It is 10:34 pm on November Thirtieth..

My left ring finger aches every time I type an s or w..it has some sort of hangnail  infection issue..

My mind is tired, yet can  not sleep or write contractions,

My computer is hot and  filled  with…

YES…

50,000 words!!

I am overjoyed that it is over.  The goal has been met.  And you  know, the plot was forced into some twists an turns I never would have planned, but

that make it quite rich and layered.

I’m taking December off to READ!  I’ll let you know what I’ m reading when my finger is healed and I can spell once again.

thank you for your support!

It’s down to the wire folks!

Check out my merit badge…Which I really need to earn this month so that I can finish off my fifty thousand words.  Notice, I can not even write numerals  or contractions because it lessens the word count.  This is how you know one is in the throes of Nanowrimo mania.

Somehow, November was more stressful and shorter this year.  I am not sure how that happened.  But what I do know,  and you can easily see from my word count meeter right here… is that I am behind.

So,  while I still find Nanowrimo incredibly useful, I must escape the web and get back to writing!

Aloha!

Specific Nanowrimo tips for you!

Ok, as I start my first nanowrimo day, I’m doing some specific things to make my revision life easier when this madness is all done.

#1  I’m creating “chapter titles” using the document map in Word (view-document map).  Your “titles” have to be in outline level one (format-paragraph-then to the right side-outline level)  These aren’t the chapter titles that will appear in the published book, these are the three word action synopses that I can use to quickly find the section of the novel.  Believe me, this may take  a moment when you are writing, but it saves ten times that when you have 180 pages and are searching for that place where….

I’m no Word expert, so there may be an easier way to make your “titles” in outline level one.  If you know it, teach me!

#2  Use tracked changes in Word (tools-track  changes) to place a comment call out whenever you name a character, mention a location/setting or give a time/season reference. Track changes takes some getting used to as well, but take it from  someone who spent the summer revising, any time saved now will really make your life easier later.  I know you are busy getting 50,000 words on the page, but give it a thought.  If you’re anything like  me, you can name a character on one page and give him a totally new name on the next.  This will help you go back and look for that name that  easily blends into the other words.

When you open track changes, Word will add a tool bar to your screen.  You will need to click on show and change the setting so that only ‘comments’ is working.  Otherwise, you will be seeing every insertion/deletion, formatting change and ink annotations.  Again, if you are a Word expert, send me your notes on how to make this work better.  I’d love to hear them!!   I learned to use Track changes when my book was published, that is how the editor and I sent our recommendations back and forth.  It is a very useful tool.

#3 Write the climax through ending first. I know that everyone says you don’t really know what will happen and that its good to let your character hijack your novel, and I did that last time.  It was fun and my characters did all kinds of excellent crazy things that now don’t really seem to fit.  So this time, I’m  trying a more structured approach.  I have an outline, a timeline and now, after 2308 words, an ending.  We’ll see what happens!

#4 Need help pounding words onto the page? http://drwicked.com/

#5  Community!!! Don’t try to go it alone.  Find someone else doing wrimo that you can write with or plug into the online community  or  me!!  and do some word challenges, commiseration  and fun!!

Good luck  and Good Writing!!!