NaNoWriMo Wrap-up!

As NaNoWriMo wraps up today we look back over the last 30 days. Many of us participating never thought we'd make it through, yet we did. It's an amazing feeling to see that bar under your name turn purple with WINNER! written on it. The last 30 days has been trying and stressful, plot bunnies driving us crazy, writer's block hitting and just plain tired of the plot. Ones who gave up, there is next year. Maybe CampNaNoWriMo will be more your thing. Don't give up on writing. No matter how you think your words are, someone will like them. Every reader has a type they like. Keep writing, it's worth it. That's coming from a writer that has NOT been published. Published authors will say the same thing. The feeling you get the second after you write that last word is something I wish I could describe, but I can't.
Now you are probably asking 'What to do now?" Well you can finish your novel you started November 1st, edit or start an entirely new project. I, myself have started a new WIP that is linked to my NaNo novel. Just keep writing/editing every day
I've had a few ask about sprinting after NaNo. Since December is full of holiday events, we will have some here and there. Most likely Saturdays. Watch hashtag #wordgrab. Use the sprints to edit. Once the new year hits I'll be updating the times with your help from answering the poll questions to the left here. February I'm planning a 12 hour writathon. I'll update you when I choose the date. April and July I'll be back in NaNo mode for CampNaNoWriMo.

KEEP WRITING MY WORDLINGS!

U.S. Holiday Sprints

With our U.S. Turkey Day our sprints will NOT be scheduled for Thursday the 27th or the weekend. I will be jumping from time to time to run a few here and there. Yes, I know that sounds strange. I just wanted to be sure you understood. If you are wanting wordsprints on Friday hop over to @FriNightWrites for #writeclub and grab wordies with them. Saturday is up in the air for me. If you are wanting tons of sprints to get you across the Nano finish line tweet @GetWordies or @jesdeh2o with the request.

Have a Happy Turkey Day my fellow U.S. Wordlings. The rest enjoy the weekend and be blessed with wordies galore.

A Writer's Wish List

It's that time of year where all you hear is 'What do you want for Christmas?' You look at them and draw a blank. What do you really want? You have no clue what to say because there are so many things a writer wants. You aren't the only one. Many of us have this problem. I'm hoping this post will help. I'm going to share a list I put together with help from my Twitter Wordlings.

A laptop desk with a built in fan. Sit in bed and write without worry of it overheating. It's adjustable too.

E-Stand Portable Laptop Desk

The lapdesk has built-in USB connectors to hook up the laptop to the dual cooling fans, a mousepad, cup holder (eeek), and a pencil holder. Hiding in the underside within the lapdesk are legs that flip down to prop up your notebook and maybe free up that prime real estate for your kitty.

When the legs fold up for travel the desk is only about the size of your laptop and can easily go where you and your laptop go. It is a bit thick tho, after folding the dimensions are 12.4 x 11 x 1.4-inches.

- See more at mobilemag.com

e-Pad® Portable Laptop Desk with Speakers

Surf and listen anywhere! Surf, write or work--and now listen--wherever you want! The sturdy surface of our laptop desk keeps your laptop stable, and the padded, angled microsuede cushion keeps your lap cool and comfortable--all while providing just-right support. Perfect for emailing and Web surfing. Check it out here.

Scrivener

A writer's dream! Software for thsoe of us who keep loosing notes cards and notebook with all of our story plots, characters, etc. Get it here 

Notebooks!!! We always need notebooks to jot down a thought that hits us when we least expect it. 

Even on Blue's Clues, Steve and Joe hand their Handy Dandy Notebook

PENS, pens and more pens...

Flash Drives... we always need some to back up or WIP. Always back up!!!! There are so many fun ones to choose from...You can go crazy with them.

Here is the main thing on my Wish List

Do you have something to add? Add it in the comments.

Count Down

As of today we have 11 days left of NaNoWriMo. Are you close to your 50k? If not hop over to Twitter. There are many that are running sprints so you can get motivated and make it.

Here's a list of some:

@NaNoWordSprints

@FriNightWrites Their website

@TheSprintShack Their website

@virturalwriters Their website

and of course

@GetWordies

Making it to 50k is not as hard as you think. Several I know wrote 10k and more in a day. Having 11 days fives you 11 days to hit it. If you can write 1k every day you'll make 11k in the days left. If you write the daily goal (1667) for NaNoWriMo you can manage 18337 wordies. If you manage 500 wordies in a 30 minute word sprint you can have 1k every hour and 10 minutes. You can do it. Updating your count on NaNoWriMo will help motivate you. 

If you have made it to 50k, WooHoo! You can now validate over at NaNoWriMo.org 

As the last few days come you may feel as if you won't make it. Well, you're wrong. You can. Take it 1 wordie at a time. 

That's it for me today. I gotta get my wordies on.... 

WRITE my WORDLINGS

Week 2 of NaNoWriMo

As NaNoWriMo week 1 comes to an end, either you are stressing because you are behind or jumping up and down cause you are ahead. As of today you should have 12,000 wordies to be on target. If not don't worry! @FriNightWrites is having a writathon. Saturday will be our last NaNo Writathon. This is the time to catch up on wordie counts or even get ahead. Check out our Writathon page for info on the many changes made for this  one.

Here's the details via FriNightWrites
#WriteClub NaNoWriMo Marathon
Midnight Friday morning in Sydney Australia, Nov. 7th
through
Midnight Friday night on the US East Coast, Nov. 7th.
(The time-math is crazy, but it’s basically almost forty-eight hours, guys.)
For the US, it means Thursday morning to Friday night.
Aussies, midnight Thursday night/Friday morning until midnight Saturday night.
UK, you guys are somewhere in between, and my brain isn't functioning at full capacity so I don’t know what times to tell you. 
FriNightWrites will have tons of prizes being given away during their Writathon. 

As for our last one:
Saturday Nov. 15th
9am-9pm CST
This is a change from the last one. 

So, lets get those wordies flowing. You can make it to 50k in no time! I know you can!

NaNoWriMo Writathon Changes

It was great to have those who participated in our 10kWritathon on the 2nd. However, I noticed most wrote during the same times. I am changing the 10kWritathon Nov. 15th to a Writathon. No preset themes just different amounts of time for each sprint. There will be 10, 15, 20 and 30 minute sprints (Maybe 1k1hr) for 12 hours with 2 hours off for food and house cleaning. It will be from 9am-9pm CST(GMT-5:00). This makes it easier for me though I hate to leave all but the US out. You can always join in any time while we are sprinting. No word count is too small. I will be on Twitter the whole time this time. Though most sprints will be set up on TweetDeck. 

So here is the tentative schedule: 

Saturday November 15th

9am-12pm Sprints

12pm-1pm Break

1pm-5pm Sprints

5pm-6pm Break

6pm-9pm Sprints

All CST (GMT-5:00) times

This would be a good day to use a crockpot (slow-cooker) meal. Make sure you also have ready to grab snackies. We have plenty of recipes and ideas. Check out our Writer's Food and Pinterest.

Hope to see your wordie counts climb on the 15th.