The Snowflake Chronicles

Letter to the Editor November 2015

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NaNoWriMo and Midnight Writing

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Writing your novel in the middle of the night.

Hook

Don't worry and don't sleep just write.

About this News letter

“Don't worry about what you're writing or whether it's good or even whether it makes sense.”
Lauren Oliver

The only time to write
Is in the middle of the night
When the computer's light is bright
And the NaNoWriMo angels are in flight.

Letter from the editor

I am doing it again. I do this every year. Every year I say I am not going to do it next year. Then when next year comes I find myself doing it again. What am I doing again? I am writing in the middle of the night. I am working on my NaNoWriMo novel at midnight when I know I have to be up at 5:00 AM.

I am sure I am not the only NaNoWriMo participant working on a novel in the wee hours of the night or of the morning. Therefore, I am going to list a few necessities for midnight writing.

Something to drink. I suggest coffee or English black tea. You do not want to fall asleep on your keyboard or fall off your chair.
Something to eat. I suggest yogurt, cookies (preferably chocolate chip), or crackers. Anything you do not have to heat or cook.
Do Not do a word count every five minutes because it interrupts the flow of your writing.
Do Not worry about what you are writing or if it makes sense because you have to edit in December anyway.
Do Not answer the door unless it is the SWAT team or some other first responder.
Do Not answer your phone while you are writing. Let your voice mail take a message.
Do Not worry about following the plans you made in October. Remember characters tend to take over the novel.
Keep your October plan handy so that you can check the spelling of the characters names or Star Ships.
Get up periodically to stretch you legs. You do not want your legs to cramp when you are writing a battle or love scene.
Use an egg timer or portable oven timer to schedule your writing session. Set the timer for no more the thirty minutes. Then write as fast as you can until the timer sounds.
Review your plan before you begin writing because if you wait until after you finish you will fall asleep while you review it.

Those are all the suggestions I can think of to keep you writing at night. I know midnight writing is difficult, but sometimes that is the only time a person has. It takes a bit of planning to write at night especially when you are used to sleeping.

All midnight writers raise you coffee cups in a toast to NaNoWriMo.
May you never encounter any typos or an empty coffee cup.

Editor's Picks

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Recipe for Halloween Soup du`Jour  (E) Sonnet, iambic pentameter, Day 3 #2062586 by Casey

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Feedback from
"Fantasy Newsletter (October 7, 2015)" 

Quick-Quill write: Yes I'm doing the NANO. my first time I took a stab a plotting but figured I knew what I was going to write. It went ok but I did better when I was plotting. I love the research part. This time Im more afreaid of telling the story than the pre-Nano work. Wish me well......

RICH writes: Hello,
I have met up with the seventh man, he is called 'Howmuch' and if he is honest is still to be seen. Yet he makes me pay.
Go well.

Do any of you have a subject you would like me to research for this newsletter?