happy nanowrimo writers as many of you know i've been on a bit of a social media break
after publishing my why a fairy fantasy series on wings of ash and dust but now that it's nanowrimo
time i'm excited to get back into things so i thought it'd be fun to share with you my
favorite nanowrimo applications resources writing reward ideas and other must-haves i thought would
be really helpful for you guys too i actually did a fun live stream with all of these favorites last
year but that video was about an hour long so i thought it'd be really fun to edit down that video
to the most important 15 minutes so you can get all the goodness without having to watch the full
hour kind of like a highlights reel or a crash course of the video i'm also including some ideas
from those that were in the live chat box that day that had some really great ideas i loved and all
the links to everything mentioned will be in the description including a playlist with a bunch of
other helpful nanowrimo videos you ready here we go what apps do you use to help you write and stay
motivated one of the applications or softwares that i love to use is scrivener if you already
have scrivener and you want some more tips i have a bunch of videos on this channel now with some
scrivener tips for you but it's definitely been a game changer for me and i really love using it to
not only write but plan my novels also if you're word sprinting i also really like google timer you
can just type in google timer into google and it's like comes up with a timer right there and you can
set it to whatever you want and it'll repeat for you if you want um but there's also a bunch of
other ways that i like to sprint with other people so you can search writing sprints on youtube
i have a bunch of friends on marco polo the app which is really fun you can send like video
messages back and forth instead of text messages and so sometimes i do like little check-ins and
sprints with my friends through marco polo and then our patreon discord group is also a really
great place where at any time anyone can just pop in our productivity sprint channel and say hey
is anybody available to sprint and um can spring together i wanted to point out um bethany's videos
she has a series of 20-minute writing sprint videos that have like music in the background
and pretty pictures and the timer and so if you can't find a sprint or somebody just print with
um these are really motivating and fun i'm still loving using trello for a bunch of different
things i have a few videos on this channel i use for kanban boards and outlining and revision
and i actually recently took jessica brody's fast drafting class it was suggested to me by one of
my patrons cam it is definitely worth it it was so fun and in it she talks about some of her revision
strategy and she's actually going to be coming out with a course all about her revision strategy
if you didn't know jessica brody wrote the save the cat writes a novel book which
i love so i'm actually implementing some of her revision tracking things that she does while she
is drafting so that she can already be set up to start revising after she's done her draft which
is super smart i also use pinterest boards and i wanted to give you a fun little peek into some of
my pinterest boards they are great to have to put pictures together of places and characters
um that might uh inspire you for your book so this is one i made when on wings of ash
and dust was called project fairy fantasy before i titled it on wings of dust i just would constantly
put on new pictures in here i searched like fantasy art and fantasy locations and all kinds
of stuff and now pinterest knows me so well and is always suggesting character art and different
things to add to my boards and then pinterest added the ability to organize pin boards into
deeper sections so here's um actually a secret board that i have for on wings of ash and dust
um i have five different clans so i made an inspo board for each of the clans and then i have one
for general fairies i have one for pirates because there's like a pirate fairy like faction kind of
going on and then um other locations and aspects here so when you have like tons and tons of pins
it is really fun to be able to use this little organized feature and then put them into um boards
so you can find things a lot easier oh and then i have one for sisters of the shadow wood and i just
want to show you like i have specific locations like the manor i have one for just inspiration
minor characters were all thrown in here um the boys needed their own one here because
there's some love interest going on let's see the forest and then i have code names for
my different characters because i'm not revealing what their names are yet but i
have gold blue green and red because they all um have their own colors it can also be like
this like downward spiral of just like getting lost in it but i find pinterest really really
helpful to visualize things especially when you're going to like describe something and you're like i
don't even know how to describe this or what this looks like this is really great then um i think
the last thing i have on my list is playlists i just wanted to shout out abby emmons who also has
an authortube channel it's fabulous and she has um her own account on spotify where she creates
these public playlists that have a lot of instrumental music that sort of connect
to different genres i really love epic fantasy battle and magical new world for fantasy those
are the ones that i tend to gravitate towards but there's ones for contemporary stories too
and ghost stories and teen rom-com there's so many different ones in here ambient worlds is good
too on youtube okay youtube playlists are great i see pacemaker i keep hearing that that is amazing
and i just haven't gotten into it but i need to write that down and definitely go check it out
what i know about it is that it helps you track like your goals and like your word count
and different things like that really really well katrina says also i'm using ulysses to write in
now okay i haven't heard too much about that it's a mac only app but it keeps a lot of the
distractions out i wish i could add a screenshot but it's like a paired down version of script
dabble dabble is another one that i tried too um i just didn't like that it was cloud-based
and i couldn't like i had to pay every month like that was my only downer but i loved some
of the features it has a nanowrimo integration automatically updates your word count on the nano
website it also has like the way of outlining that jk rowling does with the grids and stuff i don't
i can't remember what it's called but i loved that um katrina also says in the forest app for sprints
and keeping me off my phone and what i know about that one even though i haven't used it is as
you're not touching your phone it's growing like a tree right because when you go to open your phone
and like get distracted by something the tree dies so that sounds like a really like motivational fun
thing to be like i don't want to kill my trees i'm going to put down my phone forrest app is great
after an amount of time you can plant an actual tree that's right i forgot about that if you do
a group sprint if you're in deep work and someone gets on their phone it will kill everyone's tree
that's terrible oh my gosh what are your writing space must-haves obviously i have my desk and um i
also have you guys know what a lap desk is you can get them at like amazon or barnes noble i have a
few links down below to any of the like the items i'm mentioning i've linked down below for you and
you can get a bunch of stuff from amazon but when i sit on the couch or when i sit outside it's a
perfect way to still have like desk feel and have my computer not heating up on my lap i don't know
if yours ever does that and then makes it really easy to go to a different space to then keep
writing elsewhere oh and my backpack you know what hold on two seconds what i really love because i
am all about travel to the different places that i want to write i keep all of the stuff i'm about
to share with you in this backpack here so if i do end up wanting to go to a library cafe i can just
put everything in here and go or um i can during the morning i can write in my office and then i
can pack everything up and then go outside i've also linked the backpack that i have down below
as well um and what's inside my backpack i have my laptop and the charger so make sure you have your
charger if you're going elsewhere uh because you don't want it to die and then lose all your work i
also have my headphones so these are my headphones these are my noise-canceling headphones and i
can confirm as i put them on that i lost sound couldn't hear myself um i also have brainstorming
notebooks so you can do any kind of notebook but i like creating notebooks with shutterfly and making
mock covers so this is not the actual cover of my story i just made a fake one and put it on
this notebook and i do a lot of brainstorming in these kinds of notebooks i have one for ash
and dust as well so that's through shutterfly i have that link down below too i also have my
bullet journal which i keep my word tracking and my to-do's and my goals and all kinds of stuff i
have a bunch of videos on this channel also about bullet journals and if you didn't see i really
have enjoyed creating specific spreads just for preptober and nanowrimo so that's been really fun
i also really like these particular highlighters they're called mild liner highlighters and
they don't bleed through paper and they make it really easy to make like pretty spreads like this
um i also have my save the cat writes a novel book i have it in my backpack so this is save the cat
writes a novel and it is something i reference all the time when i get stuck with certain beats of my
story i have a whole series on this channel about that book as well you can have a reward book also
with you just when you meet a certain word count you can pull out your reward book and read it
um but i also love book bows so they can keep all of your notebooks and your books very secure
and safe in your bags so i put like different books or different notebooks within here and
then put them into my backpack so that the pages don't get crinkled my snack of choice is grapes
i like them because you can just pick them off they're already like chewable size i'm not like
ripping something off and my fingers for the most part don't really get sticky and then a 32 ounce
water bottle um i wanted to show you guys the one that i have because i'm gonna remove this just for
a second so this is the water bottle i got and i was just i realized that i was getting dehydrated
i wasn't drinking enough and so i found this one on amazon basically 32 ounce ounces times two
is really uh what they say you should be drinking in a whole day so it has time markers to tell you
okay drink to this point at eight a.m and drink until this point at nine a.m and blah blah blah
blah until you get to 11 and then you fill up the water water bottle again so refill then it has
markers for uh the second half of the day and then you know that you have drunken
enough for the day those are a bunch of ideas for me i'm gonna go back and see
what you guys had to say never heard of these book bows i need to check them out oh my gosh
they're my favorite book bows go check them out and they come in so many different styles
and sizes i have juggling balls for when i'm stuck on a scene that's fun to have like something
physical to do to get out of the stuff zone candle sprint tracker water and tea oh and m m's they're
my snack reward oh i like that that's a good snack reward pens paper stack of classic novels
my knitting and a chocolate drink i love it kind of related to this but i'm getting a bike desk
soon it's a bike desk it's a bike that has a desk attached so you can bike and work on your computer
what i did not know this was a thing that sounds amazing i was just telling my husband i need to
start working out again tea always need tea also i love to have a notebook for notes and sticky notes
usually i also have my journals and plan for the day and then week with me to keep on track love it
an assortment of pens my brainstorming notebook and my laptop i also keep everything in a backpack
for when i move to a different room or did you say that before i said mine i think it must be
my notebook i usually have one for each work in progress lap desk wonderful blanket for my feet
and a tasty beverage of some kind laptop and charger favorite pens notebook notepad corkboard
on the wall with index cards yeah index cards are very helpful sometimes a candle or diffusing
essential oils ah bethany i love your laptop stand really want to get one of those eventually maybe
as a nano reward yes that's a great idea for nano reward where do you like to write
and what's your favorite writing spot one is my office and i just recently reorganized and like
made like my own little nook corner i think i tend to reorganize my office before nanos and
camp nanos almost all the time it just helps me motivate and like feel like it's fresh and clean
i also wanted to let you know that um i have a video in the playlist i was telling you about that
actually helps you set up your office space um so that you're sitting correctly it's called desk
setup and stretches for writing pain i actually did it with my husband who is a physical therapist
and he has a bunch of tips about if you have like i would get really bad shoulder pain
some people have like wrist or finger pain when they write for a long time so i just wanted to
put it in there that you can check out that video if you need some exercises or you need
to be able to know how to set up your desk so that you're not like slouching and like getting
writer's pain the second place i really like to write is in my living room so i try to stay
in my office as much as possible but sometimes i just need to like change it up and so i also
really like going to a spot in my living room just want to show you some visuals of some fun cute
spaces that you could cultivate for your writing time because it is really good for your brain
to sort of be in a similar space so that your brain can recognize okay i get to this space and
i'm ready to write katrina says i have a desk set up in the playroom that faces the wall obviously i
have a problem with getting distracted and this is how i fix that that's fabulous uh leanne i
prefer to write in cafes at home sometimes i write outside early in the morning that sounds so lovely
yes libraries okay i ran my office because it makes me feel more professional yes more motivated
right i hand write a lot i'm so impressed by anybody who hand writes i just can't do that
uh so i write in my living room sometimes i go to barnes and noble and other cafes to write uh mary
says i officially can't write in the living room because one tv is distraction and two my cats try
to sit on top of my laptop when i'm writing yes i do the miracle morning and so right early in the
morning in my office i love the miracle morning i i didn't get to finish the whole book but i i
watched a lot of videos on that concept and um i think it's genius so i'm so glad you're doing that
what are your writing rewards and milestones these can be rewards for word count daily goals
weekly goals um or winning nanowrimo at the end for me i think i listed a bunch more ideas
in this preptober writer plan with me video i shared like a lot a lot of different ideas but
these are the ones that actually help me just keeping a tracker at all like a daily like this
was my word count or even for this sprint this was how many words i got that really motivates me
um so it's not really like a reward necessarily but it's a reward for myself to like know that
i'm making progress i really like setting up also excel spreadsheets that where i put in my
word count it'll ordinate the nanowrimo website that'll tell you okay you just did this amount of
words and i this amount of words left or your goal like per day is like going down um so i really
love trackers like that sort of like a negative reward positive but like in reverse i guess is i
can't go on socials watch a show or read until after my daily goal is met staying away from
some things until i've reached that goal and then i reward myself with being able to do it daily
sticker reward so if you're just a person who really likes stickers you could then get like
some cute stickers for yourself and when you reach those goal mile markers maybe that's
enough for you to just have like a calendar and like every day when you reach your goal you get
to put like a new sticker on there and actually my friend mandelin creates stickers these two videos
right here talks about her stickers and she has specific ones for nanowrimo that help you uh track
your goal count you're gonna actually write your goal count um every day on the sticker daily or
weekly money jar um is something that i think i'm gonna do i'm i haven't picked what like my end of
nanowrimo like thing i want to reward myself with and like purchase when i'm done but then i love
this idea of like every time you reach like maybe your daily goal you put a little bit of money in
a jar for that goal to then get it at the end i also didn't put it on here but like date night
would probably be a really um great motivator for me as well having like a specific kind of
food that both ben and i really like and just enjoying like an evening together and celebrating
maybe at the end of the week like i may met my goal and now let's just like have some like good
quality time together danny says my favorite candles etc for dailies bigger items for bigger
milestones and if i win i get to buy something from the nano website or more expensive item
yes oh and somebody i think it was my friend renee she had this idea of like you could buy
yourself something that reminds you of your story so like in an item or like getting a custom item
made or something that like gives you the vibes of like your story like a notebook that has like a
scene on it that like reminds you of your story or something like that getting something that relates
to the story is such a fun reward idea like a souvenir yes and then you can always look at
it and remember i have rewards for each 10k mark most are free so bubble bath at 40k because i'm
almost there and wouldn't that feel wonderful yes it would i also have some daily rewards love
it mary i have to have my milestones by scenes fabulous that just really makes me feel like
i'm moving forward in my story for rewards it's often pet related love to get stuff for my hamster
that's so cute i love that you also have it by scenes because it's like oh i reached the end of a
scene now i'm gonna reward myself i really really like that last year my reward was buying scrivener
yes and if you win nanowrimo officially through the website i think they give you a discount on
scrivener do they still do that i think i think they do i never reward myself i need to go get
a pedicure yeah at 25 000 words or something like that pedicure yes i want to add that to
my list as well anything from starbucks 79 pup iced chai with pumpkin spice cold foam
nice time with friends every day and sushi i miss sushi i haven't had sushi in so long that got me
really excited a chocolate croissant my favorite snack have you do you like nutella and we recently
had a a hot toasted croissant with nutella in the middle and it was like the best thing i hope this
video gave you guys a bunch of ideas and resources to rock nanowrimo this year and i would love to
know what kind of project you're working on for nanowrimo in the comments down below for me i'm
actually a nano rebel because i'll be working on multiple projects first are the outlines for not
only season two or the sequel of on wings of ash and dust but i also want to get back to my other
fantasy serial sisters of the shadowhood and i have a fantasy standalone project i'd love
to get back to too project snow then after i do a little bit of plotting for each i think
i'll be able to tell which project is calling to me and hopefully by mid nano i'll be able to
say okay this is the one i'm going to get back into drafting for and of course i'm finalizing
the paperback version of on wings of ash and dust that will include all six episodes i can't wait
to show you guys the cover and if you want to see a sneak peek make sure you subscribe to my
newsletter or part of my patreon because those wonderful people always get to see things first
good luck everyone with nanowrimo and if you're looking for even more nanowrimo resources check
out one of these two videos and i'll have a new one for you next week so we'll see you there you