This is a super quick update!
I apologize for not providing an additional story for everyone - my internet has been down at my house for a week and I'm actually posting this from work right now (shh...don't tell anyone!). I feel bad I haven't posted another story yet, as I heard a lot of people couldn't wait for the next one. Since life had other plans for me, most likely I'll be posting snippets as I write for NaNo.
WHICH STARTS TOMORROW!!! EEEKK!
Just to clarify, that was a squeal of excitement. I'm nervous to see how the first week of NaNo goes since I've never participated. And I'm going on a vacation this weekend which means I'll have to catch up on my word count for the days I'm gone :/ I'm not exactly starting off on the right foot.
My word count goal is the original 50,000 words, and I have my novel mostly outlined. I plan to add some more on it today after work, but I think I have a really good starting point. My problem will be trying to start from the beginning. I typically try to start in the most exciting parts and then dread writing the in between scenes.
I know a lot of you will actually stay up until midnight to start writing, but I unfortunately won't start writing until tomorrow afternoon. I wake up at 5 am to go to work every day, and I do not function on less than 6 hours of sleep. My college days beat that out of me entirely. It's going to be torture waiting all day to sit down to write though!
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I'll be using Scrivener during NaNo this month. I started the free trial a while back and am down to 4 days left. I don't want to buy Scrivener just yet, but I really want to use it for the whole month of NaNo...not just 4 days.
Enter the Camp NaNoWriMo Extended Scrivener Trial
I'm sure the folks at Camp NaNo have/will send out an e-mail about this, but one hasn't crossed my virtual desk yet. You can access the link by clicking on the above bolded words. About halfway down the page you'll find links to download the version of Scrivener that will last until the end of July. They recommend uninstalling your current scrivener and reinstalling the extended trial version.
I have yet to actually do this as my internet has been down since their offer went live >:( I'll be calling AT&T to yell some more to see if they can get my internet back up today rather than tomorrow. They've not exactly been helpful so I doubt that...
Are you new to using Scrivener?
There are some amazing videos on Youtube that layout all of the fancy things that Scrivener can do. I've been using mine for about a month and still have so much to learn. I love it so far and am excited about writing in full screen mode. I picked a background picture that suits my novel to keep me motivated!
One interesting tactic I have in my arsenal this month:
I won't be drinking a single drop of caffeine this month!
Please, don't faint. I know I sound like a crazy person. Who in their right mind undergoes NaNo without any caffeine? Moi. It's actually for health reasons though. I used to be addicted to coffee. Now, I will be drinking decaf coffee which does have a minute amount of caffeine, so nothing compared to most of my fellow writers. I still love the taste of coffee, but it's mostly like dessert in a cup now since there's no caffeine. Don't judge me!
I'm going to be trying something completely new to me this week, to see if it helps my word output...
I'll be disabling my spell-check!
I heard from another blogger that this helped to let the words flow better (since you're not concerned about taking the time to correct all your mistakes). I typically catch most of my writing mistakes anyway, but I'm hoping this helps turn off my inner-editor this month...something I struggle with tremendously! We shall see...I'll test it out this week and let you guys know how I like it!
What are you doing as your last minute preparations?
Is anyone using something other than Scrivener to write in?