Do you Nano?

I've never done NanoWriMo before but I'm thinking about doing it this time. The launch of the contest happens to coincide with a new idea I've been kicking around, so now might be the right time to take the leap: 50,000 words in a month. I think I can do that. Uh, I think.

How about you? Anyone else participating?

Where's your notebook?

Although I have a tendency to pick up moleskin notebooks and other small journals--I swear, they are on every shelf in my house--I never seem to use them for keeping story notes. Although I haven't bought one in a long time, every time I see these little notebooks stacked neatly in the bookstore, just waiting to be filled with flashes of inspiration, I have to turn away like an alcoholic being offered a turn-of-the-century scotch. (Or wine, whatever you fancy.)

It's like a weird fetish I have: the texture of the paper, running my fingers down the spine of the notebook...you get the idea. I do have one that I bought a few years ago. I made a point of using it and actually filled quite a few pages. I took it to a reading by Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials and a slew of other great books. He even signed it! I asked him for some words of inspiration when the Muse is in one of her moods and is not visiting. This is what he wrote:


"When those moments come, remember that it is our job to write just as well and just as regularly when we're not inspired as when we are."


So how do I keep notes for story ideas without a notebook? I created a private blog and, since I'm at my Mac what seems like eighteen hours a day, it's easy to go over and post the idea, no matter how insignificant it may seem. We all know a seed can bloom into a great idea. If I'm away from the Mac I send a text to myself.

So how about you? Where do you scribble your ideas?


Image Wikimedia commons

Your bestseller on a Nook?

I read a post on an agent blog the other day that gave a good step-by-step tutorial on how to put your novel on an e-reader. From what I understand, a lot of agents these days read submissions this way.

I have a Nook, and the other day, I made a PDF of my book and transferred it over. (It wouldn't take the Word doc.)

Trouble is, there are weird line breaks and it doesn't make for the easiest reading. Anyone know how to fix this? I think there is a way of formatting your manuscript before making a PDF that will work.

Anyone recall reading a post about this subject?