NaNoWriMo Survival Kit 2016,
NaNoWriMo is less than two weeks away. Cue panicky GIF:
So for those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo takes place in November, in which around half a million people around the world attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November. To find out more, visit NaNoWriMo's About page.
(Someone count how many times I say 'NaNoWriMo' in this post. :P )
Surviving NaNoWriMo is no easy task. Believe me, I've participated since 2012 (and never been very effective at it either...the best I've ever done was last year with 30,000 words). In order to stay alive this month, a Survival Kit is necessary. Naturally, since each writer is different, each writer's kit will be different, too. But these are that things I need to survive this November:
1. Computer. Now, technically speaking, I don't have my own computer, but our family's laptop is barely ever used by anyone else, so I consider it mine. 😃 It's a MacBook Pro. I also enjoy using our family's iMac every now and then.
2. Scrivener. I bought Scrivener this past April, and I love it to the moon and back. In case you didn't know, Scrivener is a program that runs on both PC and Mac computers, and it's about 1,000 times better than Microsoft Word. It's amazing.
3. My blue notebook. I always have a notebook for each NaNo project. Last year, it was black.
4. Twitter. You can't survive NaNoWriMo without Twitter (just don't get TOO distracted).
5. An abundance of various pens and pencils, especially fun colorful ones.
6. My NaNoWriMo t-shirt (from 2013), plus a pair of comfy shorts. If you're going to write 50,000 words in a month, you've got to be wearing comfortable clothes.
7. Caffeine. This is vital. My favorite right now is iced white chocolate mochas, but anything with caffeine really works. For beverages with little to no caffeine, iced tea, lemonade, vanilla chai tea, and water are my go-tos.
8. Music. I'm in the process of making a Spotify playlist for my spy thriller novel this year, and I'll probably share a link with you guys once I finish it. I also listen to soundtrack playlists. Here's my favorite soundtrack playlist on Spotify, and my fav on YouTube.
9. Noisli. This is a background noise generator, and this is what I use whenever I'm not in the mood for music.
10. Gum. If I'm not eating, I'm probably chewing gum. I always get Extra brand (which is sugarless), and my favorite flavors are Spearmint, Polar Ice, and Classic Bubble.
11. Sticky notes. These are especially helpful for plotting. Plus I have every color in the rainbow, so that's fun. :)
12. Um, my phone?! I use this for Twitter, music, and keeping in touch with my NaNoWriMo friends.
13. Raindrop. This is a service similar to Pocket that allows users to save web links in the cloud. I love it, and have a million writing recourses saved on there in a folder.
14. Headphones. Thankfully, I live alone with my parents and cat, and they're usually quiet. But if my mom is listening to podcasts and my dad is watching wrestling on youtube, and my cat is meowing loudly, headphones are a must.
15. Halloween candy. Buy it the day after Halloween, when it's dirt cheap.
16. USB flashdrive, for backing up your novel. This is SO IMPORTANT. Don't risk losing all your words.
17. My inspirational wall of writing quotes. It's actually a corner of my bedroom wall I use to hang up inspirational quotes from Pinterest. I literally print the pictures off (in color) and hang them up. Also, many of the quotes are writing-related.
18. My black binder. It's a fabric binder with like a million pockets and a pad of paper built-in and it's the perfect place to keep all my NaNoWriMo supplies. The best part? I got it for free (but that's another story for another time).
19. My Youtube playlist, filled with inspiring NaNoWriMo and writing videos. Check it out, you may find some helpful videos!! :D
20. An optimistic mindset. You knew I was going to end with a cheesy one. But ultimately, if you believe in yourself and stay on track, you will succeed. Stay positive, and you'll come out on top. :)
There you go, my Survival Kit!! Naturally, I would be flattered if you followed me on the NaNoWriMo website, so here's the link!
Have a good day y'all, talk to you next week!!! :D
So for those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo takes place in November, in which around half a million people around the world attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November. To find out more, visit NaNoWriMo's About page.
(Someone count how many times I say 'NaNoWriMo' in this post. :P )
Surviving NaNoWriMo is no easy task. Believe me, I've participated since 2012 (and never been very effective at it either...the best I've ever done was last year with 30,000 words). In order to stay alive this month, a Survival Kit is necessary. Naturally, since each writer is different, each writer's kit will be different, too. But these are that things I need to survive this November:
1. Computer. Now, technically speaking, I don't have my own computer, but our family's laptop is barely ever used by anyone else, so I consider it mine. 😃 It's a MacBook Pro. I also enjoy using our family's iMac every now and then.
2. Scrivener. I bought Scrivener this past April, and I love it to the moon and back. In case you didn't know, Scrivener is a program that runs on both PC and Mac computers, and it's about 1,000 times better than Microsoft Word. It's amazing.
3. My blue notebook. I always have a notebook for each NaNo project. Last year, it was black.
4. Twitter. You can't survive NaNoWriMo without Twitter (just don't get TOO distracted).
5. An abundance of various pens and pencils, especially fun colorful ones.
6. My NaNoWriMo t-shirt (from 2013), plus a pair of comfy shorts. If you're going to write 50,000 words in a month, you've got to be wearing comfortable clothes.
7. Caffeine. This is vital. My favorite right now is iced white chocolate mochas, but anything with caffeine really works. For beverages with little to no caffeine, iced tea, lemonade, vanilla chai tea, and water are my go-tos.
8. Music. I'm in the process of making a Spotify playlist for my spy thriller novel this year, and I'll probably share a link with you guys once I finish it. I also listen to soundtrack playlists. Here's my favorite soundtrack playlist on Spotify, and my fav on YouTube.
9. Noisli. This is a background noise generator, and this is what I use whenever I'm not in the mood for music.
10. Gum. If I'm not eating, I'm probably chewing gum. I always get Extra brand (which is sugarless), and my favorite flavors are Spearmint, Polar Ice, and Classic Bubble.
11. Sticky notes. These are especially helpful for plotting. Plus I have every color in the rainbow, so that's fun. :)
12. Um, my phone?! I use this for Twitter, music, and keeping in touch with my NaNoWriMo friends.
13. Raindrop. This is a service similar to Pocket that allows users to save web links in the cloud. I love it, and have a million writing recourses saved on there in a folder.
14. Headphones. Thankfully, I live alone with my parents and cat, and they're usually quiet. But if my mom is listening to podcasts and my dad is watching wrestling on youtube, and my cat is meowing loudly, headphones are a must.
15. Halloween candy. Buy it the day after Halloween, when it's dirt cheap.
16. USB flashdrive, for backing up your novel. This is SO IMPORTANT. Don't risk losing all your words.
17. My inspirational wall of writing quotes. It's actually a corner of my bedroom wall I use to hang up inspirational quotes from Pinterest. I literally print the pictures off (in color) and hang them up. Also, many of the quotes are writing-related.
18. My black binder. It's a fabric binder with like a million pockets and a pad of paper built-in and it's the perfect place to keep all my NaNoWriMo supplies. The best part? I got it for free (but that's another story for another time).
19. My Youtube playlist, filled with inspiring NaNoWriMo and writing videos. Check it out, you may find some helpful videos!! :D
20. An optimistic mindset. You knew I was going to end with a cheesy one. But ultimately, if you believe in yourself and stay on track, you will succeed. Stay positive, and you'll come out on top. :)
There you go, my Survival Kit!! Naturally, I would be flattered if you followed me on the NaNoWriMo website, so here's the link!
Have a good day y'all, talk to you next week!!! :D
Wait do you mean to tell me I have eight day to get on Twitter? O.O XD But if I have Google+ Hangouts instead I should be good right
ReplyDelete(Also I use Scrivener too *fist bump*)
Haha! True...but seriously, I love Twitter, and you should totally join! I never thought I would love it as much as I do now. :)
Delete(Yay Scrivener!!)
Ah, I need to try Scrivener at some point! :D But I finally got on Spotify so that's been super helpful since I've actually found some music that boosts my productivity instead of distracting me.
ReplyDeleteI was going to ask where you lived since you write in shorts in November and said "y'all" at the end. But you NaNo profile says Wisconsin! I live in Texas, so I was expecting you to be closer to me ;)
Haha, Halloween candy. It's so crazy how they start throwing it at you for pennies as soon as the holiday's past xD Huge YES to gum, comfy clothes, laptop, phone, Spotify, optimism, headphones, sticky notes, notebooks, binders, and writing tools! :D Unfortunately caffeine does nothing to me, but the very idea makes me sound more productive, right?
Lucky you to have only your parents and a cat to get noisy! I have 6 younger siblings (5 bros), parents, a dog, and a cat. So this is a going to be a test of my ability to focus without spending all of November in my bedroom :P
Thanks for the great post!! :)
Yes, Scrivener is awesome! I signed up for the 30-day trial and fell in love. And I swear Scrivener didn't pay me to say that. ;)
DeleteYep, I'm in Wisconsin! And it's in the 40s and 50s right now, but people are still wearing shorts (literally I just saw several in the mall today). And I'm not sure why I said "y'all"...it's just such a perfect word to use. :D
Five younger brothers?! Wow, best of luck... ;)
Thank you for all the complements and taking the time out of your day for reading my blog post!! I really appreciate that. :)
Hmm, good survival kit. This will be my first year doing NANO. So tips are good. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you!! And good luck on your first Nano!!! I hope it's a good experience for you. :)
DeleteAh! I have the 2013 NaNoWriMo shirt, too. I really want last year's one... or this one... or any of them, really, but they're all quite expensive. XD
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to make my own survival list... I need to get on it since there's only one week left of sanity.
Jeneca @ Jeniqua Writes
Speaking of vanilla chai tea... have you ever had an iced vanilla chai latte? They're lovely.
Cool! Yes, I just want all the expensive NaNo merchandise lol...but I did buy the scarf this year, it was too amazing to pass up. :D
DeleteYes, there's officially less than a week until NaNO, isn't there? Scary...
Nope, I've never had an iced vanilla chai latte, but it sounds AMAZING. I will have to try and get myself one. :D
Spotify is so nice!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, headphones are a vital necessity.
Alas, no Twitter for me. But lemme tell ya, a good google hangout will motivate very well.
*panics* I can't believe the madness started tomorrow!
Chloe
www.theshyintrovert.blogspot.com
Thanks for commenting! Haha, yes, NaNoWriMo has started already for me and I'm still panicking!! :O :)
DeleteA bunch of crazy people somehow convinced me to try and write 5k words the first day of nano. Very crazy. *points* it was Abigayle's idea.
DeleteBut they are all on a google hangout and are very encouraging.
If you want to join the fray, here's the link: https://hangouts.google.com/group/F3vX7ps2pmTvZHm72
Oh, wow! That is awesome. =)
DeleteThank you so much for inviting me to your group chat!! =D I will definitely check it out.
You used NaNoWriMo 12 times in your post. Just fyi. ;) Since you DID ask someone to count them. You're welcome. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm actually not doing NaNo this year since my schedule just won't allow it, but I have several friends doing it and I plan to cheer them on from the sidelines. (And laugh at everything they do and say while running on so little sleep. XD But what are friends for, right?)
This post was fun to read and helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Haha! Okay, thank you for counting. ;)
DeleteAh, okay! Yes, my friends are very supportive of my NaNoWriMo progress too, and I really appreciate that. So keep it up! :)
Thank you very much, I'm glad it was fun to read! :D
Whoa, everyone is getting so busy for NaNo. And 30,000 words is pretty darn good, man.
ReplyDeleteAnd how do you pronounce: Scrivener?
Thank you! Haha yes, all this NaNo busyness is getting a little out of hand. :P
DeleteHmm...I wish I could say it instead of trying to spell out the pronunciation! It's scriv·en·er (I just looked it up on an online dictionary lol), but I've also heard just scriv·ner, and that's how I usually say it. So just pronounce it however you want, that's how I'd say it lol. :D
*sips coffee* Mmmmmhmmm. Coffee is life blood. *nods* And SPOTIFY IS GLORIOUS O.O I love it so much. Like, I would die (or at least, my word count would) without it. And headphones are the best too, because when people see you wearing them it's significantly less likely they'll bother you XP
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog through Jonathan's and I like it muchly! :D
Haha, yes!!
DeleteThanks!! Glad you like it. :D