Oct
16th
2017
Portal's taking on NaPoWriMo! · 6:27pm Oct 16th, 2017
So, since we're about to hit the end of Part II for Alicornae, and since November is coming up, what better time than now to throw my proverbial hat into the NaPoWriMo ring for 2017? This'll be my first NaNoWriMo/NaPoWriMo participation, and I'm gonna use the event to spur me forward on Part III of Alicornae. My goal is either 50k words or the completion of Part III by the end of November. It's lofty given how long Part II took me, but I've been on a tear as of late so why not give this a shot?
Any tips or tricks for going through NaPoWriMo would be much appreciated, as well as well-wishes for my poorly scheduled self!
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PortalJumper · 224 views
· Story: Alicornae: The Legend of Starlit Sky
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#NaPoWriMo
#NaNoWriMo
#Update
#Non-Chapter
Hey there!
I've been doing monthly writing challenges for forever, lol!
If you need any help or pep talks, lemme know!
-EPM
4699695
Can do! My biggest problem is scheduling out time to write. I primarily write at night between 2 & 6 AM since that's the only time I can reliably get to myself to focus, but even then I can do maybe 1k to 1.5k a night. Since 50k is just shy of the total word count of the story I'm using for NaPoWriMo thus far I'm gonna need a lot of scheduled time and a good outline to streamline my writing process somewhat.
4699716
Oh! I have a bunch of self-help books and personal notebooks of writing advice, time management being a chapter in said book. Maybe I should blog al the advice I have... but long story short, in your case, have you gotten a moment to sit down and write/type your daily schedule by hour? When you get a day, every hour write/type what you've done and on average see what you can take out of your day and replace with writing time? I stopped watching tv completely unless I get some writing / plotting finished for that day.
Fake Day off of school / work Example:
Noon- Woke up, whoops! Slept the morning away! Shower/breakfast
1pm - Laundry / Dishes / Cleaning
2pm - internet / maybe write
3pm - write
4pm - writing break
5pm - writing some more
6pm - Tv / reading / internet
7pm - prep dinner
8pm - eat dinner
9pm - bed
That's a horrible example but I don't know about your actual life schedule, lol. Maybe writing it out by hour will help and over these next two weeks try to get at least an hour of writing / plotting even if it's broken up like in portions of 10-20 minutes, ect! Even brainstorming should count!
If you have already done this, then.. hmm.. Idk? Time management is different for everyone! I try to plot / write when my daughter is sleeping/napping or if I can pass her to my husband and run to the office. OH SPEAKING OF THAT - do you have a writing area where you ONLY write? It helps if you make a spot in your home where you only write in that spot, nothing else! Even if you need to research something on the internet, walk away to the bathroom or outside or another room to go online until you have what you need and then go back to your spot to write!
I hope I helped? :)
4699742
That is actually a great hypothetical situation! My schedule follows something like this;
2-3 PM: wake up (cause I went to bed at 6 AM)
4-6 PM: Housework
6-9 PM: Go to mall with my brother for his physical therapy (walking around helps his legs), do homework
9-2/3 AM: Relaxation, Youtube videos, video games, etc.
4-6 AM: Writing fugue state until I pass out.
A big issue with me is the fact that if wireless is on I am nearly pathologically incapable of focusing on my writing when I could be checking tumblr or watching YouTube videos. I can turn it off remotely from my iPad (which is what I write on with my Pages app), but I normally blow more time than I reasonably should before I can drub myself into doing so. Any recommendations for getting off the internet earlier?
4699764
Yep! What I do, for youtube mostly, is put a video that catches my attention in my watch later, that way I don't insta-watch it and then fall into a bunch of auto play related vids. If I put a bunch of vids I see on the home page or my subs into my watch later, I can plot/write earlier in the night and then if I get a goal done, lets say that hour goal or maybe 3k words, then I will watch the vids if I'm not too tired!
For the wifi issue, try writing in a notebook. It could even be, "I'm starting right now, oct. 16th 2017 monday at 7pm after dinner to plot this fimfic about this pony who..." yadda yadda yadda and when you write it out in the notebook, it puts your mind into that state and then you type while glancing at your notes.
I quit tumblr years ago. I have never been so happy, lol.
4699770
I can never really keep up with a written notebook unless I have a school assignment related to it, and it'd be difficult for me to write in one when I set up for my nightly writing since I do it in bed and not at a table. Your suggestion for the YouTube videos is super helpful, and I already sort of do something like that when I save vids offline (YouTube Red WOO!) I just need to be more fastidious about not falling down the YouTube hole.
I'm thinking an alarm set to about 1 or 1:30 AM to remind me to kill the WiFi would be the best option since it would be something I can set on my iPad as a way to unplug me from the matrix that is social media.
4699773
A writing journal isn't for everyone but is always helpful when able, (I write mine on my kid napping on my lap, ahah!)
I'm glad I could help!
Now I must sit and brainstorm a story myself. I scrapped my original nanowrimo story so I could join napowrimo this month but alas I have no ideas since I joined today, hah. (I don't write canon characters so I still gotta make up a bunch of ponies).
4699776
Best of luck, and a tip for building good OCs (in my opinion); start with a character trait or two that you want to hone in on (for the main character of my NaPoWriMo story I'm continuing it's actually themes of protection and motherhood, among others) and work their personality and design around that concept. Thanks for all the help!
4699781
Likewise! i will read your story when I get a chance!