But why is she doing it on a typewriter?
November 19, 2012
12:00 am
NaNoWriMo seems kind of like one of those things that’s only feasibly completable if you’re unemployed or have similar time to kill, but I hope all the readers out there attempting it have been keeping up so they don’t have to polish off 49,000 words by next week!
Discussion (111) ¬
It seems like a strange concept for me. Why focus on writing fast rather than writing quality?
Because for a lot of writers, even more-so beginners, the most difficult thing is getting words out of your head and on the page. Once they’re there, they can be edited and revised as needed, but they need to actually be written down first. So there’s a big semi-collaborative push to just write, write, write during this month and not worry about quality yet because that’s an excuse to keep thinking about writing and not start writing.
At least, that’s how it’s been explained to me – I haven’t tried seriously writing but that was my experience with essays in school as well.
Huh, it makes more sense that way, thanks for telling me.
I’m the kind of person who sets the whole story, scenes, and characters in my head before touching the keyboard, but writing for the sheer sake of writing might actually be fun!
I also know some people have those planned out in their head as well before NaNoWriMo, or even written down in notes, but need a push to get past the planning stage and to the actual writing. It can also be helpful to write out a rough draft to see how they play out on the page and if the outline may need to be revised.
I think the key thing to remember is that physically writing/typing is only one step of, well, writing, but it’s obviously an important one. So the goal of NaNoWriMo isn’t so much to write a publishable novel in one go, but to get over the procrastination or mental block of getting that first draft completed (or started). Even if it’s not for a model that they’re planning to polish later, it’s also practice so they can translate thought to words quickly one they have a more story to write.
That’s the thing. Most people are. Most people don’t want to write anything until they get it down and don’t want to risk writing anything that’s not perfect. But at that point, you risk never writing anything because of a self-defeating goal of perfection. Also, once you get it onto the page there’s nothing stopping you from revising. Additionally, sometimes you can’t see certain problems until it’s on paper.
“writing for the sheer sake of writing might actually be fun!”
This is actually how I write normally, just that during NaNo I turn my inner editor off so I get a whole lot more down every writing session. NaNo or not, I’ll have character concepts, a few main plot points I want to hit along the way, and a general feel for the story as a whole, but I love not planning it to death because my best stories have just sort of “arrived” as I go along. I got 117K words in 17 days for this year’s NaNo, and most of that was unplanned plot. I *don’t* pad my NaNo’s because what is the point of writing “He woke up, ate breakfast, went to work, checked his email, came home, and went to sleep” eight hundred times if you’re only going to cut it out of the finished work later? O.o;;
Yeah, that’s exactly how it is. I’ve always encourage my creative writing students to try it because most people just wait for a muse to knock them over the head, and novels never get written that way. It’s to teach people to treat writing like a job; something they have to do every day. And it’s also to enjoy the actual process of writing, no matter what sort of funk you find yourself in. I love reading back over some of the stuff I churn out. Like, how does this sentence even exist?
I’ve gotten into the habit of writing on my iPod Touch (I know, tiny keyboard! D: ) if I’m not at my computer, so I can write out ideas, scenarios, or full chapters whenever inspiration strikes me and I’m not at my writing spot. <:D
Generally speaking, the best way to improve at writing is to write a lot. Obsessing over 500 words isn’t going to be as helpful as hammering out 5,000, in my experience.
True dat.
Well, if you have done it every day of the month, you only have to do about 1600 words a day. My writing buddy has a rather demanding job, and he’s already finished. Meanwhile, I work only part time, and I’ve only had 400 words written.
It’s only 1667 words a day. – The NaNoWriMo Song by Kristina Horner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78mvUeBw7MM
Everyone’s made a great point, but the most important thing is that writing is no different than any other skill: Practice makes perfect. Even if you write 50,000 words of garbage this month, you might write a thousand of solid gold in December. That might not seem like much, but it’s worth it.
It’s no different than the musician “screwing around” for six hours every day until they finally get a number one hit.
Getting something FINISHED is the first step. You can always make something you already wrote better with edits. But you can’t make something better if you don’t have the content in the first place.
Near as I can figure, it’s just a writing exercise. Who knows, you may be able to brainstorm upon a few concepts that you manage to jam out and flesh those out later into a legit plot. The secret to writing is mostly just to write, and then improve and refine later, right?
I’m keeping up full-time college and my own NaNo – which is admittedly going to steal back my title as The Creepy Chick You Keep Your Families Away From, but hey. Keeping up.
Can you even buy a typewriter in this day and age?
You can! New manual typewriters start at ~$100 US, but if you know where to look, you can get a used typewriter for a small fraction of that.
Yeah, you can. There are a lot of fancy ones too, usually being retro-designed as show pieces or the like… and of course there’s tons of older/used ones you could buy.
I picked up an old, cast-iron typewriter and converted it into a keyboard to help an elderly lady who used to help out at my school learn to work a computer with a more familiar setup, when I was in Jr. High. The fact that I went out of my way to accommodate her was probably more important than the keyboard itself, but the fact remains that it can be done… granted, that was about a decade ago, but I’m sure they’re still floating around and are still roughly as easy to find.
Also, she took well to it after I showed her that she’d have a hard time breaking anything… I hear tale she’s still a huge fan of Deus Ex~
Trying to come up with a similar cheat for the 24-hour Comic… Hummm.
I think it’s called “full-page panel”.
LOLs @ Viktormon
I don’t know. I once did NaNoWriMo while at school, working a job and not having a computer (so it was all by hand). It’s all about really wanting to get out a story – there’s a point where you work and you think about your novel in the background, and want to write it so bad. I hope one day it’ll happen to my comics as well xD
Because obviously Jonesy has realized that the typewriter was God’s gift to writers. The pleasant sounds of the keys clacking back and forth, the nostalgic lack of fragrance from the ink ribbon, the overall retro feel of composing works of modern writing on it. Typewriters are the luxury word processors of the field of the author, and Jonesy wants that luxury feel to rub off on her.
Sound can be achieved. Just get old IBM Model M or order new one from Unicomp. If you are to more modern and commnon clicky keys get board with Cherry MX Blue. The sound is nice… ;D
Full time job, wife, kid, and this is the fourth year I’ve done NaNoWriMo. Sitting ahead of the curve this year. Half of the point, aside from the joy of writing, is to learn to set a grueling pace for new writers, to get in the practice. It’s harder than going to the gym. Eventually you start getting your pace, and it only takes an hour or two a day. For me, this exercise has been an excuse to push myself to learn the craft.
Thank you for this comic. As someone with only 3 hours a day to spare for NaNoWriMo, it inspires me in a weird way.
NaNo is beyond my capabilities. Someday…
Wait, why is she using a typewriter for NaNoWriMo, other than for a parody of The Shining? With the help of a computer and copy + paste, she could have done that several times faster. Silly Jonesy.
I’ve heard that some use a typewriter so they’re less likely to be distracted by the internet. Me, I can’t get a darn thing done unless I’ve got 90s reruns playing in the background and three different tabs with half-finished sudoku puzzles. To each his own!
Then it wouldn’t count because she didn’t type it over and over. If you’re going to cheat, at least have some dignity about it.
I love you.
Three cheers for NaNoWriMo. I’m hoping this will be my third year winning.
(And thank you, C-squid – I’m actually right on schedule with the suggested wordcounts)
I wish for you to withdraw from the contest. As for my convincing argument, I have kidnapped your family.
(Purveyors of fanfic about) Qunari have no families. You have only sealed your destruction.
(But if you are taking part, hey, good luck too! :D)
But… the only one you’re in a contest with is yourself….
Or your fellow Wrimoers. Friendly rivalries, expressed in the form of YOU GREAT ROTTEN BASTARD HOW HAVE YOU WRITTEN 50K IN TWO WEEKS
Writing it over and over on paper. Explained.
Writing it over and over all over your walls. I think something snapped during the paper portion.
I have 1,000 words right now and I was just last night considering copy-pasting that page-and-a-half until I get to 50,000.
The Commander knows everything.
Coelasquid knows everything.
49 000? Ha! I’ve 49 800 words left.
I like Nanowrimo in theory, the support of a whole community urging you to get work done would be a great help, but in my encounter I haven’t seen much of a community there. Which is probably my fault rather than theirs, but still makes the exercise pointless.
Bee tee dubbs, I just realized Jones writing on the wall will make it even harder to count the words. What was she thinking?
My word claims I have 46363 to go….
Insane concepts lead to insane approaches.
wow i’ve never heard of it but it made me this of the rumor that :The Shining’s editor and Kubrick’s daughter Vivian claim that the director made his own secretary spend “literally months typing up individually unique pages,” and that for the foreign versions of The Shining Kubrick had special pages typed up for each foreign-language version. i read the info on cracked months ago but this comic brought it right to the front of my mind
Speaking of typing, could you (the community) as generally awesome people for liking this, read my ideas and maybe give me some tips? Sorry if this comes off as spamming, but i just really want to publish some stuff and am just starting out. Thanks ;) http://nikschaefer.wordpress.com/
What confuses me the most about NaNoWriMo is… isn’t it supposed to be national? The whole internet seems to be participating o.O
Typewriter Brigade represent!
NaNo is just an excuse for an acquaintance of mine to completely rape any and every possible fandom she can think of and mash it together into one huge sausage-fest.
Her current obsession is Hawkeye paired with the brothers from Supernatural and a dash of Vampire Slayer boys on the side.
That sounds vaguely intriguing, in the same way that My Immortal’s Enoby Darkness Dementia Raven Way is intriguing. :X
I wish i could show you the face i made as I straightened up and slowly closed my computer.
After you have enough practice, NaNoWriMo is easy. With prep work in October, I can write 1500-1600 words an hour once November strikes. That’s basically 30+ hours of writing across the entire month. (Provided I can keep up the pace.) After that, it’s just a matter of butt-in-chair.
Nothing more mythical or mysterious than other mundane forms of work. Practice and preparation.
And for me, the real work is in the editing, anyway.
I’m doing Nano at the moment, I may have to steal this idea shamelessly!
Just finished my NaNoWriMo on Monday. I use it as a way the challenge myself and try and get myself writing creatively again. Working it around a full time job though wasn’t easy. I basically did nothing but write on my days off and breaks. Was worth it though for the sense of acomplishment that it’s given me, knowing I can do 50,000 words in 19 days.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog…
…and so on. You can cover more ground that way. :D
No, no! The quick brown fox with a white tummy and black points on her ears, nose and tail jumps over the lazy hound dog who lies on the ground with floppy ears hanging and a cold, wet nose, sniffing the lazy, summer air contentedly and caring naught of the box!
It’s all in the fat.
I’ve still got about 30 thousand to go, unfortunately! BUT, that’s what my Thanksgiving holiday is for! It’s going to be five days away from my PC with nothing but family, friends, and little to no Internet access on my laptop, so I’ll be writing like mad.
ME TOO. And we don’t have Thanksgiving here for me to catch up with. D:
Hey I just noticed something…… is the commander left handed?
Is this the first time you’ve shown Jonesy actually doing work?
And she’s cheating while she does it. ;)
I was unemployed when I started NaNoWriMo this year, then I got a job in the middle of the month. On the one hand, I can now afford luxuries like rent and health insurance; on the other hand, my daily output has dwindled to nearly nothing. I’m definitely not going to win this year, but at least it’s gotten me back into the habit of writing every day.
Writing can lead to insanity. I know form first hand experience.
50,000 words in a month? Pfft, the really hardcore can write a million. For a given value of ‘write’…
I’ve never tried that cheat. I just do the “never ever use contractions” trick.
For the record, this will (hopefully) be my third win in a row!
bonus points: Write the ones that are non-ambiguous (don’t, shouldn’t’ve) as contractions and then find & replace them later: Less keystrokes *and* more words (or set up something that’ll replace them as you go, which runs the problem of contractions in spoken lines that’s to emphasize a character’s style…) I find thinking about contractions to be something that distracted me more than actually saving me any time or improving word count…
Though it did make me appreciate whoever wrote Data’s dialog even more…
I have more free time this year than I have in over a decade – one job! One full time job, no roommates to take care of, just one job, me, my cats – no extra 20 hours, no grad school, no councils, no committees – I broke 45k words last night, but the plot didn’t start until 30k words in. I’ve been Phantom Menaced. The first half is all trade negotiations. Well, finishing nanowrimo doesn’t mean you make anyone *read* your nanowrimo.
In other news, I read earlier this week that Britain’s last typewriter has been built and all typewriter-making operations have now thus ceased. Jonesy’s machine might be a hot commodity in the future when folks remember you can’t fill out pre-printed forms with a laser printer.
No, no it’s only non-electric typewriters that aren’t being mass-produced anymore. There are still companies that make electric typewriters, which are basically just Word Processors attached to a keyboard.
The reason was that they were only selling about 800 a year, all to countries like India, where typewriters are still used for government documents, but even India has mostly switched to electric.
Seeing as we have $249 netbooks now though, I suspect we’re going to see electric typewriters go bye bye soon as well. Kind of a shame, almost, because it certainly cuts the distraction!
I’d planned to do a NaNoWriMo entry this year, but life got in the way.
In theory, I could probably bang out 50k in a week-ish, considering my job is making music and as such I’m not exactly on a time limit… but would i be -able- to produce that much?
I used to write fanfiction, but I don’t know if it ever got THAT long… the last thing I ever wrote came out to just over 8k, and that was three chapters at about an hour a chapter (although they were put out over a span of a week, not done all at once).
Hm. Rough math says if I put in a full 24 hours I can pull just over 62k words at that rate, assuming I basically did nothing but write. Maybe I could pull it off? Focus all free time on it and bang it out in a few days’ time… sure, in theory. I’d probably end up finishing it off like Jonesey is in this strip, though. It would also entail tearing my brain away from the EVERYTHING ELSE I would want to do instead.
I’m neurologically wired to disregard “work” in favor of “play”, so I have to make myself think something I don’t wanna do is “work” so I “play” to do the other thing instead. (Yes, I’m aware that procrastination habits are not exactly a special thing. I choose to describe it as such because shut up.)
(p.s. Buy my album. I’m poor.)
(p.p.s. Do it through Bandcamp and it’s cheaper and I get paid a higher percentage off of it. I also get paid faster than through iTunes.)
(p.p.p.s. Sorry about the shameless plugging.)
(p.p.p.p.s. Not really sorry. I got no money. But I do feel like a bit of a prong for advertising on someone else’s site. So… I guess I am sorry, then. I retract my statement about not being sorry.)
(p.p.p.p.p.s. Shutting up now.)
I’m probably going to get flamed for saying this but lately, I haven’t found this comic very funny at all. I don’t even smile at it anymore.
None of your punch lines have had any actual punch–Hell, I figured out the punchline of this weeks comic even before I hit the second panel–and I think you’ve lost focus a bit.
I mean, for the mini-arc, focusing on your OC’s was a good thing but since then? This comic was originally a video game parody/comedy comic and over the years, not only has the quality of art gone down–yes, I’m going to mention that cause it is a problem–but the jokes and focus have seem to have gone down with it.
I don’t mind the commander being in every strip, he’s supposed to be there but Jonesey and Jared? Unless Jonesey starts working/living with the commander, I don’t feel she fits in very well and Jared’s getting overused now a days. Instead of manly guys doing manly things, we’re seeing the life of a reject pokemon trainer, with a mentally ill pokemon, harping/talking about shit from his past life in Kanto, while making a killing as an intern. Kind of hard to sympathize with…
Not to mention the title of this comic is practically false advertising at this point. Whatever happened to all the overly macho, overly angry video game characters that were looking for work? Did they vanish? Did they find jobs? What are THEY up to in the “real world?” We got peeks and glimpses but never got anything solid.
I really love this comic and I know you can’t stand it when others tell you how to run it or complain about the artwork but these things need to be addressed. With comics, it’s a visual medium as well as a literal one. (I know you know this, I’m just explaining for the sake of explanation.) Both are important to bringing a good story and when one suffers, I find everything and I’m just letting you know that it’s really showing lately.
And for the people who are going to tell me, “OMG IT’S FREE! BE THANKFUL!!” I’d just like to say that I’m not being ungrateful. I’m not demanding anything, I’m just letting her know of a legitimate problem: “I don’t find her comic funny anymore and here’s why.”
It’s part art, part focus, part story and one problem is bleeding into the others though I can’t really pinpoint the source of the bleed. I think all of them started leaking through the cracks at different points and now it’s just a big mess…
Sorry if any of this offended anyone and I hope I didn’t cause you to flip anymore tables, Coelsquid.
This comic may or may not have 99 problems but Jonesy ain’t one.
The guys that come into the agency are only important because they’ve come to the agency. Therefore, when they’re not around the agency or the Commander, then obviously, they’re not going to be in the strip. Lately, the Commander has not been very active at the agency. Hence, no video game guys. Actually, take into consideration that some of the subjects of the strip lately wouldn’t have translated very well into a funny punchline by a game character. The logical thing to do is to use your far more versatile OCs to cover the subject. At any rate, why not hang back and let some strips pile up before reading them? Maybe Coelasquid will have been able to get some gaming groove on by then.
Also, let’s not forget that the first people you see in the first strip all the way back in 2010 are Jonesy and the Commander, in that order. Whether you like it or not, Jonesy is an important character.
I liked how you’re saying this when literally the previous comic was about video games.
Actually, it was about Jared one-upping a previous PokeRival in Xbox live. :/ What I meant by my complaint was all the game characters that were once a part of the cast.
People come here for all sorts of different reasons, some people only want game references and jokes where the punchline is “it’s funny because it’s a beefy dude” some people only want original character stuff. Every party is of the opinion that their vision for the comic is the only correct one. While you can write an essay about all the things that you fond wrong with it, other people are telling me that the recent ones are their favourites yet. I would disagree with that, but that’s the point, there are all sorts of different things on this site, no one will enjoy everything all the time, but eventually there’s something for everyone. Quite often I’ll do comics (like this nanowrimo one, for example) because I know they have kind of niche appeal and the handful of people who get it will really appreciate it.
To be completely honest, I’ve been pretty creatively tapped out of this comic for quite a while. It’s a huge time sink, there are other projects I would like to be able to devote more time to (but they aren’t funny or full of video game characters so you probably wouldn’t like them), but so many people tell me it means so much to them that it’s enough motivation to keep plugging on. But devoting all that time to nothing but gaming stuff all the time is pretty draining, it feels like working on constant fanfiction, and that’s not satisfying. Trust me nothing makes you feel more like a hack than ending every strip in HA HA KRATOS AMIRITE? or LOOK GYARADOS HAS A FUNNY FACE! And that’s fine, because a number of people write in to say they’re only here for the original characters. You might not enjoy it, and you’re completely within your rights not to, but your opinions are your own and do not reflect the whole of the internet.
I’m also going to throw it out there, since you seem to be confused on the matter, that general criticism is not what I’m sick of hearing, it’s unreasonable demands on my time. If I say “hey I couldn’t colour this comic because something came up” and people send me relentless messages through comments, email, facebook, tumblr, and twitter asking when it will be, that isn’t criticism, it’s harassment. There are a lot of problems with this comic! A lot of things I’d like to be able to do better. But there are only so many hours in the day, and I spend most of them doing my real job.
In the end, you’re disappointed, I get that, but sometimes the comics I draw just aren’t for everyone, and maybe the recent comics weren’t for you. Maybe the next one will be! Who knows.
I really admire your dedication to this comic when you’d rather be doing something else, although honestly I’d like to see your other projects too.
If you’re feeling a bit tapped out, the vast majority of readers wouldn’t mind if you took some time off. There’s no sense you doing it if it ain’t fun.
I never thought my opinion reflected the whole internet, even if it came off as such.
As for Kratos, you said you had plans for him back when he and King Leonidas parted ways. If you’re tapped out, why not carry through with it or has it become lost in the sea of time somehow?
Anyway, thank you for answering my Coelsquid.
By “other things” I meant the Halloween comic I posted like… the direct week after the gay chicken thing ended.
Well I’ll just be god damned. This is an internet anomaly. Two people with very different opinions about something, one of them the CREATOR of that thing, just had a reasoned, adult discussion about it without either one of them getting angry. Massive props to both of you. Here’s to maturity. *Toasts*
I would really love to do this but November is when most of my classes have their big essays and I had like three to do this month alone. I just try to find time to write anytime.
I’m not really sure if one isolated person thinking that the comic isn’t funny anymore qualifies as “a legitimate problem.”
You have the right to your opinion, but I have the right to my opinion too and I actually think you’re wrong about pretty much everything…so right away, two opinions have just cancelled each other out. As for Coelasquid, she has the right to completely ignore both opinions. You don’t come off as being ungrateful (to me) since I think you’re trying to be helpful, but it’s kind of egotistical to assume that this comic needs improving and that your unsolicited list of grievances is what can improve it. “These things need to be addressed” is something a superior would say to their employee or a parent to their child. It isn’t appropriate language to use with someone posting content for their own personal fulfillment. We readers do not employ her in any way, shape or fashion.
I apologize to you and Coelasquid for my own egotism in responding to your comment, but since you mentioned your fears about the possible reactions of other readers I thought that you might be prepared to see how one of them perceived your viewpoint.
Sure!! Keeping up!! Yeah… I’ve been… doing… something almost similar to that…
Haha, yeaaaah… working full-time + doing commissions + doing a weekly webcomic + doing NaNoWriMo = forced insomnia for 30 days.
I’m going to need to do a lot of editing when all this is over, but ugh, only 14,900ish words to go…
If anyone wants to buddy with this Fantasy author – I’m on as AstraCrompton <3
BWAHAH!
as someone who finished his 50k on day 16, i say nuts to that!
still, this comic was incredible to see go up given that nano is basically all i’ve done this month. (just remember: when you finish your novel, november becomes national novel DRINKING month!)
73195 as of this morning. Some of it even makes sense.
This is actually my first year doing NaNoWriMo, and despite only basically coming up with my idea about two days before the month started, I’ve been able to unload 2,000 words a day at about two hours a day. (Doing 2,000 instead of 1667 because it’s easier to count). If you’re working 12 hour days it’s pretty tough, but for 8 hour days it’s just a matter of setting time aside so instead of playing Halo you’re putting words to the page.
NaNoWriMo is the most dificult time for me as a writer. I lately have just been continuing my first nano. Also I don’t remember if I posted on here before but I absolutly love your comic and wish you to keep up the good work.
I thought our artist was telling us something… Something along the lines of “FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, I’LL DO COMICS WHENEVER”. Oh wait.
I love NaNoWriMo, best excuse to churn out a manuscript. The subsequent two years of editing are less fun, but it’s good to see how your own writing skills improve each time. And potential wordcounts, I’ve just broken 175K…
Pfft, there’s a Canadian contest called the three day novel that I did. As much as it’s a little less of a word count deadline it’s still a wee bit more intensive.
Haha! I have two dozen webcomics bookmarked that I check regularly and this is the only one that has ever mentioned NaNo! What a delight to read the strip today. ^_^
I’m at 25k… going to see if i can shove the rest into one week…ugh…
She could bump up her count a bit if she included her first name.
I work full time, been somewhat consistent at at least being around par after the end of the weekend. this week’s been the worst for me all the getting ready for holiday only been able to sit down and do anything Thursday and Friday. I’m at 34k words (exactly, oddly enough) as of this morning.
I just write from the movie in my head. Then let the Editor attempt to explain the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Then I go back and change those parts to “it is”. Any writer’s block is a good excuse for a sandwich or a nap.
I love how Jarred skulks around to check on Jonsey. And then he was sufficiently creeped out enough to still be kinda skulking when he showed the page to the Commander.
I think maybe it doesn’t work for artists. We get free time and think, “Whoops, I need to be drawing!”
This reminds me……..
I have to finish my NaNoWriMo for a school assignment…
All 50,000 words…..
Shit……..DX
It’s really sweet that Jared is concerned about Jonesy. However it’s also kind of creepy that he’s following her around.
For the record, Jonesy’s psychotic face is one of the funniest expressions I’ve yet seen Coelasquid draw.
I think my friend will like this one – she’s been trying to write a story/novel for years, (though she’s got a few chapters done) – but since her computer died, I haven’t seen or heard from her much – mainly to offer help in buying and constructing her computer if she needs it). Wonder if she’s got a typewriter? ;)
Don’t know if she’ll be able to view it on her phone, though…?
(She’s Phillippa Tryndal on facebook – (not her real name ;) )).
._. I am still at 15000…
I’m so bummed out! I’m behind schedule! I’m at like 40.7k words, when I should be at 43.3k Dx
I’m only around 7000 freakin’ words in, and I keep getting delayed, so I might as well let National Novel Writing Month run into December, as the distinctions between the two have been slowly blurred together over the years.
I’m late to jump on this boat, but I finished NaNo yesterday and several times through the month I wished I’d cheat. I did it last year, but this year I school *and* a job. Exhausting, scribbling whatever I could during whatever breaks I got.
The director of The Shining (or some other high up) actually made a guy type that out by hand, then had other guys translate it by hand.
Never could wrap my head around NanoWrimo. I write for a living and have found that no two writers are the same. Some can hammer out a novel in a month. Some take a year. Both may be just as good, but one prefers to wing it and spend the next six months in rewrites while the other does a buttload of research, creates a skeletal framework, and then slowly adds more detail over a period of months. The finished planned novel often doesn’t need much cleaning up.
Thing is, you can go ahead and knock out a novel in a month, but if you didn’t think it through beforehand or really work your butt off to polish it up afterward, who’s going to want to read it?
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE!
Why has no one pointed out the pen lid on what looks like a pencil?
Because uh… it isn’t? It’s a white pen with a bronze-ish end, like every generic blue ballpoint pen I’ve ever held in my life.
I heard the last mechanical typewriter was built just the other day. Makes this strip a little sad, doesn’t it?
Ooh Ooh! I do NaNo!
I won, too, and miraculously enough, without a 10,000 word per day sprint in the last week!