nomulous: @kidko Congratulations on your victory, and hopefully to most other nanowrimo participants out there! (BTW, missing two words?..
Hi.
OK, so Drum Monkey and I have been working on some ideas for 'guided improv'. We LOVE improvising, but have been looking at a load of different ways to inspire different ideas.

Well, I just finished my novel tonight, with 50,096 words. Whether or not I'll revisit and do any editing on it for later I have no idea, but I'm really excited that I managed to win this year. =)
Now I just have to think about what I want to write about for next year... Who wants to join me for NaNoWriMo 2010?


This is just a quick post. Still no word from Apple.
In the meantime, you can read my other blog: http://archimage-writing.posterous.com/ to read about the first novel ever written on an iPhone (I was using Auteureist™ exclusively to do so).
Well I did it. I'm now officially done my novel's first draft and its been verified by NaNoWriMo. This is the first full-length novel written entirely on an iPhone. Where's the Guiness Book of Records when you need them?

It went fast, although at times it seemed to drag on and on. This is just a final recap.
I decided to try NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. I've done a ton of writing (some published) and even a book, but I've gotten out of the rhythm and habit of writing. So I decided trying NaNoWriMo would be a good way to get me back in. The other reason I decided to try NaNoWriMo was in order to put my iPhone app, Auteureist™ through a test by fire. It's been used for writing snippets of various lengths mostly for test and debugging purposes, but never a full novel. So I thought NaNoWriMo would be a good way to test the actual usability and stability of the app. So what did I learn? - About writing and me. It was good to get back into writing. It's mostly an enjoyable process for me. However, one thing I learned was that I don't enjoy writing on a quota. NaNoWriMo had a quota of 1,667 words a day to stay on target for the goal of 50,000 words. True, I could skip a day and make up for it later, but that just added more pressure. I prefer writing when I'm relaxed and in the mood and feeling creative. Writing to a quota is more like work. It also doesn't produce the best writing from me. But it does show that if I wanted or needed to become a full-time writer, I could do it. The other main thing I learned is that writing is time consuming for me. To write approximately 1000 words takes about an hour (this from a new feature in the app that I implemented just to get this sort of information.) This is actual typing and think time in the editor itself. This doesn't include time thinking when I didn't have the app open in the Chapter Text Edit Screen. So for a 50,000 word novel that's about 50 hours, a lot of time to devote, even when spread over a couple of hours a day. The most important thing I learned about my writing style is that I need to have a goal and at least a skeletal backstory in place prior to actually sitting down and writing. The stuff I wrote is pretty bad as my first drafts go. I think I turned it into something meaningful at the end, and it makes sense in context, but its not tight prose by any standard. I don't like that. Next year (if I decide to do this again) I'll go in with a plan rather than cold the way I did this year. It will be less of a struggle. Also, I didn't do any editing. I just plunged onward to the goal. I prefer to write and edit while I'm editing. This creates a tighter and more polished first draft. I kept the shark moving for NaNoWriMo, I prefer to give my shark short breaks. - About writing using Auteureist™ The other reason for entering NaNoWriMo was to give Auteureist a real test. First the good news. The app is solid and I didn't lose any of my writing. Even though it has a backup and restore feature that I used to back up religiously, I never had to do a restore because the app never crashed, or lost any of my writing. That's not to say you'll never lose text using the app, but I think my architecture and implementation minimize that risk. I did find some minor annoyances. For example. Once you have a lot of text, scrolling to the bottom of an in-process chapter takes a lot of scrolling. I've implemented a scroll-to-bottom feature which takes you there in one tap. This something Apple needs to build into the iPhone. It made editing and reviewing text a lot nicer. One thing I realized I didn't have that would be helpful was to have a way to tell how long you actually spent writing. So about halfway through, I implemented a feature that captures the amount of time you actually spend writing from the time you tap in the first word, to when you exit the text. I updated the Summary screens to display the information. It's a nice way to gauge progress that is time-based rather than word count based. I prefer to write for an hour, rather than producing 'n' words. I have lots of plans for expanding on this ability. Auteureist was really wonderful when I was stuck somewhere for a few minutes, waiting for an appointment, or food to arrive at a restaurant. I'd pull it out and tap a couple of hundred words. It was a convenience factor. I always carry my iPhone, but I rarely carry a pad and pen. So I was able to write where otherwise I'd have sat around and felt bored. This was really one of the more unexpected benefits of Auteureist. It actually promotes writing. Even without the pressure/motivation of NaNoWriMo, I would have still pulled it out and tapped stuff. It's just convenient and the organizational features are nicer to use than the plain Notes app. One of the problems with writing a novel on an iPhone is my thumbs got tired. I can tap out about 50-60 wpm when I'm going and ignore typos. So, take lots of breaks. I was never in any pain, but I can envision people getting carpal thumb. So take lots of breaks. One thing that I discovered about me and Auteureist is that I prefer to not see the word count and progress bar when I type. I spent typing in full-screen mode which hides these or in normal mode where I ignored the feedback. I found the additional feedback to be more pressure. It became "300 words more...275 words more...212 words more..." Some people will like the feedback, but I don't need the additional pressure--which is why I provide both modes for both types of people. The other nice thing about Auteureist, is that outside of backup and restores, it doesn't seem to slow down once you get significant amounts of text and novels. There seems to be a perceived fractional second when you load the chapter list but its more of a UI-switch perception rather than a real slowdown. Finally, there are lots of things I knew I wanted in 1.0 but didn't provide. The main one was a more streamlined UI and screen-to-screen flow. That's already in place and ready to go in 1.1. I also discovered a bunch of things that would be nice to have but aren't required. I'll add those as time and energy permit. So, final verdict. Auteureist is more than capable for the creation of real novels. I may be biased because I created the app based on what I like and wanted, but I think it's a nice environment to work in. It's not perfect, but then what is. - About my novel "The Accident".
Will I edit and get it published. I'm not sure. There are things I love about it. There are things I hate about it. That's normal. I'm going to put it aside and come back to it sometime in the future and reread it and then make a decision. It needs a ton of editing and tightening and some portions need to be rewritten outright. I hate editing my own stuff. Not that I'm invested in my writing (I am to an extent) I just find it overly tedious to do. It's not the best thing I've written, but it has a lot of things I find interesting. My main character essentially took over the story and made it his for the novel's entire length. I like the fact that things are always changing and in-flux with him. I don't like some of the things I discover about him--I'm gladI'm not him. He has a lot to redeem him. And I really like how he tied pretty much everything up at the end without my willing him to, and what that reveals. It was an interesting experiment for me from the standpoint of a character study.
- Conclusions
NaNoWriMo is a good way to write if you're willing to invest the time and effort. Even if you don't keep to their suggested quote and goals, its a good way to engage. Auteureist™ has been proven in the flames of real writing. And finally, I'm back into writing. Will I do it all again next year? It's too early to tell, and too close to just being done to be objective. So, here are the final stats:
Again, the time worked is partial since it wasn't active for about half the novel.
This is part seven of the project I am working on for National Novel Writing Month. Here are the links to the first sections.
Who Broke Your Heart- Things You Might Not Know
The End of a Marriage
A 21st Century Break Up
"I Don't Want To Kiss My Husband Ever Again"
Once Upon A Time
Hanging Out With Hairy