The deadline for your novel, your short story or your article is coming soon. You decide to cut all distractions. Shut the door, put headphones on... But what about your writing software ? Here's a selection of fullscreen text editors.

In software development, we are fond of unit testing :

In computer programming, unit testing is a method of testing that verifies the individual units of source code are working properly.

From Wikipedia entry on Unit Testing

What about applying this philosophy to your novel ? Here's a collection of rules I put together to test my scenes in my novel.

Here's how you use the test :
Each positive answer gives your scene 1 point. If your scene rates under 2, you can safely cut it from your work. If it rates between 3 and 4, try to rewrite it. Finally, the highest rated scenes must be kept at all costs !

1. At the end of the scene, something has changed in the story
2. There's an obstacle or a conflict, even a minor one
   
3. The place and time stays the same
4. The characters act, speak and look in character
5. Every character is "alive" in the scene
   
6. You can read your scene without skipping to the end

Now some explaining about the items :

1 - At the end of the scene, something has changed in the story
The main purpose of a scene is to move the story forward. It doesn't mean something has to explode or someone has to die ! The changes can be small : a decision in your character's head, the rain beginning to fall... Or better : your character doesn't see the change yet, but the reader does !

2 - There's an obstacle or a conflict, even a minor one
Characters are like us. They like sleeping, sitting in comfy sofas, and talking to people who always agree with them. But if you want a compelling story, you have to create a conflict or two to throw them ouf of that "comfort zone". There are many types of conflicts : internal or external. Life-threatening or mundane. Expected or inexpected. You choose !

3 - The time and place stays the same
Think about scenes in plays. When the curtain goes down, the playwright brings new costumes, new props and new lighting to the scene. Scenes in novels are the same : you must end your scene when you travel places. If you don't, you'll find yourself with scens which are too long or confusing.

4 - The characters act, speak and look in character
In some scenes, you manage to make something happen. You manage to push your character out of his/her comfort zone. But when you read the scene, you realize that you managed all that at the cost of your character's personnality. You made him/her do something he/she wouldn't do normally ! Old characters suddenly talking like rappers "because they're angry"... Your heroine suddenly "forgetting" important details because your plot needed it. Keep in mind that characters are more important than "the big plot" in novels.

5 - Every character is "alive" in the scene
Sometimes you become a fan of your main hero (or your main villain !) and you tend to forget everyone else. If you see that your secondary characters sound like talking heads or act like puppets... you have a problem !

6 - You can read your scene without skipping to the end
If you write for NaNoWriMo, you've certainly written "filler" scenes to reach your daily wordcount. Your characters debate about the weather or find a hidden portion of cheese in their kitchen. When thinking about these scenes, you certainly remember the fun you had writing it. But the problem is : you don't want to read them again because they are so out of context.


I hope this article has helped you to review your scenes and make them better ! If you want to improve, don't hesitate to study great novels. See what works depending on the genre. And replicate what you've learnt into your own novel !

To be honest I didn't start to write... yet. I've taken a day off this Friday and I'll start writing here. The first words are growing in my head. It will be great ;)

These last weeks, my wrists have been under high stress. As you know my day job is computer programmer - I write code all day. In addition to that, I've been taking part into a video game creation competition from October 18th to this Monday. This means I wasn't exactly in the right mood to write anything.

To finish this article, I did a little bit of tidying on the blog. You can now browse the posts about my previous NaNoWriMo's ! These are not "writing tips" articles but rather my personal logs about my novel progress. Enjoy !

• Read posts about NaNoWriMo 2007
• Read posts about NaNoWriMo 2006
  

NaNoWriMo has started (in France). I'm hanging on the french IRC #nanowrimo channel. I'm watching Lost. You understood correcty : I didn't write a word. Yet.

In 2006 and 2007, I wrote 2000 and 4000 words respectively. What has changed ? This year, I'm a NaNoWriMo rebel : I'm rewriting Random Innocent People, my '07 novel.

My tools : my '07 manuscript (51K words), my brand new plan (4K words), and two editing attempts I did in early 2008.

I'll keep you up to date !

November is the month of NaNoWriMo. But for our wrists and fingers, it's more like National RSI Month. You will be typing at home, in the train, while eating your Thanksgiving dinner... You see my point.

How do you prevent your hands from melting ? Here are a few tips.

Get Workrave


Workrave is a freeware timer which will prompt you to take breaks and stretch your body from time to time. Your mouse and keyboard will be blocked so you WILL have to move away.

Protect your hands with wrist braces

It will keep your wrists warm and ease the pressure. Ergonomic wrist braces are the best but give you . If you're broke, tennis wrist bands are cheaper but less effective, of course.

Learn stretching exercises

Workrave gives you a few basic stretching exercises to do but here's a few more for you to learn.



Keep your posture okay

• Don't write in the bed ! Writing in the bed encourages weird typing positions. Get a desk and a chair if you want to write without hurting yourself.
  
• Don't sleep with your hands under your pillow, under your head or under your body. And for NaNo's sake, please stop cuddling teddy bears all night long. It's bad for your hands.
  

If everything fails : stop writing !
Kidding ! I know nothing will stop you from writing. But you don't have to type, really. Three solutions :

• Use voice recognition software like Dragon Naturally Speaking.
  
• Record your novel and use online transcription services to type it.
• Write your novel longhand and outsource the typing (hire a student, contact your old friend secretary, outsource to India...)

I hope this article will help you to get through NaNoWriMo without any pain. And don't forget : if the symptoms become well, repetitive - don't forget to get medical assistance !