else would notice. I've been reading a lot of grammar books, listening to grammar podcasts (Grammar Girl is my hero!) but of everything I've run across, this has to be the most fantastically amazing.
I've been going to all these lengths to learn the "proper" way to phrase things instead of relying on a lifetime's worth of intuitive understanding, as I've always done before. And yet I've long been a champion of the cry that "language is evolving!" when confronted by people who can't stand alterations to English that seem too drastic, like the dreaded nouning of a verb.
It feels like a bit of a contradiction sometimes, though I have been finding as I study more and more what the "correct" way is supposed to be, the more I enjoy it when I see people using language creatively. If you embrace the evolution of language and are able to see past the stuffy rigid bounds of what things should be, I salute you. Watch that video and enjoy!
If you can't let go of the past, of the way it should be, then I'm not sure what to say, other than I'm deeply sorry you feel that way.