NaNo Day 30: FIN!

10/10 would jump.

Hey hey hey! Great work! Congratulations to those who participated. 

1) What did you learn?

2) Did you enjoy it?

3) Will you keep writing?

4) What was your final score?

5) Care to share anything else?

Seriously though you guys, this is harder than it seems at times, but it is so rewarding. Whether you hit 50K or you hit a different goal for yourself, great job. Give yourself a pat on the back, and get some sleep. 

NaNo Day 29: Almost There

No tips. No number lists. Nunna that.

Today is the penultimate day of NaNoWriMo 2012.

Get back to work. You can do it. Make us all proud.

NaNo Day 28: Don't Beat Yourself Up

Even if your novel looks like crap, don't fret. The above picture is concept art from the cinematic turd Battleship, featuring Tim Riggins, Rihanna and the guy from Taken. It could have been great, but it wasn't. (Haven't seen it. Will. But haven't.) This can still be you, though: a cool alien vessel that floats like a crocodile.

1) Think of a turd movie you've seen recently. How would you make it better?

2) Ever read a book and thought "Great, except for that one character?" Kill that character, replace them with someone else. Then share with the class. 

3) What movie are you excited for most this December? Besides Les Mis and Hobbit. 

NaNo Day 27: The Engine

Look, some guys put up posters of models in bikinis, I keep pictures of chromed engines on my hard drive. What. 

1) The above car is owned by Jay Leno. Have him drive through the scene you're writing today. (Or imagine it. Whatever.) What happens?

2) Don't worry if your engine looks like a rusted out piece of crap that doesn't fit the space intended: when you edit, it will look like this.

3) What does your MC drive?

NaNo Day 26: CyberMonday

 

I don't care if it's the biggest Internet sales day of the year, you still have five days left to hit your goal (including today) so hit it. NOW.

1) Where are you in your story? First, second, third act?

2) Jump ahead in your story if there's another part you're more excited to write. Try it.

3) What cancelled TV show would you put back on the air? Besides Firefly.

NaNo Day #24: 80% complete!

Seriously! Eighty percent! And it seems like only six days ago it was sixty percent! Math is a cruel mistress. 

If the above is an apt metaphor for your WiP in its current state, congratulations! You are doing NaNoWriMo.

1) How many words will you write in the next six days?

2) How much will you write after that?

3) What's your favorite part of your book so far?

NaNo Day 23: On This, the Blackest of Fridays

I think you're gonna need a bigger sword.

Editing your NaNo WiP is no easy chore. So do the American thing and put it off until you have to do it!

Right now you are merely planting and growing the sapling that will later become an overgrown elm, spewing sludge onto your front lawn and busting the foundation of your home with its unruly roots.

The important thing to realize is this: you can't prune a tree that isn't there. Neither can you burn it to the ground. You have to create something before you can fix/destroy it as necessary.

So DO NOT EDIT. This is NaNo-WRI-Mo.

1) How many words have you not edited today? This month?

2) Can you name the character in the above photo?

3) How big a sword will you need to edit your WiP?

NaNoWriMo Day 22: Thanksgiving

"And please bless whoever invented pumpkin pie..."

1) Take a moment to be thankful for your blessings. If you so desire to count them here in the comments, you are more than welcome to do so.

2) Did you write at all today? It could technically be a day off, given that most of us will have to cook, but if you can write anything, you're the hero.

3) What is your MC most thankful for?

I personally am grateful to the Inkers for being my friends all these years, for the encouraging words and the confidence you engender. You're all wonderful people and I'm blessed to have you as friends. Keep on keeping on.

NaNoWriMo Day 21: All Your Base Are Belong To Us

1) Come on. Report. Give us the numbers. TALK!

2) You know how action-driven writers always tell you that you can break through writer's block by blowing something up? Well, it's true, but it's also a kind of rookie move. Let me suggest instead that an alien robot dinosaur drop out of the sky and demolish city hall where your MC lives. That oughta spice things up.

3) 9 days left, folks. We're in single digits, and this is technically Hell Week. If you can get some writing done during Thanksgiving, you can do it all month long. Which isn't long, but whatever.

NaNoWriMo Day 20: Oh-oh, you're 2/3rds of the way there...

Oh-OH! Livin' on a prayer!

(That's the lyric, right?)

Hessians stand even less of a chance against George "Mopar" Washington

1) Today I want your total word count (not your daily word count) as a percentage of your goal for the month. Yes, children: tonight, Darth Graham is assigning you math.

2) Yesterday you gave your character a weapon that wouldn't normally have. What happens when you put one of your characters in a vehicle that is removed from their time? (See display above.)

3) Look back on your career as a writer. What has been your greatest moment? (Best thing written, maybe you won an award, your favorite writing piece, etc.)

NaNoWriMo Day 19: Penultimate Monday Edition!!!

1) You know the drill: word counts. I need them.

2) Take any one of your characters and give them a weapon they wouldn't normally have. What happens?

3) Have you done anything freakishly implausible in your book for the sake of maintaining momentum? Do share. :-)

NaNo Day 18: 60% complete...

This awesome piece courtesy of Fstarno

1) On a scale of 1-10, would you live in the above castle? What potential dangers would you face?

2) What's your word count for today? You have twelve days left, so readjust your goals if necessary and keep on gunning for it.

3) What have you learned about NaNo thus far? What have you learned about yourself as a writer?

You guys can do this. It's a day-to-day thing, and if some days aren't that great, you can make it up later. But there are less than two weeks to go, so manage your efforts wisely.

NaNo Day 17: Another Week Ends

So says Blast Thickneck!

1) Do you feel like you've got downhill momentum yet?

2) What's your word count looking like?

3) What has distracted you this week?

Take an awesome picture of yourself. Send it to the group. I'll post it to the blog. Like this:

NaNo Day 16: Bolt Van Der Huge!

1) Tell us of your daily progress.

2) What writing music are you using (if any?)

3) Who would you want to direct the movie of your book?

Scale of 1 to 10, how strange is this chick on a deer statue?

NaNo Day 15: HALFWAY THERE!

Oh, and Bob Johnson! Wait, that's not a tough guy name.

1) Daily and month word count. (Double this number. Is it your goal?)

2) Are you injecting any of your own personal life anecdotes into your WiP? Tell us more.

3) Have you learned any cool tricks for writing when you feel blocked?

Would you ever do this? Discuss.

NaNo Day 14: Crud Bonemeal!

1) What did you write today?

2) What flaws does your main character have?

3) Make your antagonist and protagonist switch roles. Anything interesting happen?

'Bout how large would you say my shirt is in this 2001 photo?

NaNo Day 13: Fridge LargeMeat!

1) How far off-track are you? (Or how far ahead?)

2) Have you gotten any new book ideas along the way?

3) Would you write your book from the POV of one of your side characters? Why or why not?

First word that comes to mind when you see this:

NaNo Day 12: Big McLargeHuge

1) Daily word count!

2) Monthly total!

3) Best line you wrote today? Or the worst? Whatever, just share it!

Caption this photo:

NaNoWriMo: Sunday Edition

Forgive me, I wasn't able to throw up a boatload of posts in advance this Sunday, so I'll just have to wing it.

1) Where are you at in relation to your goal so far?

2) Did you get anything written today?

3) What's your overall impression of the NaNo experience up to now?

For the record, I wish I could write in my current WiP as easily as I write my personal history, but it's just a given that that is going to be easier. I'm much more knowledgeable about my personal history, and snark covers a multitude of sins.

Like this crime against fashion, for example.

Ladies, contain yourselves.

So yeah. If I'll say anything about it, I'll say this much: keep it up. Don't let 11 days be your max. You can all reach your goal in 30 days, no matter how high or low you set it. (My personal best for any NaNo is 103K, in 2008. I don't expect I'll ever do that again, because I was single and had non-interventionist roommates.)

Keep it up. You got this.

NaNoWriMo Day 10: Stump Chunkman!

THE DECADE! I don't know if it's actually called that. I know a 100-mile bike ride is called a century, so who knows. But who cares? You made it!

1) Right?

2) Daily word count, montly total

3) If you're short of your goal average, what sort of drastic measures will you take to make up ground over the next twenty days?

Speed on!

NaNoWriMo Day 9: Gristle McThornbody!

Fact: if you have a "tank" character in your book--a big tough person who can take pain and deal out damage with swift carelessness--and don't know what to name them, you can use any of the blog post names from Inking Cap throughout the month of November. It will be awesome.

1) Did you reach your goal today?

2) Give a big hug to your fam & friends for supporting you throughout this endeavor.

3) I recommend checking out the NaNoWriMo Twitter feed for more motivation.

4) Is there a book to which you would compare your current WiP?

NaNoWriMo Day 8: Buck Plankchest!

Thus far I have named all of the NaNo writing posts with exceedingly strange nomenclature. There is a reason for this: I did the same thing all throughout November of 2010, using the same names I'm using now.

Why, you ask?

Well, because I'm crazy.

I'm also a huge fan of MST3K. All of the names I've used are from this episode:

Anyway, to the important stuff: Sharing Time!

1) How much did you write today?

2) Are you satisfied with where you're at thus far?

3) If not, how will you remedy that over the next 22 days?

NaNoWriMo Day 7: Rip Steakface!

Wow, a whole week! Can ya dig it?

1) Report your daily count and total count.

2) What's the biggest/most obvious/best thing you've learned in the first week?

3) If you could eliminate one distraction, what would it be?

If you need to find a place without distractions, don't rule out the option of sitting in your car with the laptop, guys. It's totally valid. I studied in a closet for a while when I had trouble focusing.

NaNoWriMo Day 6: Roll Fizzlebeef!

Pro tips for tracking your NaNo word count:

1) Never delete anything that you've already written! Just go back and strike it out, or color them red, then write after that. You wrote those words, you should count them! It's like Thomas Edison and the light bulb: he found thousands of ways to not make a light bulb, but he was still working. You're just finding ways to not write your book but you're still working and it still counts.

2) Create a new document called "NaNo 2012 Dump." After you're done writing for the day, copy and paste what you've written into the Dump document. I do this because my outline and my draft are two different documents, but I often write a more detailed outline of the chapter before I write the actual chapter, and I want my effort to count. This helps me track it more accurately.

I suspect that you Wrimos might have higher word counts than you've been reporting (not that you haven't been doing a stellar job thus far!)

Now for the standard stuff.

1) Word count today?

2) Word count total?

3) Would you like to live in the place where your book is set?

That's all, folks! Back to work!

NaNoWriMo Day 5: Flint Ironstag!

Monday, Monday, back to the battle! Yesterday we didn't really work on our main WiPs--we've been using Sundays for side projects. Did the downtime help you clear your head or resolve any niggling plot issues?

1) How much did you write today?

2) Word count so far?

3) How can we encourage you to do better?

And some inspiring words: "The Internet is a big distraction. It's distracting, it's meaningless, it's not real. It's in the air somewhere." --Ray Bradbury

Less Internet, more write!

NaNo Day 4: Trunk Slamchest!

I know it's Sunday, so most of us aren't working on our current WiPs, so here's what I would like to know:

1) What are you writing on your "day off?"

2) What's your total word count for NaNoWriMo as of today?

3) Are you having any trouble with your current WiP? If you are, let us know in the comments!

Keep at it, you guys. We're only 4 days in. Even if you're a little bit behind where you wanted to be, you can still make progress.

NaNoWriMo day 3: Slab Bulkhead!

Okay Wrimos, here's what I want to know:

1) How many words today?

2) How many words for the month?

3) Who's your favorite character in this book so far?

Day 2: No slackers here:)

It's 11 pm so I'm posting on behalf of those who want to post comments under day 2!! This is in no way a coup d'etat or usurpation of Graham's powers. Okay so I can see how it might be a bit of a coup, but I hope we can avoid bloodshed.

Post your word counts:
1) today
2) total
3) Your most amazing moment of the day!!

NaNoWriMo Day 1: Dirk Hardpec!

Don't worry if you don't understand the title. It will make sense in time.

So Wrimos, how'd your first day go? I want to know three things:

1) Your daily word count

2) Your total word count

3) Your favorite part of what you wrote for today.

Have at it!