Full Speed Ahead: using the "find" function and symbols to your advantage

In the world of feverish writing, (as in NaNoWriMo November, or any other time of year when you are trying to get your first draft down) you cannot afford to stop and work out every scene to perfection. The most beneficial thing you can do is keep moving forward, or at least down the page.

For NaNoWriMo 2011, my daily target word count is 2000 words since I am observing a day of rest every Sunday to meet and worship with my church and to spend quality time with family. But because of this high count I have to be diligent to write on my scheduled days, and to keep my forward momentum.

Here's what I do to ensure that my fingers keep typing new scenes--

KEEP CHECKLISTS-- I am writing in Scrivener for Microsoft Windows (now available, Yay!), so I keep a pane open at all times with "Notes as I Write"-- my checklist of things I want to:

• insert in my manuscript,
  
• remember to add in future chapters,
  
• build up into full blown plot lines later.

So, if while I'm writing I have a character, say, trudging through town with a grotesquely overstuffed duffel bag, I may add a check note (which might turn into a series of notes) saying**:
[] Explore what Gertrude is carrying and why this is significant.
[] Is the bag squirming? Is it Mrs. Terrenthal's missing cats?
[] Is it a red herring, perhaps? --a bag full of rats for Gertrude's 11 foot Burmese python?
[] Did the python eat Mrs. Terrenthal's cats???

If I realize that I've left out a crucial detail in an earlier scene, like a character coming into a large inheritance, and I'm going to write about what she's buying with it, I might add**:
[] Insert details about Kara Kitchure receiving news about her inheritance.
[] Are there complications that arise? Does she find she can't trust her friendships with Gertrude and Logan anymore?
[] Is the money doled out over time and she has to plan how to spent it slowly?


USE SYMBOLS-- When I'm typing out a scene and I come to a spot where I can't think of the right word and I know I need to move on, but I want to come back in revisions and change it, I will surround the non-preferred word with multiple parentheses.
Example**:
Logan drew his gun and pointed it at the target in the distance. He spread his stance and aimed. But couldn't shoot. A gun seemed too heartless a way to take down the (((mythical animal with one horn))).

I do this also with instances where I don't remember a distance, a direction, or a specific color.
Example**:
The air was still and the night music pleasant as Logan left his house and crossed the (((fifty feet))) to Gertrude's front stoop. Gertrude gazed (((north))) toward the glowing peak of Mount San Fiasco and wondered if the (((purple))) stone set in its ivory base was hidden among the burning forest there.

This way, when the time comes, I can easily jump to these sections by utilizing the handy little "Find" function and searching for "(((".

I also use symbols when I want to write a scene that I'll have to insert into an earlier portion of the manuscript but don't want to take the time to find and place it correctly now. I separate the scene from those surrounding it by entering
<><><>
above and below the out-of-place writing. And, again, when I'm ready, I would do a "Find: <>" and move the resulting scenes to their proper position.



That's how I do it, how 'bout you?


**BTW, the above examples are purely for the purpose of this blog post and do not represent my current project or characters. :)