I visited the RSPCA Finchley Branch yesterday to talk about doing some volunteering for them. It went really well and I'll probably end up doing some marketing for them. All this is completely separate to the stuff I'm already doing for Re_Evolve, but I think it would also be a much smaller time commitment so I should be able to take it on.

I am actually very fond of the RSPCA anyway. When I was sixteen I volunteered at their Southridge Rescue Centre, which is one of the main places the RSPCA rehomes animals from. I spent most of that time cleaning out animal cages and grooming cats, but it was a good experience. Besides I like helping charities.

10 Tips for NaNoWriMo

Yes, I will keep on going on about it :)

So NaNoWriMo is one of may favourite events of the year and pretty much the only reason I look forward to November. Of course, many people many be dubious about whether they really can write 50000 words in a month. I know that I was when I first tried it. Now that I've managed the goal twice I can almost convince myself that I'm qualified to give others advice. So without further ado here's a quick list of things that I found useful.

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1) Write whenever you get a free moment. It sounds obvious but you'd be surprised what you can write in fifteen minutes if you put your mind to it.

2) Keep a running word count. The NaNoWriMo site encourages you to do this anyway and they display your results in graph form. It is incredible to watch that little graph grow as you feed more into it.


3) Listen to NaNoWriMo's podcast. It gives you focus and lots of little tips on how to write, which brings me to...


4)Sugar is your friend. Unless you're dieting or diabetic of course. Then it probably isn't. However, sugar will give you a great rush and inspire faster writing. You can also use food as a reward for reaching a certain target.

5) Don't let writer's block happen to you. Especially with NaNoWriMo when the aim is to reach a certain number of words rather than to create a master piece, writing the first thing that comes to mind can be really effective.

6) Listen to your characters. I always find that my characters evolve as the story goes along. Don't fight it; this will make you write slower and waste precious time. If your character decides that he wants to do something you didn't plan because it makes more sense to him go along with it. Just don't complain about your characters talking to you too much in public, people will give you weird looks.

7)Use NaNoWriMo's forums. You need to procrastinate every once in a while, so you might as well do it by talking to other people who are torturing themselves. They might eventually guilt you back into writing.

8) Don't watch any TV at all. Well, maybe not at all. I certainly don't keep this rule very well! What I have found is that the less TV or film I watch the more original ideas I have. But maybe that's just me.

9) Keep busy. If you have other things going on it will focus you on writing. Or drive you slightly insane. Either way you will get things done and it's more fun than sitting blankly in front of a computer.

10) Tell everyone you know about NaNoWriMo. This will help you write, mainly because once people know what you are doing you'll have to finish it to save your reputation. Remember, friends who know you failed are friends who will never let you forget it (in the most affectionate way of course). Being able to tell people that you completed your goal is the best motivation there is. Post your word count widget everywhere so that they can watch your progress.

So there you have it, my take on NaNoWriMo. Seriously give it a go, it's never too late to start writing.