NaNo Diaries: Distractions #NaNoWriMo

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On any given day, you’re sure to find a post or comment by someone saying they can never find the time to write.

Yes, if you work a fulltime job, have a spouse and children, friends and family, a hobby…any semblance of a LIFE, most days, your time is not your own.

But. Think about it. How many times have you sat down with your device of choice with a task in mind—paying bills, checking test scores, researching a future major purchase, book travel plans, etc.—and found yourself opening your email, checking any or ALL of your social network accounts, watching a video of a sloth eating a grape or taking a quiz to find out which Avenger you’re most like?

Distractions.

You’re not alone. We all have the pretty, shiny object that so easily pulls our attention away from the task at hand.

Pinterest is my downfall.

I can pull up the app in search of a photo of a land mass or mountain range to match a location I’ve written about, and two hours later, I have no photo of my location… but I do have three recipes for Pad Thai, a new pattern for an afghan, fifteen more coffee memes, and a detailed infogram on how to turn empty toilet paper rolls into a decorative Christmas centerpiece.

I am weak and in need of help… and probably intense counseling.

In my last NaNo Diaries post, I mentioned I’d jumped on the AlphaSmart bandwagon. No Internet connection, no wifi—just me and a sturdy little word processor that I purposely use away from all my other devices, including my phone. My adult children hate that.

But there are still times when I need to be online and around all my favorite distractions, and that’s when I use an Internet blocker. I have the paid version of Freedom.to. I can set it for any amount of time I chose, from minutes to hours, and the Internet is gone. Can’t open a browser or app. (Yes, I’ve tried.)

There are quite a few other Internet blocking apps available, but not all have free versions.

Anti-Social (In the process of merging with Freedom.to but love the name!)

Cold Turkey (Free Version Available)

Rescue Time (Free Version Available)

FocusMe

These are great little tools to have to help you block online distractions, but the writing part is still up to you. Sorry.

I started coming down with a head cold yesterday and had to struggle for word count… but I got it! For NaNoWriMo Day 3, I’m at 5544/50000.

Today is NaNoWriMo Double-Up Donation Day. Check it out. Make a donation and double your word count for the day.

I’m going to give it a shot… even though I can’t stop sneezing and my head feels bigger than Wyoming.

Keep Writing!

NaNo Diaries: Editing? Nope! #NaNoWriMo

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One of the first things you’ll learn during a NaNoWriMo challenge is do not waste time editing.

We’re told to turn off our inner editor. Bound, gag and toss them into a closet. Send them on vacation. Put your inner edit on IGNORE.

Editing slows you down. While you should be moving on to the next scene or chapter, you stare at what you’ve written and it just isn’t quite… right.

So, you futz around trying to rebuild the world, or block the scene, or build the suspense and an hour later, the page still sucks, you have a total word count of 537, and you just want a drink or your bed…or both!

Save your sanity and sobriety and don’t edit.

True, it’s easier said than done. But, when you think of the time wasted on editing text that will be re-edited several times in the coming weeks and months after NaNoWriMo, self-editing while you write becomes less of a problem.

In most writing programs and apps, the screen can be modified so only a few lines of text are visible at a time. If self-editing is a big problem for you, it would benefit you to investigate how the process works in your particular writing program.

I’m trying something different this year.

A few months ago, I saw several authors post about the Alphasmart, a writing tool used in schools and computer labs in days gone by. They’re no longer in production, but after a bit of research, I found there are still tons of them around, new and refurbished, and the company still supplies and support. #WIN

I ordered one from Amazon and OMG! The sky is blue, birds are singing, and I’m sure I saw a Unicorn walk past my window!

AlphaSmart NEO2

This is not a high tech piece of equipment. It’s strictly for word processing. There is NO way to connect it to the Internet. It holds up to one hundred pages of text. It’s lightweight and has a battery life unrivaled by any device–more than seven hundred hours from three AAA-batteries. (I’ve been using mine daily for over two months and the usage line on the battery meter is so small, I can’t measure it.)

And word count? My word count is rockin’! Only four lines of text are visible (with the font setting I use) so I can’t see my WIP and languish over words already written when I should be writing new words!

For Day 2 of NaNoWriMo, I wrote 1914 new words. I can live with that!

Word count total – 3815/50000.

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NaNo Diaries #NaNoWriMo

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NaNoWriMo2017… here we go again! Good lord, I think I’m addicted!

Why else would a sane (by most accounts) person put themselves through this?

The adrenaline rush of November 1st morphs into self-doubt by the 15th, and by the 20th when validation begins, NaNoWriMo seems like the stupidest thing to come along since Big Mouth Billy Bass, the singing fish.

And yet, we trip over ourselves to register every year. Gluttons for punishment (like me) even enter the camps in April and July.

But it is SO worth it!

I’ve learned a lot. Writing voice, writing styles, show vs. tell, passive voice… are more than simple phrases authors throw out to sound smart. (Um…I’ll leave that alone.)

These are just some of the elements needed to write an interesting book.

NaNoWriMo also reinforces the point that even pantsers need a plan. (Calm down, pantsers!)

I was a die-hard pantser–and it worked for me for years. But then, I was writing for myself, church bulletins, PTA newsletters, and fanfic.

Pantsing almost worked for during my first NaNoWriMo challenge. But after reaching 38K, I was like, “Uh…I got nothing.”

I learned the benefits of prepping and for this challenge I began in August.

NaNo Prep