| 10.25.2007 |
| Letter to My NaNo Babies |
Greetings to you. I am writing to say hello, let you know a little about me, and to give you some words of wisdom.
This email may be a bit long, but it is worth the read.
My first name is Deartra (pronounced dear-tra). You can call me Mrs. Boone, if that works better or Mama if you feel the need.
I am a writer by choice. I have been writing since I was 9 years old. I have had an essay and a poem published. I am hoping to have a book published by 2010. I write poetry, essays, short stories, novellas, and novels. I have written song lyrics also.
I have been doing NaNo since 2004. I have completed it one time. The other 3 times, life got in the way. I am not sure of what my word count was for last year. I hand-wrote most of the novel and did not have an official count, unofficially; my count was over 37,000 words.
I am married with no children. I work at a pre-school, so I am always around children.
Here are my words of advice.
1. Set a daily goal for yourself. To get 50,000 words in 30 days, you should aim for 1,700 (rounded) a day.If that seems too hard for you, make it something more obtainable.
2. Set other goals for yourself that have nothing to do with your word count.For example, write for 15 minutes everyday on NaNo.
3. Set-up a reward system for yourself when you accomplish your word count goal and your other goal. I use stickers. Each day that I reach my word target, I get a sticker. I have a sticker calendar that I carry around with me that have all of my stickers in it.
4. Set a weekly goal for yourself and reward yourself for it.For example, write 8,500 words for the week get a catfish dinner or write for at least 2 hours this week, get a new pair of shoes.
4. Don't get discouraged if you don't make your word count every now and then. That may happen. Life gets in the way of life. :)
5. Don't be discouraged if you don't "win" NaNo. It is better to look at this first time as a small step versus a giant task to complete. Winning isn't everything. Sometimes, being brave enough to enter the contest is the best accomplishment.
6. Find out about word wars. Those are great for word count and friendship.
7. Find out about events, write-ins, or get togethers in your area. Look and see if there is a Region near you by looking in the Region section of NaNo. If they don't have any going on, try to set one up. Let everyone know that you will be at the library @ 6:00 on Tuesday. Maybe some one will join you.
8. Lastly, have fun.
I hope these words of wisdom help you. Email me with any questions that you may have. I will try to answer them.
Here's one more piece of advice… if your novel has come to a halt and you are having a hard time writing, have two of your characters have a discussion about underwear as an elderly "church" lady walks in the room. That will cause you to have some fun. :) It worked for me one NaNo.Labels: 2007, NaNo Advice, NaNo Babies |
| posted by Lady Boone @ 7:16 PM |
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I am trying to write at least 1000 words a day. Right now, I am feeling so  ! I hope my current mood allows me to write. :) |
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