North America

Just because I couldn't think of where to put them, here you go:

(these were cultivated from a NaNoWrimo thread, and edited for content and funniness by Jessi)

SoCNoC Writing Tools

1. Something to drink
2. Good music
3. Good plot
4. Good characters
5. Coffee
6. No Plot No Problem
7. Online games
8. Alone Time
9. Word wars
10. Noveling hat
11. Muse
12. Forums
13. Candy
14. Calendar with gold stars
15. Outline
16. Chocolate!!! ^_^
17. Marbles (glued to the page) Because we are all bound to lose a few. LoL
18. Caffeine
19. plot bunnies
20. support, even if just from the forums
21. Cage for that inner editor, with a key that goes missing until Editing Month
22. Determination
23. Duct Tape, everyone says it can fix anything, maybe it will help with plot holes.
24. Sense of humor
25. Touch of Insanity, but hell, you need that to sign up! LoL
26. More Caffeine
27. Inspiration
28. More time
29. Healthy snack (cashews FTW)
30. A good, comfy place to write
31. A weird writing habit (or maybe not)
32. Caffeine (preferably Pepsi)
33. A beta reader for feedback and to bounce ideas off of (***ask Weed***)
34. These forums, because in the course of writing I usually have strange questions
35. Music
36. The internet, paradoxically (it's so distracting but I just can't write when I don't have internet access. Then again, I am kind of addicted)
37. Insanity
38. Lots of free time (and should-be-doing-work-but-aren't time)
39. Caffeine (DR. PEPPER)
40. Treats
41. Things to kill your characters with (preferably torture devices)
42. Deux Ex Machina
43. CHOCOLATE!!!!!!! (Eat all those V-day gifts that are left over!!!!!!)
44. These forums. Seriously. I quote the person above "it's so distracting but i just can't write" when you don't have the forums.
45. Potato chips with dip
46. A Writing Journal to write ideas down in (notepad�with an official note-taking pencil)
47. The RIGHT names for your character (start ASAP!!!)
48. Complex characters
49. Any number of character and plot devices to help plan your novel as you go
50. AIM
51. External support (IE, family/friends, online or not)
52. Chocolate
53. A full schedule for school/work, because you WILL procrastinate on those things with writing AND visa-versa as well, making it a very productive month
54. Tea
55. Good soundtracks
56. A Hiding place
57. Reckless abandon
58. No free time LoL
59. An allocated space of time each day for a minor breakdown in which you bemoan the suckiness of what you've written (Go Jessi!)
60. Music
61. No life
62. Chocolate
63. Reward
64. Soundproofed room (I have half of that…)
65. Grapes (make sure they’re good ones, though!)
66. Time to yourself!!! LoL
67. Movies for background noise (Princess Bride, Brother Bear, any Disney movie with Phil Collins in it…)
68. Hot tea
69. Have a simple down throw at hand. Vital. If you don't have one, go get one. They're about $20 apiece.***
70. Have either an alarm clock, an alarm on your phone, or an alarm app on your laptop handy. This is necessary both for word sprints and to remind you to go switch out laundry loads every so often. (Word sprints FTW) (Laundry—eakk!)
71. Have plenty of comfort foods on hand. Some of my favorites are extra-dark chocolate, nectarines, salted cashews (are FTW), stove top stuffing (is disgusting), canned mandarin oranges (eh…), mashed potatoes ( =) ) and havarti cheese (WTF is that???). Don't choose anything silly like ribs or a grapefruit that you need to fiddle with in order to eat. Your hands should remain on the keyboard as much as possible. (yay!)
72. Get a one-month supply of paper plates and plastic silverware. If you plan correctly, you can eliminate the household chore of doing dishes for the entire month of November. (I hate dishes!)
73. Get a one-month supply of paper plates and plastic silverware. If you plan correctly, you can eliminate the household chore of doing dishes for the entire month of November.(I hate dishes again!)

~Jessi~
Blessed Be

That looks like a comprehensive list!

I am not organized enough to either make a list like that or to, in fact, read all of yours - well, I read it all, but I already forget it.

Thanks a lot for it though - very entertaining!

Travis.
--
http://cottreau.blogspot.com
http://cottreaureviews.blogspot.com/

I'm going to print it out and see how many I do. I know I can't do the Caffeine ones though - I just gave up the coffee!

Andrew Chilton - http://kapiti.geek.nz/
SoCNoC 2008 - Unknown and Untitled

Ah! Coffee!?! Why???

I don't know. I drink coffee, actually just recently started (I'm 17), and I know it's bad for me, so I basically allow myself one cup a day, and only on the weekends. Sometimes I slip, but whatever, I'm young, I can do what I want with my body just as long as I:

eat right
drink plenty of water
not drink too much pop/coffee/tea (Gods I love tea)
excercise
drink more water
play soccer
eat my veggies
and quit eating junk!!!

Even though I don't eat much chocolate anymore...I wonder why...Mrs. Smith, my English teacher/newspaper advisor must be rubbing off on me. If she eats chocolate she turns REALLY mean. Or so I've heard.

And, oh, yeah, Mrs. Smith, don't forget: Many small meals a day, water, and a lot of excercise.

~Jessi~
Blessed Be

Are you going to follow that regime in June? Sounds tough...

I have not given up coffee, since I never started. The most I've ever done is sip, and I think it tastes awful! I do not know how anyone can drink it. Add lots of sugar and milk/cream I guess.

Travis.
--
http://cottreau.blogspot.com
http://cottreaureviews.blogspot.com/

I love love love the smell of coffee and always have, though I was never a drinker until recently, and then only with milk and sugar.
I have one at study group, and one when I visit a particular friend. They both have the same type of coffee, more expensive and very yum.

http://vyanae.blogspot.com/

I put cream in mine. A LOT of cream.

And here's another list (basically the same, but it was written for Mrs. Smith, who doesn't like chocolate): (and, oh yeah, the random tips at the bottom...)

SoCNoC Writing Tools for Mrs. Smith Given by Jessi Munn and the Other Random, Crazy People on the NaNoWrimo Forums

1. Something to drink
2. Good background music
3. Good plot
4. Good characters
5. Coffee
6. No Plot No Problem
7. Online games
8. Alone Time
9. Word wars
10. A Noveling hat
11. Muse
12. Forums (www.nanowrimo.org or www.kiwiwriters.org will be very helpful)
13. Candy
14. Calendar with gold stars
15. Outline
16. Chocolate!!! ^_^ (for when you want to kill your *MC*)
17. Marbles (glued to the page or the computer) Because we are all bound to lose a few. LoL
18. Caffeine
19. Plot bunnies (to help make it hop along�LoL)
20. Support, even if just from the forums (see above whenever the “forums” are mentioned)
21. Cage for that inner editor, with a key that goes missing until Editing Month (Which might not be existent for SoCNoC, but I’ll leave #21 where it is.)
22. Determination
23. Duct Tape, everyone says it can fix anything, maybe it will help with plot holes. (Couldn’t help ourselves!!!)
24. Sense of humor (What would Matt Harmon say, Mrs. Smith?)
25. Touch of Insanity, but hell, you need that to sign up! LoL
26. More Caffeine
27. Inspiration
28. More time
29. Healthy snack (cashews FTW)
30. A good, comfy place to write
31. A weird writing habit (Like sneezing at every period, I don’t know!)
32. Caffeine (preferably tea)
33. A beta reader (for feedback and to bounce ideas off of)
34. These forums, because in the course of writing I usually have strange questions
35. Music (yes, again)
36. The internet, paradoxically (it's so distracting but I just can't write when I don't have internet access. Then again, I am kind of addicted)
37. Insanity (yes, again, again, and again)
38. Lots of free time (and should-be-doing-work-but-aren't time)
39. Caffeine (DR. PEPPER)
40. Treats
41. Torture devices to kill your characters with
42. Deux Ex Machina
43. Cheesy popcorn
44. These forums. Seriously. I quote the person above "it's so distracting but i just can't write" when you don't have the forums.
45. Potato chips with dip
46. A writing journal to write ideas down in
47. The RIGHT names for your character
48. Complex characters
49. Any number of character and plot devices to help plan your novel as you go
50. AIM
51. External support (IE, family/friends, online or not)
52. Zebra cakes
53. A full schedule for school/work (think games/family time), because you WILL procrastinate on those things with writing AND visa-versa as well, making it a very productive month
54. Tea
55. Good soundtracks
56. A hiding place (preferably a quiet one)
57. Reckless abandon
58. No free time LoL
59. An allocated space of time each day for a minor breakdown in which you bemoan the suckiness of what you've written (And it WILL happen, been there, done that.)
60. Music (again)
61. No life
62. Chocolate (time to kill another character)
63. Reward system (that’s what the calendar with gold stars is for)
64. Soundproofed room (if possible LoL)
65. Grapes (make sure they’re good ones, and not sour!)
66. Time to yourself!!! LoL
67. Movies for background noise
68. Hot tea
69. Have a simple down throw at hand. Vital. If you don't have one, go get one. They're about $20 apiece.
70. Have either an alarm clock, an alarm on your phone, or an alarm app on your laptop handy. This is necessary both for word sprints and to remind you to go switch out laundry loads every so often. (Word sprints are FTW) (Laundry—eakk!)
71. Have plenty of comfort foods on hand. Some of my favorites are extra-dark chocolate (which are NOT comfort foods for your characters…), nectarines, salted cashews (are FTW), stove top stuffing (is disgusting), canned mandarin oranges (eh…), mashed potatoes ( YaY! ) and havarti cheese (what’s that???). Don't choose anything silly like ribs or a grapefruit that you need to fiddle with in order to eat. Your hands should remain on the keyboard as much as possible. (Because you need all the writing time you can get!)
72. Get a one-month supply of paper plates and plastic silverware. If you plan correctly, you can eliminate the household chore of doing dishes for the entire month of November. (I hate dishes!)
73. Get a one-month supply of paper plates and plastic silverware. If you plan correctly, you can eliminate the household chore of doing dishes for the entire month of November.(I hate dishes again!)
74. Most importantly (can’t believe that people didn’t add this one), you need a DAILY word count goal. And a calculator at the computer desk. For NaNo last year, I used a simple, four-function one and almost every day I would obsessively use the word count button, subtract from 50,000, and divide by however many days were left in the month. Your suffering would lessen a little if you had that gold-star calendar, too.… I had to count on my fingers to find out how many days were left because I was too lazy to walk ten steps to the calendar.

Other Random, Helpful Tips

• Just know that if you skip a full day of writing, DON’T STRESS!!! You can evenly spread it through all the rest of the days in the month…and if you do a few words (even if it’s just 100) over each day, you’ll definitely be fine.
• And, some weekends (or weekdays, since its summer) it would help to have an all writing day, or two days, or three…whatever works.
• Here’s a definition: Word Sprint—(n.) a small challenge where one sets a time (this is where the timer comes in handy) and writes as fast as possible until the timer goes off. These are helpful to get rid of writer’s block, actually. Just be sure to turn off that inner editor. Keep track of the number of words you do per sprint, and you’ll improve.
• Use the forums. Seriously. Can’t stress it enough.

~Jessi~
Blessed Be