The Story Corner » Discussions


Writers Discuss - Writing Aids (#14)

Back to Topics
  • SpottedFawn
    Member
     
    September 28, 2015

    I've participated in it a couple years in a row, as well as Camp NaNoWriMo (Which takes place in July and April), which is a scaled down version of NaNoWriMo that allows you to set your own word coal (10k is the minimum, I believe). NaNoWriMo can be pretty exciting if you have a good idea of what you want to write about, personally, I have trouble meeting the day-to-day minimum word requirement of 1,667 words, which is why I'm building up my writing chops with short stories and the like before November hits.

    Essentially, the goal is to spend the entire month writing a novel that is 50,000 words or more (50k being the minimum you need to reach victory), the novel will be submitted for word-counting during the last week of November (don't worry, it's not submitted online for anyone to read, or saved or anything in case you're worried about someone stealing it, it's literally just a word-count-checker). There are forums broken down by genre, age group and even a few general chat forums. There are word count sprints, where you and a bunch of other people go at a specific time of day for 5 or 10 minutes, and they try to write as much as they can.

    There's no penalty if you don't win, however there are plenty of goodies if you DO win. You can buy winners' T-Shirts in their Site Store, as well as get badges to post on your Facebook or Twitter or wherever you'd like. :) Here's mine from July's Camp NaNoWriMo.

    Here is a link to both NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo for anyone interested.

  • Okan-Zeeus
    Member
     
    September 28, 2015
    Sounds challenging. Have you released any of your work publicly?
  • Borommakot
    Member
     
    September 28, 2015

    NaNo is a fantastic program. I did it in 2013, but I haven't had time the last two years on top of work and school. But it's an amazingly fun exercise.

  • Sildriel
    Member
     
    September 28, 2015

    Here's another suggestion: What is the different between young adult and adult fiction and which do you prefer to read/write?

  • SpottedFawn
    Member
     
    September 28, 2015

    Not yet! And for two reasons,
    One, I have a terrible habit of never finishing anything, especially if it's a full length novel.

    Two, I'm a little bit shy when it comes to my writing, but the creative writing class I took a few months ago has helped me come out of my shell a little more. I'm hoping to submit a few things here to kind of 'test the waters' as well as get some helpful critiques from you all. :)

  • Accursed
    Member
     
    September 28, 2015

    Sounds fun. I'd do it, but I never like the fantasy universes I come up with. Next summer I think I'm just gonna write a shit-ton of lore and turn that universe into a novel.

  • Okan-Zeeus
    Member
     
    September 28, 2015
    It sounds hard! I'm always so inconsistent with my writing benchmarks. I'd struggle to write over 1000 words every day for a month.
  • Sotek
    Member
     
    September 28, 2015

    Funny that you should happen to say about exercise books ect. Before I had my laptop I used to write my story in books when I as at work then type them in the computer when I got home or in the afternoon. I've still got five 80 page books filled with my scribbles from chapter one onwards. I've also got a good several pages of a4 paper with parts of chapters which I worked on. (PC isn't compatible with works computer. Laptop is)

  • Exuro
    Member
     
    September 29, 2015

    I'll write these out in the format I think:

    Writing Aids:

    • Utility
      • MS Word
      • Dropbox
      • dictionary.com/thesaurus.com
    • Research
      • Imperial Library
      • UESP
      • The discussions, lore, and story pages here
      • youtube.com, mostly to find dialogue for quests I've completed or can't reach yet
      • Random reddit/google searches
      • Skyrim, I write notes on whatever is laying around my desk while I play. I pay special attention to the random events that happen, I think a few of those help the story feel more organic. Sometimes I just wander around and take screen shots to help describe the setting.
      • The people of this site are great for when I get stuck or write myself into a corner.
    • Organization
      • General outline with just the major plot points
      • Detailed, chronological  time line. This is usually about 75% complete for 3 chapters ahead of what I'm writing then starts becoming sparse. It also gives me a place to put any flashes of insight on a future dialog or scene before I forget.
      • Character profiles, detailed for the main characters, but I try to make sure anyone mentioned at all has at least a few sentences of back story.
      • A list of current  items, injuries, stresses/emotional state, etc. the characters have/ are going through
      • I think about my story a lot while driving

    When I actually start writing, it feels like I just drop all the aids mentioned above in a pile on the characters and then they pick up a few things and run with it (or away in an unplanned direction sometimes.)

  • The Long-Chapper
    Member
     
    September 29, 2015

    When I actually start writing, it feels like I just drop all the aids mentioned above in a pile on the characters and then they pick up a few things and run with it (or away in an unplanned direction sometimes.)

    Ha! That is how my chapter "Tiinvak" was. It started as a giant "what if..." that turned into 5000 words of dragons, dragons, dragons! 


Back to Topics