NaNoWriMo Achievements!! Bleep Bloop!

I’m a bit of an achievement whore, and this kind of makes my day: http://achievement-badges.blogspot.com

on a not-really-related note: the most fun xbox achievement ever = 9-Irony in BioShock 2. Just sayin’.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE DOING CAMP NANO! It’s 2 minutes to midnight where I am!

NaNoWriMo in Gifs

farbeyondneverland:

In honor of Camp NaNoWriMo, which begins at 12:00 am June 1st, I’ve decided to post this. I’m sure NaNoers can relate.

Learning about NaNoWriMo’s existence

Plotting in the weeks beforehand.

Realizing there’s only a few days left till NaNo.

MIDNIGHT!

Getting ahead in your wordcount.

The rest of week 1.

When week 2 sets in.

The people around you realize you’re serious about this thing.

Week 3 - things start looking up!

Week four - hitting 50k.

Preparing For Camp!

In a little over 10 hours, Camp NaNoWriMo will be upon us. Are you ready? I’m not even close…but instead of actually preparing and doing some more planning, I’m going to tell you what I do to prepare for Camp fesitivties!

1. PACK THE ESSENTIALS:

Sunscreen and bugspray won’t be much help for Camp NaNo, but having all of your writing tools ready and on-hand will make it much easier to jump in and start writing!

What you’ll need: (Or at least what I’ll need. Obviously it’s different for everyone)

• notes/outlines/planning for your novel…if you have it. It’s good to have it all collected in one place so you can easily access it throughout the month {or, like me, for the first week or two, then use it as a coaster for various coffee mugs.}
• speaking of coffee mugs — don’t forget yours! Coffee (or whatever caffeinated stuff you prefer) is necessary for most of us during Camp, because many times we’re up long past the rest of the world….and then need to get up and do real-life stuff the next morning. Ugh, real life. You’ll also probably want snacks and provisions to keep your writing energy up! I recommend chocolate. Who doesn’t love chocolate?
• BACKUP!! BackupBackupBackup. I cannot say this enough — YOU NEED TO HAVE SOME FORM OF BACKUP DURING NANOWRIMO. Nothing is more horrible than your computer or word-processor crashing or having your 7-year-old niece accidently delete your novel or whatever other fatal mayhem may arise. The first year I did NaNo, my computer died FIVE HOURS BEFORE MIDNIGHT NOVEMBER 30. And everything was erased. I was 2k away from 50,000 words…..needless to say, you do not want this to happen to you. Backup your work religiously. Flashdrives, google docs, printed versions…whatever you want. Just make sure back up your novel!!
• Paper&pencil, notecards, colored pens or markers…things that you like to use to write other than your word-processor or noveling software. Switching from keyboard to pen and paper sometimes helps me destroy Suck Dragons and fun (and scented!) markers good for making it easier to find stuff in your plans — if, like me, your outline and notes are a complete mess of scribbles and cramped handwriting. Plus I have found color-coordinated notecards are very good for plotting out pacing in your novel or keeping track of character arcs. Find what tools work for you — and keep them handy!
• And, obviously, you want to have your computer and whatever tool you use to type up your novel: OpenOffice Writer, Microsoft Word, Scrivener, Yarny, etc. Also, if when you need extra motivation or you can’t seem to get out of a funk, I recommend bookmarking  Write or Die.

2. MEET YOUR CABIN-MATES!

You’re going to be with these people for a month — so get to know them! Use your cabin’s message board or create a facebook page or find eachother on twitter — but keep in touch! Camp NaNo is more fun when you have others there with you!!

also, cabin FAQs can be found here.

3. DECORATE YOUR BUNK

Your writing environment can be just as important as your outline when it comes to  writing a novel. Two years ago, I made a blanket fort and spent almost all month writing in it. You are never too old for a Blanket Fort. 
Or you can just rearrange your desk/writing space for optimal productivity. I took everything I will not be using for NaNo off my desk in favor of my writing supplies, snacks, and TOYS. Toys are always nice to have when you’re stuck/need a break. Also, I have my x-box gamepad so I can play Half-Life.
….which is COMPLETELY productive.
{sidenote: though I do not normally use a gamepad for PC gaming, it’s nice during NaNo to have my hands in a position other than glued to the keyboard.}

You can also use one of the many NaNo calendar desktop wallpapers other NaNos have made. Here is the link to the forum thread for June.

4. EXPLORE THE CAMPGROUND

Know where to go when you get suck/are looking for motivation/need to reassure yourself that you haven’t gone completely insane. Here are a few places you should be familiar with for your stay at Camp NaNo:

The NaNoWriMo forums — adopt plots, get advice/answers, find word wars and other games, find other people who are in the same boat as you. There’s a whole nut-house of us! You need not suffer in insanity alone :D

Twitter — search hashtags like #campnano #wordsprints #wordwars, and see what other people are doing

Write or Die — as mentioned earlier, Write of Die is an amazing website that forces you to keep writing. “Write or Die is a new kind of writing productivity application that forces you to write by providing consequences for distraction and procrastination….As long as you keep typing, you’re fine, but if you become distracted, punishment will ensue.”

Your cabin message board — on the CampNaNo site, click on My Cabin » Message Boards. This feature is unique to Camp NaNo, so you might as well take advantage of it!

Prepared or not, Camp NaNo is right around the corner — and I hope to see you there! {my username on nanowrimo.org is under.the.holly.tree for anyone interested}

5 Graphic Novels That You Should Read

I was having a conversation with one of my professors recently who claims that graphic novels aren’t ‘real literature’ (And as a math professor, his is obviously an expert on all things literary). For anyone that agrees with him: I recommend looking these over before you judge.

5. The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft (Image)

4. Ex Machina (Vertigo/DC)

3. Persepolis (Random House books)

2. The Walking Dead (Image)

1. The Sandman (Vertigo/DC)