Friday, December 6, 2019

Updates on NaNoWriMo and The Comic Sans Experiment


Happy December, y'all!

Last month I told you about The Comic Sans Experiment I planned to implement during the month of November. (If you missed the post you can read it HERE.) As promised, this is an update on what happened.

I participated in National Novel Writing Month and finished with a win, crossing the 50,000 word goal on November 29th. Did using the Comic Sans font make the process any easier? Honestly, I think it did. Now, do I think there is anything magical about the Comic Sans font? Of course not. As I surmised last month, I think the effect is purely psychological in that the change from using the staid, formal Times New Roman font to something more carefree allows us to drop the expectations that go along with the formality and just create. In my opinion, probably any other less formal, less Times New Roman font would work as well.

Another thing that I think helped me was that I upgraded my laptop mid-month. I know, what kind of idiot upgrades their laptop when they are in the middle of trying to reach an insane goal during an already hectic month? This one, apparently. I had been considering updating my laptop for some time but stumbled across a great deal on what is technically a gaming laptop. Even though I won't use it for gaming, it has much better specs than a lot of similar, more expensive laptops. Since it is a gaming laptop it also has an awesome backlit, color-changing keyboard. I love my new keyboard. I like color but, colorful laptops can be hard to find. (Why do laptop manufacturers think everyone wants matte black? How boring.) So, a colorful keyboard was the perfect compromise. However, I was worried that I would be so engrossed in watching the color change that I would fail to focus on my writing. Fortunately, that fear was unfounded. (Whew!) It helps that my new laptop keyboard has an excellent "feel." When PCs first became a thing (yes, I'm old enough to remember that) most keyboards were difficult for me to use because they required a firm touch and I have a very light one. Over the years, I learned to use more force when typing but it doesn't come naturally. My new keyboard is wonderful though. The feel of the keys is quite pleasant and makes typing a dream so, a poorly timed upgrade which could have turned into a disaster actually turned out to be another win.

Here's to a long and productive relationship with my new laptop/keyboard. *raises diet soda in toast*

Until next time, I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and I'll see you again in 2020.


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