Daisy's Moving Castle: October 2017

[Printable] NaNo '17 Progress Trackers!

October 20, 2017
By Daisy
1 Comments

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us once more. I've done NaNo every year since 2013 (won twice, lost twice), and can't wait to try again next month!

In preparation (and procrastination), I've whipped up two versions of my calendar-style NaNoWriMo progress tracker:

Version One

...with daily wordcount goals filled in. I used the numbers from the stats graph on the official NaNoWriMo website, so this is for those of you who are aiming for the classic 50,000 words!

DOWNLOAD HERE

Version Two

...with the wordcount goal left blank. This is for those of you NaNo rebels. Aiming for 30k? 100k? 200k? Editing? Or maybe doing a reverse NaNo? Print out this calendar, pull out the calculator and fill in your daily goals!

DOWNLOAD HERE

How To Use

Simply fill in your wordcount in the right box at the end of the day. I'm planning on highlighting the boxes with my mildliners. Maybe a grey for the days I missed target, and a bright yellow for the days I did!

Get creative and let me know what you come up with!

Like what you see? Support me through Ko-Fi so I can keep creating!

What's in My First Draft Writing Kit?

October 19, 2017
By Daisy
0 Comments

In the 3 or so years I’ve been writing seriously, I’ve gone through a lot of writing tools, and to my great shame, I've spent a lot of ‘oooh, shiny’ money on things I didn’t need and no longer use.

You see, I have this problem where I spend more time talking about writing more than actually writing. I've always thought, "The problem isn't me, but the tools that I have. If only I found the right app, right keyboard, right book, I'd be able to write more." That, of course, is nothing more than wishful thinking. None of those things can make me write. Only I can make myself write.

Lately, I've been cutting back, deleting apps, and limiting figuring out what works for me. These are the things I've been using to write:

To Write

Notebook. When I get an idea, I like to brainstorm with a pen. My brain just works better that way when I need to generate ideas.

Alphasmart Neo. It’s a keyboard with a crappy screen. I bought it secondhand off Ebay, the shipping cost more than the actual product, and my writing buddy almost lost her mind my latest seemingly unnecessary purchase, but it was worth it. As long as I get my butt in a chair and put my shiny high-tech electronics away, there's no distractions. Zip zilch zero. I do pretty much all of my writing on here now.

Ulysses. Whenever I need a place to dump down ideas, I open up Ulysses. The strength of this app is being able to keep all my ideas well organised in different files with the ability to open/create files instantly. I also transfer all my Alphasmart writing into Ulysses, and do organise my chapters there before moving it elsewhere to edit.

To Inspire

Pinterest. I’m not that great at Pinterest, and my boards are messy as hell, but it’s a convenient way to save pictures for later when I’m browsing around on the internet.

Spotify. My phone plan includes premium, and I love it. To be honest, I’m not a huge music person, but it’s nice to be able to save music and make WIP playlists with minimal fuss.

To Learn

The Two Pillars of Story Structure. This is one of my favourite articles on story structure, and I reread it every time I get struck adding conflict to a cool premise. The gist is that your story is held up by two pillars which serve as ‘points of no return.’ Give it a read, I definitely recommend it!

The Snowflake Method. I don’t follow the method outlined to a T, but I have a copy of the webpage printed out and refer back to it constantly when I’m in my pre-writing stages. It’s incredibly useful for getting a birds-eye view of my story.

Helping Writers Become Authors. I find story structure inspires me when I'm stuck, and this is the place to read all about it. From scene structure to character arcs, this site has it all!

As a final note, just because these things work for me doesn’t mean they’ll work for everyone. The point is, find a writing kit that works for you. Then spend the time writing, not looking for more writing tools to use because at the end of the day, no tool will do the writing for you.