About Writing Activities and the First Challenge!

[ladyseishou]

Many thanks to everyone who responded to our little “get-to-know-a-writer” thread. Some great ideas there so if you haven’t checked it out, click here. Go ahead. We’ll wait for you.

And as you might have expected, we all come to NaNoWriMo with a world-wide variety of experiences and expectations. Some writers finish their NaNo novel (or at least 50,000 words of it) with ease and an envious amount of aplomb. And there are others who have yet to experience that sweet-sweet feeling of victory for themselves - yet being the operative word.

So in order to keep the community’s “fun factor” fresh and open to everyone, newbie and veteran alike, we’re going to try running weekly/monthly challenges (writing and other) with a “rating” system so members can filter out/skip those activities that don’t fit their particular level of experience or interest - though of course, everyone should feel free to participate in any challenge that appeals to them, right?


I assume that everyone knows about the word count bar that sits at the top of your NaNoWriMo author page. Yes, that blue bar. The one that taunts you with your less than spectacular word count until one day – pow – it turns purple, an event which elicits shock (huh?) and celebration (huzzah!) when your 50,000 (and more) words are officially recognized by the NaNoWriMo Validator.

Yes, the coveted purple bar. And so, taking inspiration from NaNoWriMo’s own color scheme, challenges posted to nano_writers will run with the following rating system:

Blue:

Every wrimo begins November 1 with a “green bar” and for some of us that’s where it ends too. Okay, there’s always next year right? Guess what? It’s next year! And we’ve got almost six months!! to work on all those things that hold us back as we struggle towards the purple finish line: no time, no “good” ideas, no motivation. Yes, sometimes real life decides to take a metaphoric two-by-four and smack us over the head while were not looking and we’re forced to abandon the race but for everyone else, no more excuses. Together, let’s conquer that fear of the big five-oh-kay, take charge of our writing and show that inner critic who’s boss! Of course, like life, everything begins with baby steps, right?

Purple:

This kind of challenge is for all you “purple bar” winners – you know who you are – living comfortable with your inner editor/critic, you know how to work that word count! Intermediate challenges will be more about helping members evolve and polish those beautiful diamond-in-the-rough ideas. Stand ready at the gate on November 1 armed with a dossier of character sketches, setting details and a “roadmap” (anything from a smudged “x” marks-the-spot to multi-paged, detailed outlines) to help navigate your protagonist from the beginning of your tale to the end.

All:

These kinds of challenges are just for fun! Book cover contests - learn how to design a book cover that will inspire you during the bleakest November day! Music soundtrack contests – challenge other members to come up with the best list for your fight/love/scary scenes! Icon and signature contests! An “Inner Critic” mascot “ukly” contest! I guess that you get the idea. Fun stuff! But fair warning: even though many of these activities may require little or no writing, underneath the most frivolous-sounding contest lurks a more serious purpose… fun! Well maybe fun with a side order of “this might help you with (fill in the blank)".

For members who want to set up filters or who only want to watch for a particular green/purple/all rated challenge, all writing activities will be announced with the following header:

Challenge: the name of the challenge
Difficulty: blue, purple or all
Time needed: a best estimate always as Your Mileage May Vary
Bring Along: what you might need to complete an activity beyond your pencil and active imagination.
Deadline: how long the challenge or contest is scheduled to run.

Responses for the challenge should be posted in the original challenge post (to help keep our reading pages tidy).


Now for...
NaNo Writers First Challenge!


Challenge: What Is That?
Difficulty: Blue (with a Purple twist :-)
Time needed: Five minutes
Bring Along: a timer and a small object (details behind cut)
Deadline: first part of the challenge will close on midnight, Saturday May 9 (whenever that may be for you)


To begin this challenge, I want you to select something (without thinking too much about it) off of your desk or out of your pocket (or backpack or handbag) and put it someplace where you can keep an eye on it while you write.

Then click on the “Leave a Comment” button to open a response box (to this post) and get ready to write.

What are you going to write you ask? I want you to make a list of words that describe the item that you’ve set out (on your desk, in your hand, wherever). Just words. No sentences. No proper names. No punctuation (other than a space to separate the words in your list). Just words. And if you run out of words to describe your thing (um, that’s a good point everybody – let’s keep this all G-rated okay?) then go back and expand on your word choices: for example, if you’ve written down “red,” add the word that describes the exact shade of red, i.e. “scarlet” (or what have you) and this is important! DON’T delete/erase anything and I mean anything, you write. Keep it all.

Keep adding to this list of words for five minutes. Only five. If you don’t have an easy way to keep track of five minutes you could try this online stopwatch (open it in a separate window) or play a short playlist of music (with a couple of short songs or a long five minute opus) or ask a friend to watch the clock.

And stop after five minutes. Click that “Post Comment” button. No editing. Don’t think about it. Just click it.

That’s it.

Okay, there is more. But that won’t be revealed until Sunday, May 10 (after everyone has had the chance to make their list of words).

Oh, yes. For our more advanced members who would like to play but need something more challenging activity, same instruction for you too but with a purple twist:

Write a list, keep writing for five minutes (and only five) but write your list alphabetically, “A” to “Z” and if you have time still, start over again. Example: ambidextrous, bouncy, colorful, etc. Too tough for you? Try the “blue” version ;-)

Have fun!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed!

Comments

[trouble]

bottle clear empty labelled 600ml short curved flat-bottomed lidded plastic recyclable hollow-sounding bouncable soda pop pathetically-empty craving-inducing 'containing tiny droplets' smelly

[jerico_cacaw]

words pictures headers letters news actual columns ads date photographs footers international national police health culture sports politics per cent money paparazzi artists movies gore accident suicide car crash robbery bank op-ed cartoon lines smudges date local soccer golf baseball reporter editor

What a great idea. XD

[shiromirai]

clay pink hollow fragile flexible sweet striped rough dust-clogged curved opaque bumpy white pure soul white red crayon red scarlet blotchy homey comfort item dotted uneven fingerprint handcrafted perfect fit heartshaped lid clatters hallmark~y

[sarisia]

nutella, chocolate, melting, sweet-scented, tasty, sticky, clinging, thick, spreadable, cloying, slick, brown, dark, nut-colored, 'covered with a sheen', lightly scented, delicious, satisfying, malleable, lip licking good, lickable, ambrosic, nutty

My Turn :-)

[ladyseishou]

blue square white circle metallic label words round corner shiny hole sharp blade silver symbol corner template opening logo reflective smooth slick pill-like cylinder cube square notched plastic assembled ruled dusty heavy deceptive weighty embossed incised spring-loaded shadow inch-high click-click

[01]

blue book cover night sky stars gold sand stone letters writing title speckled cobalt saphire glowing twinkling contrast appealing orange statues blindfold inscrutable blind complacent solid warm cool shining sparkling deep saturated beautiful light dark shining symbols faces lips carved ruins art beauty meaning mystery advertising hieroglyphs shadows paper cut

[asinter]

milk chocolate brown literally, clam shell plastic-wrapped (saran) delicious sweet crumbly hard shiny light reflected small but bigger than a penny? paper sticker closing free sample tablet trial and error not hollow very solid, untested for meltability, drop and it makes a thump. lovely font on the label kind of curly black and white printed cutout

[revolutions]

small smooth blue shiny glass hard clear cool solid plastic labelled pearlescent reflective round circular cylindrical sky-blue white curved pretty light sticky gloopy strong-smelling liquidish shimmery

[ixt]

small pocket-sized grey hinges plastic glass mirrors reflective square flat rounded practical nondescript simple magnifying dusty gleaming closed metallic dirty scuffed texture

[syderia]

black rope white stone green eyes turtle small necklace precious varnish knot pearl yellow ivory brown shell "st michel" vivarium gift six lucky charm chipped worrying childish shiny nervousness braided old wise stripped head three toes hexagons metal loops too long

[mirrormestein]

natural. contained. plastic. poured. blue. bent. molded. script. multi-colored. orange. bright. excited. child-like, tough. tangy. tasty. informative. hand-sized, impression, sunny, lemon, warm, separate, almost empty. messenger. measurable.

[fangdeer]

rectangular silver grey white circle cord four buttons slot screen skull logo shiny pink translucent soft plastic thin sleek battered chipped nicked abused worn well-loved metallic scratched

[jassanja]

red holes round half hollow bright oval plastic ikea spots white water nuddles pasta flexible dirty used old full empty useful melted dull handle light

[zeldaophelia]

red, ceramic, tag, white, handle, cup, half full, tea, green, lukewarm, staple, string, mug, brick red, cream, tea bag, used, bi-colored, porcelain, yellow green, liquid, wet, residue, stain, brown, rings