Best products from r/nanowrimo

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So that's all well and good, but GTD is easy to start and difficult to master. It also focuses on a to-do list and doesn't really provide a system for dealing with things that repeat themselves - writing every day, exercise, eating healthy, hygiene, laundry, even putting your bag on the coat rack instead of the middle of the floor when you walk into your house every day.

You shouldn't have to spend conscious effort on these tasks every time you do them, right? You've already decided they're important. They need their own system.

The great thing is, GTD provides a system through which you can implement other systems quickly and easily. That's why I always recommend it first.

For things you shouldn't have to think about all the time, things that shouldn't cost spoons but somehow do, that system is Atomic Habits by James Clear.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07RFSSYBH/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_DmAUDb6AFMBRC

This isn't just a system for making habits, but for clearing mental real estate for things that actually deserve your attention. It's "how to make lasting changes without burning up precious willpower."

I also created a google sheets spreadsheet for his "habit journal" because I'm not really a "physical notebook" kind of person.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wDfo0prhxvqHL_Y3QVw0zy1Xmw0msbOCVO1FpINxk0E/edit?usp=sharing

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There are many other helpful books and resources, but these are the ones that significantly changed how I work and freed up my energy and mental space for creativity. That's because they focus not on "losing weight" or "being more productive," but on how to tackle whatever "progress" is important to you, step by step. It's sort of a "meta-self-help book," something that provides practical steps to implement whatever lasting changes you feel are important. They don't tell you how to "write more," but they tell you how to enact the changes in your life that make "writing more" easy, based on what you know about yourself and your life. No self-help book can show you the perfect road to a perfect life, but these can tell you how to clear out all the little things getting in the way of finding that road for yourself.

They are relatively short (unlike this post lol). If nothing else, I'd recommend grabbing the audiobook of Getting Things Done and doing it bit by bit in between other things. You can look at these in any order, but GTD is a great first step. Although Nano is two days away, it may be helpful to put aside all other commitments you possibly can and focus on just GTD and Nanowrimo. GTD will help you get corral real life during November, and Nanowrimo will give you a clear top-priority project as an example for the principles you learn. In fact, I think GTD is best learned when you have one other big project that needs your focus.

The best thing is, if Getting Things Done doesn't directly help you with your creativity (though I believe it will), it will give you the tools to figure out what will help and how to take immediate action on that. The author says himself that even doing a small part of the system will make big changes you can notice right away. You can also work on GTD during times when writing is impossible, such as when you're at work or you only have your phone and the Kindle app with you.

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Disclaimer: I was not paid to recommend any of this lol I'm just a self-help addict and readily admit most self-help books are useless and vague motivational friendship speeches. These are not.

Feel free to message me if there's anything you'd like to note, clear up, or ask. I've figured out plenty of ways NOT to implement these systems haha. But I've never been so overflowing with ideas as I have been after doing these things and getting life out of the way.

Here's the link. I can't promise the book is good or helpful (I haven't read it yet myself), but it's something to look into. I just skimmed through the beginning, and it seems more focused on nonfiction and blogging as you write, but some of the information will be helpful no matter the content or process. Good luck. :)

A nice carpal tunnel glove? =D

I'm only sort of kidding.

What does she like to write on? People always seem to default to pens and notebooks, but really, a quality bluetooth keyboard might be even better. If she has a tablet, she can take it to B&N and write on it without having to deal with that awful screen-tapping.

A novel in her preferred genre that she hasn't read yet: also nice.

Or even a book about writing, or worldbuilding. I found this one quite inspirational. But I don't know what sort of thing she likes to write.

She actually did both, and released the e-book for free for the first month. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Thief-Archetype-ebook/dp/B00DOQKD72/ref=la_B00DPQKMV8_1_2

Her brother is a graphic designer, and she used a self-publishing company. Not sure which one, but they sent her a proof copy.

I believe her reason for going hardcopy after e-book was that a lot of people are still opposed to e-readers, and she also wanted to get it put in some local bookstores and coffee shops.

For editors, she used friends, and I'm proud to say I was one of them :) shameless self-promotion

I'm a panster (I write "by the seat of your pants"). I tried planning. The two years I planned I failed. So, I just kinda of wing it. I let thoughts kind of develop and just run with it. I'd suggest you read the following book No Plot? No Problem!. It was immensely helpful the year I won. And get a cushion from week 1. The majority of people who survive week 2 can win it - but week 2 is where most people fail out. Best of luck. Join the site, get on your regional forums and genre forums and get in the chats. Find out who your municipal liaison is and see if they have any "pre-nano" activities (like outline/plot workshops, etc.). I'm too overwhelmed being a first time ML to do that sort of stuff, but I'd like to try next year.

There's a book I picked up after seeing it recommended on the Nano forums called Around the Writer's Block that really helped me with recognizing what was going on with my own resistance to writing. I'd built it up in my head as this Big, Important Thing- and for your fiance, having quit his job to pursue a career in writing, I bet every time he sits down at a keyboard he freezes. I know I did.

Writing a book is far, far messier than it appears when you're used to picking up the finished product and judging from there instead of seeing all the chaos from draft one to bookshelf. He wants this to be a career, so his mind is focused on Write A Book I Can Publish That Is Good. But what comes out when you actually sit down behind a keyboard and start writing isn't good. There are a whole lot of stages of Not That Great along that path from draft one to bookshelf, with meandering loops through Actually Fucking Terrible and Oh Wait, I Stole This.

When you're hyper aware of that gap between The Drivel I Actually Write and That Awesome Book I Want To Write (that justifies the time and resources I've put into Me As A Writer), the pressure to write something good is paralyzing. The act of putting words down on a page becomes something sacrosanct. I can't count the number of Very Important Looking Notebooks I bought when I was younger, to go along with my Very Important Writing, then never wrote more than a page in because my actual writing wasn't up to the standard of belonging in my Very Important Notebook.

That's part of what makes Nano so important, I think. Because Nano is about setting aside all that stress about what we write being good enough, and just showing up to actually write.

There's only so much you can do from the outside. If he's willing to engage with you, have him watch Ira Glass' advice on creativity, then get him a copy of that book. Best wishes to you both.

It's a matter of learning to control the magic that their body makes naturally, and which is enhanced by natural emotions. My magic users are always initially located by their untrained magic going wild. One of my characters starts out being scarred by an unfortunate explosion his magic ignites. They take meditation training to calm their emotions and magic form training to learn to project their magic safely. But they still blow off the occasional limb or explode. Teenagers aren't known for their emotional restraint even in my universe.

Thanks for asking. :) Books one and two are already up for sale, if you want to check the sample. Book two went live just a couple of weeks ago.

I'm glad you're interested! And there is absolutely a UK option - check it out on paperback or on Kindle. I'd love to know what you thought once you've read it!

I found the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines helpful when it comes to symbolism. If you have time, you might want to skim through it.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Literature-Like-Professor/dp/0062301675/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539261035&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+read+literature+like+a+professor

Pacing is not something that is easy to achieve. It takes quite a long time to develop solid story pacing.

I, unfortunately, do not have any specific advice to offer you. I do, however, know of an author who is exceptionally good at it. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island. The book is out of copyright and falls under classic literature, so you can pick it up for free online from Amazon(I've read it twice on my kindle, for nostalgia's sake.)

This particular story flows from one element to another. I won't say its seamless, but it's about as close as I've ever seen done.

If you've never read it before, use some of your wind-down/spare time reading it. It's geared towards a relatively young audience, but it's still a good read, and it might help you pick up some pacing tricks.

I once read that writers fall into two categories - architects and gardeners. Architects plan every minute detail down to the last. Gardeners plant the seed and watch it grow on its own.

I can honestly say that I'm a little bit of both. My second novel - HellCorp- was very different to my first. My first book was written in 6 weeks - the final draft for publication in a little over 2 months. I had a lot of commuting time for work so I focus and knuckled down for all of that writing Morbid Relations.

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But for HellCorp- which started out as a Nano challenge, I was a lot more free to spend time in and around the project. I could spend 10 mins doing a chapter or 10 days. And I like to think it helped the development of the story, its characters (The Devil and God) and made me a better writer too.

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Writings is all about experience. And whatever works for you is what works for you. The only real constant for every scribe is that you have to actually write!

Speech to text has been mentioned. Here's a short book about how to become effective at it. It's on my list of books to read.



Good luck with the surgery and recovery.




https://www.amazon.com/15-Minute-Dictation-Frustration-Tablet-Singles-ebook/dp/B07WV5X42D

Because you're not writing a final draft. Best advice I ever learned in regards to this was from this book which said that if you decide you want to change something you did earlier, just leave a note in your writing saying what you want to change, and continue writing as if that was how it was originally. Anything from a character name change to an entire city being burnt down instead of, well, not being burnt down. Just get to the end for the first time, because it's the most important step.

Internal consistency is damn important. You create the world of your book & you need to set the rules up. Its OK to not be historically accurate if you've set up a world that isn't historically accurate. Your characters probably aren't speaking like its the 12th century so you're already starting off historically inaccurate. If your knight is going to win the climatic battle by using a never before seen laser gun that's OK - so long as you've established well before he pulls out the laser out of his ass that it can exist in your world.

Historical accuracy is nice though. If you can be accurate do it. With that in mind I just read a book called Knights at Tournament that would be helpful to you.

you mean like these? Those are much cheaper than I was expecting.

When I really want to concentrate, I put on rainymood and the best headphones I can find lying around me at the time. It's wonderful that way.

> Coffee could probably safely be injected straight into the veins given how far we've come with science. You should figure out how to do that. And then let me know how.

Caffeine gum comes close! Effective in ~10 minutes, been really handy for writing papers all night (but mostly staying awake in class the next day...)
https://www.amazon.com/Military-Energy-Gum-MEG-Specification/dp/B002U2IMBA/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1510186085&sr=8-3&keywords=military+energy+gum

Isn't it cool that, these days, we have so many cheap options to comfortably get our writing on "paper", synced and backed up etc.? I've been experimenting with tiny, portable writing solutions since back in the Palm Pilot days. I even had one of these at one time:

https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-Thumboard-Keyboard-Handspring-Platinum/dp/B00005O0LG

Oddly enough, I'm still not a best-selling author.

Best of luck with your cheapy set up. If it gives you any trouble, you might want to consider an Alphasmart if you haven't already. They're pretty cheap and robust. I imagine one would work well in your work setting, as long as you don't have to spend your whole writing session answering dumb questions about the Alphasmart from your co-workers.

I might do a little writing in the car, but I'm thinking it will mostly be when I'm at my destination. I might be camping for a few days, so that will be interesting.

If you haven't read Chris Baty's No Plot, No Problem, I would recommend it. I read it before my first attempt in 2005 and made it. I have crashed every year since. I'm rereading it now.