Typewriter Talk / NaNoWriMo 2016

**Posted by colrehogan** 26-10-2016 09:16:48

yes you scan your document in to some kind of program with OCR (Optical Character Recognition). This will then probably give you a word count. Your post insoired me to take a picture of some of my typewritten pages and send them home to see if I can use my camera to get the text into the computer.

**Posted by colrehogan** 26-10-2016 09:18:06

there are discussions about how to get your word counts done over o n the nanowrimo forums.

**Posted by ztyper** 26-10-2016 10:53:04

Thanks a bunch

**Posted by Uwe** 26-10-2016 11:46:20

ztyper wrote:
I can definitely write, but the process of tracking word count is a bit confusing.

For those of us using a typewriter there are a few methods of dealing with word counts.

The easiest is to use a rough average. Type one full page and count the words on it. This will give you a words-per-page average, so to update your daily count you only need to count the number of pages that you typed that day and then multiply that number by your average words-per-page count. Keep in mind that this method is based on your machine's typeface size; if you start using different machines with different type sizes your rough average will no longer be correct.

Another method, the one that I use, is to scan the typed pages at the end of each day using OCR (optical character recognition) software. This generates a copy of what I've typed in a Word file, which of course provides you with an exact word count. This isn't necessary and the only reason I have for doing it is to create a digital backup of my work and to aid project organization.

Average word counts are perfectly fine. The main and only point of NaNoWriMo is to get people writing, to encourage those who enjoy writing to sit down and create something. To this end it doesn't matter if what you typed is a few hundred words longer or shorter than what you calculated using the average method. What matters is that you were writing.

It's also important to remember that NaNoWriMo doesn't care about what you've actually written. No one will ever read it, or even look at it. The only thing they want is your total word count, so you don't have to upload copies of your typed pages. At the end of the month when it comes time to verify your word count you only need to use a random text generator to create a text document based on your calculated word count that can be uploaded to NaNoWriMo.

**Posted by TypewriterKing** 26-10-2016 17:49:20

RWWGreene wrote:
I am the chair of the New Hampshire Writers' Project -- one of the many reasons I've been out of the typosphere for the past 18 months -- and I am known as a typewriter guy. The NHWP does a Writers' Week every fall, and, as part of it, I did my little talk and presentation. More recently, I talked typewriters and first drafts with New Hampshire Public Radio.

As for NaNo this year ... I don't know. I did it with a couple of Olympia's in 2015, but last year I was revising a novel. This year, I might be ready for something new ... or I might be revising again.

I absolutely luuuuved your radio spot. You hit the nail on the head about the availability of typewriters today. Gone are the days when you could buy thirty typewriters for thirty-five dollars like I did once. Usually I would pay five or ten, but the same machines are going for up to ten times that now. I still get one or two every so often, but not like I used to.

**Posted by Rushwarp** 27-10-2016 14:32:27

All new to me...
It sounds like a lot of fun...But I don't quite understand the 'connection' bewteen partispants?
I mean: it would be fun to read other people's work - and not just make word counts?
Or am I missing somenthing here

**Posted by Uwe** 27-10-2016 17:41:26

You could always share your work with others if you wanted to, but the goal of the event (and website) is to get people writing. Consider it a motivational aid, a fun way to dedicate one month a year to writing, and in particular, to working on something that would resemble a novel (actually, more like a novella given the modest 50k word count requirement).

**Posted by JanetLand** 28-10-2016 09:15:46

I hesitate. I haven't been able to finish in a very long time as it is, and I start a new job on Monday. Still, it's such a healthy creative project that I hate to skip it entirely.

**Posted by RWWGreene** 29-10-2016 12:08:14

In for NaNoWriMo. It will mean prying myself out of bed at 4:30 a.m. for awhile, but there's no better way to produce a big chunk of text in a short time.

**Posted by KatLondon** 30-10-2016 19:11:51

Okay well last year I signed up and then couldn't do it because it turned out I was in the final throes of getting a book ready to go to print! This year, other compelling reasons not to do it apply, but there are equally compelling - if not more compelling - reasons to do it anyway.

This is a snap decision so I've not done any planning, I feel under-researched (with a shelf of books I'm only halfway through), and - although the novel's been on a back burner for ages - while my thinking has come along in the past year, the whole thing is still very fuzzy in my head. I also have a pile of books to review in November and an essay to finish, and very little other work on. And my personal life just fell apart, so I'm all over the place. In other words, while I do have some time, things are really desperate. Or rather - while things ARE desperate, I DO have a bit of time.

What is it, 2,000 words a day? I might have to skip the days I'm writing the reviews.