Nanowrimo…it's on!

So Nanowrimo has officially begun! I thought I'd take a few minutes of my lunch break (before I start with the serious writing) to update my progress so far and go over what I think my process will be. It's going to be fun with a few new technological tools in my pocket.

Last night I stayed up waaaay too late and got in my first quota, working from midnight to almost 2 a.m. and getting out about 2,300 words. When I can I like to push past the daily quota of 1,667 words to make up for whatever tough patches are in store for me this month. (Vacation with my sister and her kids at our parents' in Florida? And we are driving down!) My hero was being questioned by the police, so it was a fun scene to write.

Like I said, I have a few tools that I use, several of them new.

1. Notebook. I don't like lugging my computer around with me and I really find that the words flow better writing out longhand.

2. Scrivener. That said, I don't think I could live without Scrivener for outlining, counting my words automatically and yes, typing right into the program. It does save time typing up what i've written in my notebook. I use dropbox and an additional copy of the program on my work computer to keep me productive when I can sneak a minute or want to stay at my desk for writing at lunch.

3. This year, Scrivener is allowing me to do two awesome things. Previously, I might have printed out summaries of my upcoming  scenes or written down the next few in my notebook to reference, but this year with my driod phone (and it would actually be easier with an iPhone, but that's not what I have) and a combination of simplenote and the flicknote app on my phone, I can carry around all my upcoming scenes with my electronically. Since simplenote actually only syncs the body text (not Scrivener's index cards) I did have to copy the scene descriptions for each scene which I will replace with actual text. I can sync that as well and see what I wrote the night before so I know i'm starting in the right place etc. I could also write directly on my phone if I wanted and sync that back in directly to Scivener.

4. The other thing that scrivener is allowing me to do is carry the first half of my book (that I wrote for Nanowrimo last year) around with me on my nook! So if I can't remember a character's name or what they said in a certain scene, I can look it up immediately if I want.

My basic procedure is this: on weekdays, write as much as I can in my notebook longhand at lunch and after work wherever I go if I don't go home. Then when I do get home, type it up in Scrivener. This not only refreshes me as to where I am, I also like to add more as I go. When I work like that it's usually pretty easy to pick up the thread of the story and keep going. 

I am off to a good start, but it's a long month and a lot of words to go. Good luck to me and all the other wrimos out there. Let your words flow and don't look back, just keep writing!