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While researching an article about iPhones, I was contacted by Cheryl Kaye Tardif, best-selling author of numerous novels such as Whale Song. Tardif has embarked on a new project: writing a complete novel on her iPhone – the first major mainstream author to do so.

I kind of stumbled onto this by accident. One night while watching TV I was inspired by an idea for a new novel; I’m a bestselling suspense author with 3 published novels.

This new novel idea hit hard and fast and I didn’t want to lose one thought, so I reached for my iPhone 3G, which at the time I’d had for a week or so. Opening the Notes application for the first time, I started typing in my ideas. This led to opening a new file in Notes and actually writing the first paragraph or two of the novel.

Then I discovered I could email my Notes to myself. I did this and later that evening after the TV show I was watching was over, I rushed upstairs and opened the email on my PC. Copy and paste brought it into an MS Word doc, and ta-da! I’d officially started a new novel.

The novel, Finding Bliss, is still in the “fermenting” stage, says Tardif – she’s wrapping up another novel to send to the publisher, and editing another that’s due to come out soon. But she’s excited about doing this.

My first question, of course, was “why”?” I mean, I’m a big techie (of course) and I’ve written quite a bit on similar devices like my trusty old Palm IIIe, but the thought of tapping out 80,000 words or so on the iPhone’s touchscreen keyboard fills me with dread!

Tardif gives several reasons for undertaking such a big project on such a small device. First, there’s the convenience. “This is huge for me,” she says, “since I am struck with ideas virtually anywhere, any time.”

Second, she finds the immediacy of the iPhone fits the topic of the novel quite well. “Finding Bliss is told in first person, from the perspective of Bliss Morgan, a damaged teenage girl who must fight to survive in a world of abuse, lies and loss. It will read almost as a diary, and writing my thoughts down when I get them is key.”

But most importantly, she says, writing a novel on an iPhone is great publicity. “To be honest, writing Finding Bliss in this way makes this novel unique, intriguing, and very pitchable to a publisher and sponsors.” Before you dismiss that as shallow, opportunistic, or overly commercial, remember that we live in an attention economy, and writers are not just expected but required to bring with their manuscripts a willingness to market their work and the savvy-ness to do it well. There is a special term for authors who aren’t willing to go the extra mile to capture the public’s attention: “unpublished”.

Tardif has found a great way to distinguish herself from the pack, and the public (and publishers) are paying attention. She’s been featured in several newspapers, and been contacted by retailers and websites looking to arrange exclusive releases of her finished book – and she’s only two chapters in!

Tardif offers this advice for authors looking to use their iPhones to write on:

Writing a novel on a small device like the iPhone 3G requires a fair amount of patience. There’s also a learning curve with the phone, so writers attempting this have to be willing to take their time. This probably won’t be a novel that’s written in 4 months.

I think that anyone attempting this should understand why they want to write this way. Are there advantages? Do the advantages outweigh the restrictions? Keep in mind, there is little room to edit, and certainly major editing would be done once converted into the Word doc.

More importantly, she sets a great example for writers looking for creative ways to promote themselves and their work. It hasn’t all been done before, but you’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to get yourself noticed. “Let’s face it,” she told me, “every author needs to get noticed if they want to succeed, especially fiction authors. And I plan to succeed! ”

Good advice!

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Congratulations to everyone who participated in National Novel Writing Month! With the end of November, you are either looking with glee at a 50000-word (or more) manuscript or sadly facing the fact that you just couldn’t make it to 50000.

Either way, you accomplished something meaningful — either you finished (or at least made a good start on) a major writing project, or you didn’t make it and learned some pretty important things about yourself as a writer and about how to manage your time, enthusiasm, and creativity to make it for the long haul. I admire the people who took the challenge, regardless of your final word count.

I hope the posts here have helped you in your efforts, especially the interviews with NaNoWriMo participants. I am grateful to everyone who answered the call — I really appreciate you taking the time to share your advice with your fellow WTC readers. My thanks to:

• Trisha Bartle
• Carolyn Dekat
• Sonja Faust
• Catherine Hicks
• Amanda Kendle
• Betty Punkert
• Whitney Rhodes
• Jon Strother

Let’s do it again next year, and more besides! In the meantime, keep writing. Have a happy holiday season and into the New Year.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo? What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

It started out as a lark. Now I do it in part because it’s the only time of the year I have a consistent fictional writing practice and in part because of the joy I get in helping others rediscover their creative voice.

The realization that if it isn’t perfect out of the gate, that doesn’t mean it’s not a valid story or I’m a terrible writer and I should give up. It only means that I’m a human being. I’m also discovering that I’m becoming a better writer by tackling it over and over again without being attached to ‘making a living’ at it.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

The first year it was pure dogged stubbornness. Since then, the forums, the write-ins, and the knowledge that I have anywhere between a hundred and three hundred people who ‘look up’ to me as one of the examples have helped.
From a less practical standpoint, bribery with everything from chocolate to evenings off to go to a concert if I make my word count has also worked. We’re big believers in my region in the power of gold stars and dime-store toys to motivate people.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

My story concept grew out of a conversation in May, so while I’m not a huge planner, I usually write a one page précis before I start, but I’ve never been a big outliner. I believe in coming up with a god hook and following the characters where they lead me.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

Using the tools in the NaNoWriMo Hipster PDA (a derivative of the DIY Hipster PDA Creative Package; see www.diyplanner.com) helps me to keep things like eye color, hair color, and age straight. The 3x5 index cards are small enough to fit in the zipper pouch in my real planner, so they can come with me anywhere.

I also have been known to use the NaNoWriMo Report Card (see thread here:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3004635) to keep track of where I am over the month and kick myself in the pants if I get behind.

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

Most of my family and friends know I check out of my social obligations during the month of November, so I tend to write in several short blocks of about fifteen to twenty minutes over the course of the day. I become very selective about what I do with my evenings, and thankfully most of my friends are very accommodating.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

You’re going to write a certain amount of dreck. This is normal, even desirable, as writing, like sculpting, requires a certain degree of source material to be available for later carving. Don’t worry about being profound, profoundness comes in the editing process.

Just remember that at the end of the day, what defines a writer is that they write, not that they talk about it and decide they’ll never be good enough to be published, so if you get your butt in the chair every day, that’s half the battle.

Strangely enough, the more you write, the better you will get, which is why it doesn’t matter if sections are dreck.

Trust in the process, trust in the story, trust in the community. But most of all, trust yourself and give yourself permission to have fun with it.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo? What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

I  signed up for NaNoWriMo to because I’m the eternal procrastinator but I tend to respond well to watching pretty graphs grow and feeling that other people could be watching me. Although I didn’t participate in the forums a lot last year, I read what a lot of other people were talking about and felt like I was part of something much bigger than just me and my computer in a small room in Perth.
The biggest benefit was learning that I *can* write a lot, when I have to. Since then I’ve been able to push myself a bit more because I know that back in November I wrote 50,000 words in less than a month.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

A month is a short enough time (for me) that I could keep myself motivated mostly by wanting to be able to see the bars on my daily word count graph get higher. Obviously this wouldn’t work long term, but for a month it’s possible, and that kept me motivated. Also, I told quite a few people that I was taking part (and blogged about) so I didn’t want to have to admit defeat.

As for being inspired, that was surprisingly easy but if I got a bit uninspired I would browse the forums and see what kinds of titles other people had for their novels and how many words they’d written.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

I’m doing much more planning this year. Last year I didn’t plan at all, really, and while I still managed to get plenty written, the rewriting is an ongoing nightmare and I’ve had to throw a lot out. So this year I am getting much more detailed with chapter outlines etc — but only for the first 3/4 of the novel, the ending is still a mystery to me. That’s largely because I can’t quite figure out what the characters will really do, and because I think that’s a good way to write — let them decide for me. I think if I knew the entire story first I might not be interested enough to write it.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

Nothing too fancy, but the graph included in your NaNoWriMo profile page was a godsend. Loved it. I did also (geekily) use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of how many words I needed to finish each day to stay on target (depending on how many I’d already written — this number often varied).

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

Badly. And I became a social hermit, spending several weekends locked in front of the computer.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

Try to plan a structure for your novel even if you feel resistant to this idea.
Write extra (more than the daily target) for the first week or two so that the second week or two are easier.

Always stop writing in the middle of something you’re enjoying so it’s easy to start again.

Don’t worry if some of what you write is drivel, it is quantity not quality at this point.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo? What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

Even though I’m usually founding ranting/raving about everything but the written word, I’m really a writer at heart. November is my excuse to sit with my laptop for hours on end, typing away at something that will never be read, never edited, never criticized — writing just for the hell of it. I tend to write about real frustrations and then there are the zombies, flying alligators and super heroes that keep me sane in my daily endeavors.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

I complain a lot. To everyone. This is my fifth year participating (and winning) … I’ve lost a lot of friends.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

None. I usually jump in fresh, without guidelines. It’s easier for me to up word counts when I’m not focused on strict plot paths and whatnot. I’d rather kill a character. Bring him back. Kill him again. Then bring him back as an undead antihero before making NaNoWriMo more than the chore it is.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

A partner in suffering. My NaNoWriMo buddy and I write for 30 minutes at a time, pausing in between to read our stuff (crap), rest, smoke cigarettes, watch TV and gear up for the next 30-minute sprint. We help each other think up plot twists, character development, raunchy dialogue, etc.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

1. Don’t care: Ignore typos, run-ons, incomprehensible ramblings. If you get too caught up in the nuances of decent prose, you’ll never make it to 50,000 words.

2. Cheat: It’s “sweat shop,” not “sweatshop” — “tear drop” not “teardrop.” Name your protagonist ‘Flaming Kelly Action Bot the Third’ (that’s six words, plenty more with repeats!).

3. Back up your files: Save a copy to your Gmail, your blog, your desktop every thousand words in. Never rely on a flash drive.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo?

I did NaNoWriMo last year on a whim. A couple of friends on a forum I frequent were doing it, so I decided to give it a try too. I had not been writing much as of late, and I thought it might be the kick in the pants I needed. It worked out so well that I decided to do it again this year.

What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

I was right, it was the kick in the pants I needed. I already had a story idea, and NaNo both got me started, and kept me going.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

I had the luxury of having well developed characters from previous stories I had written. I already had a seed of a story in mind. So, once I decided I was going to do it I sat down and developed a detailed outline and a detailed setting, complete with maps. With those in hand, the story almost wrote itself.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

I am doing another mystery this year, but not with the same detective or area. Last year’s story was with a private detective in South Carolina, a guy I had written a lot about. This year I’m using a Police Detective in St. Louis. So I have to do a lot of research in just how the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department works, and how it interacts with the Major Case Squad. I am working up my outline now, so I hope to be ready to go at the starting gun. I’m from St. Louis, so at least this time I won’t have to do a lot of geographic research.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

I don’t know that I use a lot of tools, other than the outline, maps, and the Internet. Of course, I have my favorite bookmarks.

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

I generally write at night, after dinner. If I’m in the flow, I just lose track of time until I realize it’s time for bed. I have a day job, so I can’t ignore that. When I’m writing, my family generally leaves me to it, so I have very few distractions.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

Start out with a plot, not just a vague idea of a story. In other words, know where you are going and why you (your characters) are going there. Some people don’t like outlines, but if you can work with one, develop a detailed outline before the start date. But don’t be afraid to deviate from the outline. Sometimes good stuff just happens.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo?

I’m addicted now. I don’t write as much as I’d like to during the rest of the year because I do have other important obligations.  This is the highlight of the year for the writer in me, the month when storytelling gets first priority. I do it strictly for fun and for me and it fills the well that lets me balance everything for the rest of the year.  Or at least till the next writer’s conference. 

What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

I finally understand why it’s so important to have a complete draft before getting to the revision and editing. I have also learned flexibility: the process that worked so brilliantly the first year has never worked as well again.  Each story has it’s own rhythm and its own needs. 

One year I outlined about six major scenes ahead of time and then used the month to link them together.  The following year I worked from portrait pictures I found online, in-depth character sketches and used current events news coverage to keep me going.  Last year I had a hard time coming up with a good story line at all – I only had the picture of my main character in my head.  I forced myself to start anyway and let all the discovery happen as I wrote.  For a control freak like me, that was more gut wrenching than jumping out of a plane.  I think.  It worked far better than I thought possible.  I find it much easier now to relax and go with the flow.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

Quotes, music, walks, candles, coffee, naps and, most important, online writing buddies.  I also love leaving off in the middle of something so I’m primed to start back up at the earliest possible opportunity.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

Just yesterday I decided that this year I would expand a short story that has potential to be something bigger.  I’ll do more in-depth character sketches and probably some brief storyboards for an opening scene, perhaps a closing scene, and about three major turning points–a technique loosely based on The Weekend Novelist by Robert J. Ray (the old edition; I haven’t read the recently released updated version).   

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

I like the NaNo report card and calendars that are downloadable from forum links on the site. The report card gives me a visual: I like seeing progress. But it can get discouraging when there isn’t any, so I’m not always good at keeping them updated daily.

Last year I numbered every scene I wrote and then did a scene-by-scene track on an Excel spreadsheet: who, where, when, what happened, and “remember this” as column headers, then numbered a row for each scene. Part way through I added a “check or change” column to jot notes where I thought there might be problems so I wouldn’t feel tempted to go back and do any editing right then.

The spreadsheet helped tremendously because I didn’t write in order.  I wrote scenes that grabbed me when they grabbed me, whether the story was ready for them at that point or not.  Then when I got stuck, I’d figure out where I needed to add transitional material and could generally get myself going again by brainstorming myself or with my writing buddies.  Also a glance at the spread sheet at the end of a writing session let me subconsciously work out what might be needed to bridge gaps as I went about whatever else I had to do.

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

My motto:  Early in the day, early in the week, early in the month.  I do my best not to procrastinate, because I never know what will pop up.  When I have time I use it.  I am a homeschooling mom, but now my last student is on auto-pilot as far as school goes and requires very little of my time, so my days are more flexible than most.

Planning ahead in September and October helps a bunch too.  We run a small property-management business from home, so I get filing, bookkeeping, etc. up to date by Oct 31st, schedule bill payments online for November, and clear out as much of my other obligations as possible. My family seems to stay happy if they’re fed.  So I plan plenty of quick, easy, crock-pot and/or freezer meals. My son is a good cook, and he’ll pitch in to help me when I need it. And I write like crazy during football games or whenever the house is empty.  On days when the interruptions get to be too much (usually phone calls) I escape to the library for a while; that’s always cheaper than escaping to Starbucks or Panera Bread.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

Just write.  Don’t edit.  At first I had to really work at this, because my internal editor didn’t like being ignored.  But it got easier, and most importantly, it became fun.  The freedom allowed me to experiment and discover like I’d never done before.  That’s what got me hooked. 

I start every year telling myself it doesn’t matter if the writing makes sense.  It doesn’t matter if there are gaps.  If I hit a wall and don’t know what comes next, who cares.  Write the end.  Or write the next scene I want to write.  There are no rules at this stage of the game. 

An extra bonus that comes in the months following, I come to love my internal editor.  We have fun tweaking and making the story stronger.  When you have an entire manuscript to work with, rewriting and reworking the story is so much easier. No matter how bad you think your manuscript is at the end of November, you’ll know more about writing then than you did when you went in.   It is so true that with writing, the learning is in the doing.

Sonja finds the camaraderie of NaNoWriMo a powerful motivator for writing, and can be found on the NaNoWriMo forums as “streetmouse”. You can read her advice for NaNoWriMo participants on her blog, White Picket Fences. For more information about Sonja, check out her website.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo? What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

My first year doing NaNoWriMo, I just wanted to see if I could write a novel. At all… in a month or in however long it took. As it turned out, I managed to win my first year, and that gave me the confidence to try to become a novelist. Now I do NaNoWriMo to keep proving to myself that I can finish novels. I don’t think novels get easier to write, I think you just have to know you’ve done it before and can do it again. I’ve finished two novels because of NaNoWriMo and gotten a confidence boost every year, knowing I can bang out a lot of words really fast.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

I participate a lot in the forums, and especially in the chat room. I love getting egged on and I love to egg on my friends. I do a lot of word wars and a lot of complaining about novel writing being HAAAARD. The social aspects keep me going. And, I won’t lie, the competition helps too.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

I’ve got an outline and (shh!) the first little bit of a story done this year, so I’m ahead of the game. I always do outlines before I start writing. I am definitely NOT a seat-of-the-pants writer.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

I love love love NaNoWriMo’s new tracking tools that let you compulsively check your wordcount and percentage and targets and all that good statistical stuff. I actually keep my own spreadsheet on non-NaNo months so I can do the same thing. It’s the competition thing again: I want to be ahead of the curve! My outline also keeps me going, especially when I sit down to write a scene. If I have an outline, at least I have some vague idea of what to write.

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

I write in the spare moments I can get, like lunch. I used to write for an hour every day on the bus. Sadly, I drive to work now, so that’s a no-go. I’ve been known to sneak in a few sentences at work, but I find that cutting out evening TV time is the best method for me. I sit next to my husband on the couch, pop in my headphones, and tap away while he watches his favorite shows or surfs the web.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

Participate! Play with all the toys, use all the stuff on the website, buy the t-shirt, OWN it! The more you invest, the more you’ll get out.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo? What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

It’s a great way to kick your writing into gear.  You don’t have any excuses during this.  You just write.  And really, isn’t that what being a writer is all about?  The forums are also a good way to meet other writers, and the in person write-ins are a blast as well.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

It can be tough, but talking with people doing NaNo as well can definitely help.  Also, my drive to actually become a novelist propelled me along.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

I’m doing more planning this year than in any other.  I’m working on the plot and characters and I’ll have that all printed out and placed in a binder once November first rolls around.  I’m hoping that this will help keep my story on track so I have something salable at the end of the month.  I may even have an outline.  Then, all I’ll have to do is write.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

The website has good counters to help you track your word count.  In the past, I even had an excel spreadsheet that tracked how many words I wrote each day and had nice graphs.  I’m not sure what I’m doing this year, but I really did like that spreadsheet.  I may go back to it.

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

I set daily word goals.  It doesn’t matter how long I take, I need to meet that goal.  And honestly, if you can’t even take a half hour out of your day to write, then maybe this isn’t for you.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

Don’t worry about whether what you’re writing is good.  The whole point is to push through any blocks and just write.  Don’t go back and edit or fix paragraphs because it’ll just slow you down.  Instead, wait until you are completely done with the first draft before you start perfecting the story.

Our first volunteer is Catherine Hicks, a graphic artist and web developer. Catherine has participated in NaNoWriMo three times so far, and “won” – that is, completed 50,000 words – all three times. She has self-published two of her NaNoWriMo novels, and the third book, a non-fiction work, is currently on its way to becoming a school textbook. Catherine lives in the Bay Area with three “babies of the furry kind” (I can only assume she means werewolf babies) and is pursuing an Art Therapy certificate in graduate school. Find out more about here at her website.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo? What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

It allows me to have a goal and focus on my writing in a way I never have the time for during the 11 months out of the year. It gives me a great sense of community with other writers and a great feeling of accomplishment when the month is over.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

I am fortunate to live in an area where there are many people working on novels for NaNoWriMo so we often meet in coffee shops and other places during the month. I also have networked with other people online for when I am not home, which seems to be often during NaNoWriMo due to my job.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

I have never gone into NaNoWriMo without a complete outline of whatever it is I am going to work on. You can’t get to somewhere new if you don’t have a roadmap, and before starting the story I definitely sit down and roadmap everything. I do character analysis charts and have a good feel for my characters and plot before I start.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

I have a spreadsheet that I found online that tracks words written and how far along you are towards your goal. I also always buy a special notebook just for NaNoWriMo that I keep with me if inspiration on the story comes along and I’m not near my computer. I have also in the past carried around a tape recorder to get those ideas down in a format I can translate to computer later.

I also create a folder on my computer desktop. Since I’ve already outlined the story, I know how many chapters the entire thing is going to be, so I create blank pages for each chapter in the story so I can just open the file and go.

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

We have a group of people that meet in the coffee shop. I keep the journal I spoke about above by my bedside when I am at home as inspiration always seems to strike me as I am going to bed. Since I always write and journal before bed, that is normally the time I am able to make the most progress in writing my story.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

Don’t freak out if you don’t finish. You will still more than likely have a great starting point for a novel. Just because the month ends and you didn’t reach the goal, keep writing and you’ll have something to be proud of. Not everyone can say that they’ve written a novel — and whether you get it done in one month or one year, its still a great accomplishment.

It also seems for some like a daunting task to write that much — I know seemed that for me the first time I did it. That is why I outline before the month begins. That way, I can look at each chapter as its own individual story. I know where it is going and I know where I want to end up, so breaking it down like that makes it feel less intimidating.