Some Stuff That Might Actually Help You With NaNo This Year. (I Know It'll Help Me.)

I think I may actually have a chance at truly completing NaNo this year, mostly because I have a ton of content to actually work with. Every other time I've tried NaNo, I failed miserably because I just did not have an idea developed enough. Things got lost. But since early summer, I've been working with an idea I had and have just been running with it ever since. I really think even at this point I have enough to write 50,000 words; by November, it will probably be a breeze. I'm thinking in the time from now until the beginning of November, I will probably have developed the story enough to really write it in a comprehensible way. The plot itself is very character-driven, and there are so far a dozen characters that all have their own plots intermingling with each other's.

But enough about that, what do I have to offer you?

Some amazing writing software that I believe will really really help you, if you are anything like me.

When I write, I need music, but it gets tricky because I cannot listen to music that has singing. At all. I can't do it because it's too distracting. Even singing in languages I don't understand. And while I do have a large collection of wordless music, it's sometimes hard to find just what I want and what is going to help my process. All that deciding takes too long and hinders my writing progress.

So let me tell you about Ommwriter. It's a neat little word processor that fills your entire screen, shuts off any background applications and has a whole bunch of cool stuff. It has pre-installed ambient music in a variety of moods, most of them calming, but there's even one that's kind of creepy for all your horror writing needs. There are keyboard noises, basic font styling, and the backgrounds you can pick from. There are a few types, but my favourite is the "chroma-therapy" one, which very slowly shifts colours. It looks pretty neat.

Whew, so it sounds like I'm advertising this thing like I'm getting paid to. I'm not. But I think this sort of application is really helpful for those of us who have trouble focusing when our computers are built for multitasking and not for the purpose of sitting in a quiet environment and creating something. There is a little video that shows you just how it works.

It isn't a free product, but it is inexpensive. If you can shell out the minimum pay-what-you-want fee of $4.11, you won't regret it. I cannot rave about this program enough. Bye bye MS Word.

Unfortunately you can't install your own music into the program. So if you really want to listen to something specific while writing, you may have to mute Ommwriter and use some other means to listen to what you want.

(Just fyi, I use the program for Mac. I haven't heard very good reviews for the iPad app, so I think it might be better for computers. Plus, Pages on the iPad is pretty distraction-free in the first place.)

Another thing that you may want to look into for NaNo, and this one is free, is a little app called SelfControl. Basically you can blacklist websites that distract you for a certain length of time, and you cannot get back on them until the timer is up, even if you restart your computer or uninstall the program. This, I think, will really help your productivity when it comes to writing, as you can stay away from tumblr and twitter and stuff without having to disconnect your internet. (Sometimes you just gotta Google stuff, right?) I mean, even with something like Ommwriter, you can still quit the program and go right back to screwing around on the internet. This will not let you.

Anyway, I hope these suggestions will help you on your NaNo goals!

Oh, also, if you just want some good music to write to, I've got to suggest Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works (85-92)". It's brilliant. Go listen to it.