NaNoWriMo: 30 Days of Support and Encouragement

[Mira]

I liked the You are a Machine line.

You continue to be AWESOME, Sommer.

[Sommer Leigh]

I liked the You are a Machine line.

You continue to be AWESOME, Sommer.

Awe thanks! I'm so happy people like these!

[Sommer Leigh]

Day 22: Today’s Word Count Goal: 36,674

This sort of says it all.

[Sommer Leigh]

Day 23: Today’s Word Count Goal: 38,341

We’re more than halfway done. We’re in the home stretch. At this point you can almost see the ending. By tomorrow there will be less than 10,000 words to go and six days to do it. Are you worried? Don’t be. Even if it’s not looking like you’re going to finish the 50,000, I bet you’ve still made a huge accomplishment toward your end goal. That’s nothing to sniff at.

Still, it can be tough to see the end game, to imagine yourself finished. So I’ve got an exercise for you that I want you to try out during this long weekend. Ready?

Step 1: Go to the library or bookstore. Any will do. You can use your own collection, but it’ll be more satisfying if you go somewhere else.

Step 2: Find the section of your library or bookstore where your genre is kept.

Step 3: Travel the bookshelves until you come to the area where your last name would appear.

Step 4: Find the spot on the bookshelf where your book would be shelved.

Step 5: Spread the two books apart so you can see exactly where your book would fit.

Step 6: Take a picture.

Step 7: Make this picture your desktop or print it out and hang it by your computer desk. There is your goal. That tiny, 2-3 inches between your neighbor authors. You can do this. Your goal is right there waiting for you.

[Mira]

That's cool, Sommer.

You know, have you thought of collecting all these as a little packet and offering it to folks for next year? Just a thought....because they are very cool!

[Sanderling]

Step 5: Spread the two books apart so you can see exactly where your book would fit.
Step 6: Take a picture.
Step 7: Make this picture your desktop or print it out and hang it by your computer desk. There is your goal. That tiny, 2-3 inches between your neighbor authors. You can do this. Your goal is right there waiting for you.

I love this idea, Sommer. Next time I'm in the city and anywhere near a bookstore I'm totally doing this.

[Sommer Leigh]

Day 24:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am thankful for the Bransforums and all the wonderful Bransforumers who inhabit it. Do you even know how amazing you guys are?

No White Space (nowhitespace.org) has created an awesome cheat sheet about writing a novel and all the little things you could ever need to know about building plots and characters. To be fair, the cheat sheet does make me go into OCD mode put everything in well ordered, sort-able form, but still. It’s an awesome resource. Here’s a sneak peek and and a link:

http://www.nowhitespace.org/writing/cheatsheet.pdf

[Sommer Leigh]

Day 25: Today’s Word Count Goal: 18,337
Sorry, I forgot to post this yesterday. Busy writing! How're your numbers?

Zombie inspiration for everyone! Who doesn't need a few zombies in their manuscript?

Zombie Autopsies by Steven Schlozman
Zombies in Ireland? Scientists seem to think so

[Sommer Leigh]

Day 26: Today’s Word Count Goal: 43,342

I don't know about most writers, but I use a *lot* of visual inspiration to power through chapters. I love hunting down pictures that inspire characters, costumes, places, and emotions. I have a treasure trove of favorite photographers, deviant artists, and flickr people and I love sharing them with everyone. Today's inspiration comes from one of my favorite Flickr photographers, Stephen Brace. Stephen takes some of the most emotionally charged photographs I've had the pleasure of finding, and each one tells this unique, strange story. He's kind enough to allow his photographs shared with proper citation, so I'll give you a peek at a few of my favorites, but his whole collection can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevon/

[Sommer Leigh]

I fell behind but that's because I was busy finishing NaNo!

DANCE PARTY AT MY HOUSE!

Time to catch up though! Here we go:
Day 27: Today’s Word Count Goal: 45,009

Another awesome song (and my last for NaNo) by George Watsky (My favorite, in fact) and this is the last Watsky video for November. There’s a little swearing. I hope you’ve enjoyed them! (p.s. there’s a reference to Draco Malfoy in this song.) Another fun fact: when I’m having a bad day at work I tend to pop this song on my iPod and have a mini-dance party at my desk. Rock on!

[Sommer Leigh]

Day 28: Today’s Word Count Goal: 46,676

A little book art for you from Icoeye: http://www.icoeye.com/blog/?p=125

[Sommer Leigh]

Day 29: OMG WE ARE ALMOST THERE.
Today’s Word Count: 48,343

Ok! So today is about a post Derek Sivers wrote on a talk he attended in New York City where Kurt Vonnegut explained darma to his audience and I think it is so very smart that I want to share it with you too. He breaks down drama in the form of time, ecstasy, and misery. The outcome is really interesting.

Enjoy!

Read the whole post on Derek’s site here: http://sivers.org/drama

Check out the screenshot below:

[Sommer Leigh]

You might say I saved the best for last. At least, I saved the most distracting for last. As soon as you close out today, relax and recuperate by checking out Bookfessions, which will remind you why you did this crazy month in the first place.
http://bookfessions.tumblr.com/








Welcome to 50,000 words. You have now reached the end. Please get the lights on your way out.

And tomorrow? Tomorrow we celebrate.

[Sommer Leigh]

THE END.

Now go celebrate! Treat yourself to something spectacular and then take a nap!