Chris Baty's Blog, page 254

Five Launch Lessons

[image error]

Over the years, I've learned to enjoy NaNoWriMo site relaunches the way a winemaker might savor a fine vintage. It's such a heady mix of flavors! There's the bouquet of excitement, a slight grace note of terror, all undercut with a peppery finish of ripening HTML code.

This is the second year where I've had the pleasure of watching relaunch from a distance, as the great NaNoWriMo Program Director Lindsey Grant worked with fearless tech lead Dan Duvall to oversee everything. Not being as directly involved in the process has given me a chance to reflect on all the lessons I've learned from site relaunches of years past. I would like to share some of those lessons with you now.

1) You will always wish you had one more week than you do. 

2) At some point, you will discover you forgot to build or transport over some vital piece of the website. This happens because even simple websites are more complicated than most of us would dream, and because the folks working on the sites have usually been awake for three days straight and are likely hallucinating large talking owls as they try to index database tables and do other important things.   

3) Crazy, insurmountable problems will arise in the homestretch. Databases will fail. Files will corrupt themselves. Some complete show-stopper of a drama will rise up out of nowhere, and you will cry for a while, then stop crying and find a way around it. The show must go on, and it always does.

4) At some point, you will confront the fact that you still have some bugs in the site, and you're going to launch with them. This year, we had an incredible beta testing team that included Rob Diaz, Cylithria Dubois, Heather Dudley, Emily Bristow, Cybele May, and over 500 volunteer debuggers. Everyone worked their hearts out feeding bug reports back to four Ruby on Rails programmers, who then dove in and made things right. That's about 500 more testers and three more programmers than we've had in the past. We still launched knowing we would need to wake up early and fix bugs the next day.

5) The five-day period after a website launch is one of the most satisfying times in all of human history. You're fixing the bugs you knew were there and learning about new ones from participants and fixing those too. You're finalizing and deploying the features that you didn't finish in the rush to launch. You're responding to requests from participants and tweaking and adding helpful text to make the site more understandable. Thanks to the feedback from the folks using it, the site takes shape immediately after launch almost as much as it does immediately before it. And the talking owl hallucinations abate somewhat. That's a nice thing too.

Happy site re-launch, everyone!

-Chris B.

Photo of the Office of Letters and Light on NaNoWriMo launch eve, 2011

The Shipper Gentlemen

We sell a lot of merchandise. T-shirts, messenger bags, mugs, stickers, hoodies, journals—and, of course, all the goodies for our kind and generous donors. And it all comes from one place: our warehouse, here in the East Bay.

The Office of Letters and Light warehouse is, well, a warehouse. It has shelves, dusty windows, a concrete floor. It certainly breaks no stereotypes. And yet, it is a strangely magical place, thanks to our Shipper Gentlemen, Ian and Frankie.

Ian (on the right) is our Fulfillment Captain. A former Rubik's Cube master, he now feeds his competitive streak by racing Frankie while packing orders. Most of Ian's day is spent printing invoices, checking store-related email, shipping orders, and counting inventory. Should it ever become necessary, he is also responsible for ejecting people from the warehouse. Highlights in the life of the Fulfillment Captain include receiving new merchandise, and filling out customs forms for all the fantastic, far-away places we get to send merchandise. "We ship to castles," he tells me.

Our Fulfillment Guru, Frankie (on the left), leads a busy life: aside from DJing six times a month at various bars, he also bartends three nights a week in Oakland, and stays up too late on the other four. Frankie is the self-proclaimed "people person" in this warehouse operation; much of his time is spent answering emails and questions from participants about our store and merchandise. Both Frankie and Ian are considering writing NaNo novels this year, though neither of them have participated in the past. We're strongly encouraging them down this road.

The Shipper Gentlemen are both new additions to the OLL team, and still settling into their roles at the (likewise new) warehouse. You'd hardly know it, though, with the amount of product these two manage to move in a week. These are some of the unsung NaNo heroes, folks—say hi!

– Paige

P.S. If anyone has a portrait of Tom Selleck handy, would you let us know? Ian is a little concerned about the fact that they don't yet have one in the warehouse.

And so it begins...

I have a confession to make: I'm already well into my novel outline for NaNo 2011.

I've actually been working on it for a while. I knew things were going to get a little crazy around the office in October, so I spent some quality time in August (when I didn't have much else to do) hashing out the basic structure of my plot. Things were starting to come together, but it seemed like there was something missing.

Then, one day when I was driving home from physio, the last piece fell into place, and suddenly my novel made sense. I'm pretty sure the universe conspires to make sure that these things happen in the most inconvenient places where you definitely won't be able to write it down. My friend Karen always comes up with her best ideas in the shower. (This means she's extra-clean in mid-November when her plot gets a little stuck.) I always keep a notebook beside my bed in November, because I inevitably solve problems in my novel right as I'm about to fall asleep.

The early start means I'm already eight chapters into the outline (I have mentioned before that I'm one of those crazy super-thorough outliners, right?), but it's also been neglected for several weeks. At some point I'm going to have to stop working so late and spend a few quality hours with my hardcover black notebook and my favourite pen.

This year, I've gotten advanced and have Post-It note dividers in my Moleskine, so my outline is much more organized than usual. I'm obsessive about having a new notebook for every novel, but I also like to divide things up by section, so previous years have random notes scattered haphazardly throughout the book in a way that rather contradicts my otherwise neurotic outlines.

Where do you get your best ideas? Do you know what you're writing about for NaNoWriMo yet? And did you notice the new notebook in the store? A planner's dream notebook, right? Yum.

– Sarah

My Friend, the Simile

I haven't always been skilled at reading figurative language. I remember having to read a passage by Shakespeare for school. The passage was supposed to be funny, but the joke was soaring way over my head, and upon struggling with the imagery, I eventually just imagined Shakespeare putting his hand on my shoulder, saying, "You had to have been there. But trust me. In the sixteenth century, it was hilarious!" 

If you were ever in school between the ages of 11 and 18, you probably know what a simile is. If not, it's totally okay. Similes and metaphors aren't one of those life things you have to know, like how to properly feed yourself when you become an adult. And you can forget what a simile is and be okay, but you can't really survive off instant noodles alone (as I have learned). Here are some of my favorites, which I have stumbled across over the years:

"John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met."

"The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work."

But similes have the incredible potential to be user-friendly. They're pretty intuitive, and don't have to have anything to do with homework. We use them in casual conversation, probably without realizing it, and unlike other types of figurative language, which pressure the writer to sound utterly brilliant, a simile lends itself well with snarkiness and humor. A great simile is the difference between saying something is creepy, or saying that it's creepy like Tom Cruise laughing. It's your call.

Have any great ones to share?

– Ari

Bowling: Where "strikes" equal success

I have already written at some length about my love for baseball, tennis, and soccer. And also my simultaneous inability to play any of the three—or any other sport—with a shred of skill.

But the tides are turning. Two weekends in a row now, I have bowled my little heart out, and it has been glorious. Glorious!

Last weekend, in fact, I bowled the high score of the night (granted, it was only a 128) and I won best of five games (only to lose best of seven). I'm no Lebowski, but this represents never-before-precedented success at something that might be considered a sport.

I can't help but enjoy the positive connotation of "strike" in bowling, versus its negative meaning in baseball. Plus the shoes are really cool. And the soundtrack, more often than not, is pretty killer.

Funky shoes, "Funky Town," glow-in-the-dark equipment, and joyous shouts of "strike" all sound like a good time to me.

What's your newly discovered passion (or guilty pleasure)?

– Lindsey

Long live the Captain!

My pops was a dramatic dude. He should have been an actor. When I quit acting (did y'all know I was an actor? We've barely begun to know each other…), he didn't say what many parents would: Finally! On to your real life! Instead, he lamented. He did not blink at poverty, never despaired at uncertainty. He loved the acting life, more than I did even, and would go about reciting bits of plays and poems when the mood struck. You could almost feel the warmth of a spotlight turn on him when he did this.

On our last walk together, on an island in the middle of a Tennessee river in autumn, the changing leaves all around us, he paused at a fork in the path and, I'm not kidding, this happened: he recited Frost's "The Road Not Taken." We all know Frost, right? We might groan at how well we know Frost! But Dad made Frost fresh for me that day in a way that will never change. My father in the gloaming of his life, perhaps thinking on what choices he had left, his voice against the trees: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…

I hate how we have to choose. I wish so much that we could do all the things in life we love forever. This way, I would still be an actor while working at A Window Between Worlds in Los Angeles, a job I dragged myself from, kicking and screaming, when I started my studies at USC. This way, I would still be at USC, with all that time to write, and still be in Los Angeles, even while moving to New York to go to grad school. I would still and always have my pops, and Julio (my latest dog and a love of my life), while keeping the lessons learned from these losses. And I would still be able to work at the Office of Letters and Light while devoting my energy to girlchild's success and my writing life. Instead of leaving, like I'm doing now.

Don't you wish that?

Also, I'd still be young.

When I took on the mantle of OLL's Office Captain, girlchild had long ago found a home with one of those glamorous publishing houses in the East but had no pub date and, as far as this newbie novelist could tell, none on the horizon. I committed to work at OLL for a year (but was secretly planning on two) and only weeks into my new role: wham!, pub date, then, wham!, U.K. rights sold, and then mmmmf… the realization slowly dawned on me that the time had come.

The time to do all of the things I'd been dreaming of was here: author website, Facebook page, book trailer, merch, not one, but two, book tours to plan, and that documentary I'd been dreaming about… Could it be possible? Giving girlchild her due is a job in itself and I owe it to her, and myself. But here we are again, in the yellow wood.

I'm looking down this road as far as I can, even as I prepare to take the other, and what I see, well, it is delightful. Who other than new Office Captain Tim Kim could make me feel that the good ship OLL is in the world's most capable, kind, and hilarious hands? Those who have already had the pleasure of receiving an email from him know that he is a fair captain, indeed. Find a reason to write to him and you'll be charmed and soothed, educated and reassured!

What I also see are connections between my new path and OLL's, times when the paths will join for a bit, like Packing Nights, the Night of Writing Dangerously, and the TGIO Party. I'll be there to volunteer and celebrate with you and will certainly be cheering you on your own writing adventures this November. Remember, no blinking at poverty or despairing at uncertainty. Our paths are overgrown with words, we must write them down!

All my gratitude for all the ways our paths have connected. Until they connect again, happy writing, friends!

– Tupelo

Photo by Flickr user afagen

Another Bestselling NaNo-Novel!

Well, folks, it's happened again. A published NaNo-novel has made it onto the New York Times Bestseller list. Number five in fiction overall, and number two on the hardcover list. The book in question? The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

I have to admit, I was wary of this book. Compare anything to Harry Potter and my hackles immediately raise. Violently. That being said, I did pick it up the day it came out, and was rather pleased with what I found inside. It's a wonderfully immersive romp, full of magical sights and sounds and, above all, the circus. Morgenstern is a master of description, and brings the circus to life in every way.

I had the pleasure of attending a reading of The Night Circus at The Booksmith earlier this month and, I have to say, it was one of the more interesting readings I've been to. There were magicians! And juggling! And streamers! It was almost like being at a real circus. But in a bookstore. Morgenstern became a Wrimo in 2008. In the talk she gave at The Booksmith, she mentioned NaNo, and credited the program with allowing her to just simply write. It warms the cockles of our hearts to hear that we are succeeding in our mission. (In case you have ever been curious, cockles are mollusks. And here at OLL, we actually do have them in our chests.)

This is an inspiring tale for all NaNo authors. It reminds us that yes, you can actually come up with something of decent quality in a month's time. It might not be a finished novel—but it can become one.

I have been thinking about publication a lot in my own life, as well. One of my assignments for school is a personal essay exploring my history with and thoughts towards novel writing, NaNo in particular, and the idea of being "a novelist" by different definitions.

Tell me, Wrimos—how many of you write with the intent of publication? Is the NYT Bestsellers list what you are aiming for, or is NaNo a personal journey, just writing for your own pleasure? Also, if any of you have read The Night Circus, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

– Paige

Photo courtesy of The Booksmith

Book Trailer?

I can't believe I'm leaving OLL when there's so much more for us to discuss! I have many things left to ask you, blog family. You've become my think tank, my advisory panel—in the words of the Godfather, you are my consiglieres. You've met my family, soothed my hurts, and named my letterpress. How will I make a move without you? With one blog left before my goodbye, I offer you wise folk a final question:

What do you think about book trailers? I should start by saying that I'm going to make one for girlchild. The plane tickets are booked (to the town of trailers that inspired girlchild… how meta!), the cameras are rented, it's all over but the crying, as my pops would say. Still, this doesn't mean I don't feel unsure. Excelling at worry and uncertainty as I do, I usually feel unsure right up to the very last minute, and so, I ask you.

A lot of people don't even know what a book trailer is. It's like a film trailer, I say, a "coming attraction" but for a book. Still, I'm making one. Most folks don't know where to find them. And yet, I'm making one. I have accepted that this may become nothing more than an expensive vanity project, but it's a risk I'm willing to take because this is my first novel and, see how the words "first novel" kind of shimmer there?, I decided that I'm going to give girlchild everything I have. For novel two, I'll be sedate and mature and perhaps even sensible. For novel one, I'm going for it, and I suppose that's part of what I'm here to ask. Wouldn't you?

What will your book trailer look like? Imagine a sky-high budget and any director you desire, living or dead (Shakespeare? Chaplin?), imagine an all-star cast. What would you do? Do you watch book trailers? Do you have a favorite? What wouldn't you do to promote your first novel (so shimmery, those words)?

– Tupelo

Presenting Tim Kim

As some of you know, our beloved Office Captain Tupelo is leaving us at the end of September. While we hate to see her go, we can't begrudge her for going on to exciting things—namely preparation for her novel girlchild, which will be published in January. Last week our new Office Captain arrived, and has been training up to fill Tupe's shoes. If I may, I would like to present Tim Kim.

Tim grew up as a chatty child with a strangely deep voice in an Orange-County-esque southern California town. He says "it was before The O.C. though, so you know, no one knew it was hip." Tim moved to Northern California when he was 13, only to head back down south for a Lit Writing degree at UC San Diego.

After graduating, Tim loftily ventured to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting, and spent some time as the assistant to a studio executive. This is when he honed his excellent dry-cleaning-retrieval and deck-building skills. For a short time he also worked at a private school as a chaperone for David Beckham's children. (Yes, really.) Tim finally got back into the writing world, and the Bay Area, with jobs at San Francisco Magazine and Wired.Though Tim has attempted NaNoWriMo four times, he has yet to succeed. He's hoping to break that streak this year, and says it's his "badge of shame, [his] scarlet letter." When asked why he returned to OLL (having been an intern in 2009) he honestly just wouldn't stop talking! "This is just such an amazing community, and a huge international community, all working together toward the same goal," he says. Tim is inspired and awed by the passion he finds in NaNoWriMo participants, and he loves interacting with them.

As Office Captain, Tim will be answering tons of questions and emails, and looking after day-to-day things around the office (like the washing of dishes, and making sure our plants don't die). He likes to style himself as an "OLL guru," with a breadth of knowledge encompassing all our programs.

When he's not here, Tim works as the managing editor for Once Magazine, a photojournalism-focused publication for the iPad. This helps him to stay involved in the changing world of journalism, and to be part of where print media is going in the future.

We're happy to have someone as competent and personable as Tim to take over for Tupe, and we hope you will give him a great OLL-community welcome. (Please note that while welcome cards are accepted, we try to discourage the mailing of live animals or perishable food items.)

– Paige

My New Notebook Warmer

I am obsessive about naming things. For a while the names were Pixar-inspired, then Buffy, then I moved into an extended Harry Potter phase. My first laptop was Neville. My iPod Touch was Pigwidgeon. (iPig for short.) My Tivo was Fred, my iPod NaNo was George. My first MacBook was Minerva, and my current one is Fawkes. My iPhone is Hedwig. (It carries messages for me, so that seemed fitting.) I can spend hours debating a name for a minor character in one of my novels, and they aren't even real!

So if I am this neurotic about naming inanimate objects and fictional characters, imagine how I obsessed over naming an actual living thing. A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I finally got a cat. After much discussion and Twitter polling, we'd narrowed it down to four names by the time the cat actually arrived, having agreed that we should actually meet him before finalising anything. Once we heard him meow, we ruled out Beaker, since we both agreed that a cat named Beaker should have a meep-y sort of meow. He rolled around on his back in a rather Hobbes-like fashion, but somehow he didn't quite seem like a Hobbes. We liked Winston, but it lacked the orange kitty element to it that all of our other choices had, plus I like pop-culture or literary names.

In the end, we decided that an orange cat in a house full of redheads (my hair was very red as a kid and is more of a strawberry blonde now, but Jamie's is extremely red) needed a very red-headed sort of name. And so, I am very pleased to present to the blog one Weasley the Cat. He fits in very nicely with my other belongings, and Weasley is a very satisfying name for putting into songs. (Current favourite: "Oh Weasley Cat" sung to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree.")

Weasley is very fond of napping on my desk, preferably on top of my notebook (as pictured), and he is partial to pouncing on balls of yarn and carrying them around in his mouth. (This is not a fine quality in a cat who lives with as much yarn as Weasley does.) However, he makes up for these slightly less than charming qualities by also liking to lie in your lap with his paws waving around in the air while you rub his belly, and by licking your toes when he's happy to see you in the morning.

He's definitely learned his new name. He's sitting in his favourite spot right now, on the ledge next to the low window in the extension where my office is. I just called him to see if he would respond to his name, and he immediately trotted over and flopped onto my notebook, where he is now happily purring and batting periodically at my keyboard while he gnaws on a pen. (So far he hasn't managed to hit "send" on any emails, but I figure it's only a matter of time.)

I think everyone who works at home needs a cat. I can ask him to cover for me if I want to go get lunch, or send him out for a snack if I'm in the middle of something. He doesn't do any of that, of course, but it amuses me. And it's nice not being home alone all day. Plus, come on, look at that face. Who could resist him?

Are you obsessive about naming things? What are some of your best names? And how can I convince my husband that our next cat should be called Mr. Tumnus?

– Sarah