Welcome back to another SimNaNo! Are you ready, because I sure am! Some of you might be new here and may be wondering... what is SimNaNo? Well, it's a writing month, akin to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). A lot of our forum members are avid writers in one way or another: stories, challenges, or just updates on our Sims... so we thought, why not have a way to challenge ourselves in the way that the writers of NaNoWriMo do? Thus SimNaNoWriMo was born (shortened later to SimNaNo or SimNo). The goal is to spend an entire month devoted to one story, challenge, or family of yours and play them as much as possible to get out as many updates as you can! We set goals, we play some games, we earn medals - it's all in great fun! Anyone can participate, you don't need to be a writer or have any experience whatsoever with it. We have several different ways you can join us!
SimNaNo 2020 will be taking place from July 1st through July 31st!
Back by popular demand, we're keeping the system from last year that I tried out! For those of you who weren't with us last year, I got a lot of inspiration from CampNaNoWriMo that happened during April of 2019, which caused me to look closer at what we can do with Boolprops SimNaNo! After a lot of discussion between several moderators, we've decided to break away from previous years goals in favor of Personal Goals!
In previous years we've had tiers such as "Bronze," "Silver," "Gold," and even, "Platinum." We broke off from that to avoid people feeling pressure to only hit "Gold," which actually discouraged some from participating. That's the opposite of what we wanted, so we came up with Personal Goals. How do they work? Let me tell you:
When you sign up for SimNaNo 2020, you'll be signing up with your story and a picture and/or world goal YOU would like to achieve during the month of July! You'll be receiving a banner regarding it, and (if I'm feeling ambitious) one that I'll update to match up with your progress on a weekly basis!
So, here are some Guidelines for Personal Goals:
- Ideally, you should pick a goal that challenges you, so if you do end up picking 1000 words and you normally write 5000+ a month... that's not really challenging. Despite this, it's also important to feel good and comfortable with your goal, so I leave it in your hands to decide what suits you.
- If you reach your personal goal early, you can set a new personal goal or increase the limit of your first one!
- If you'd like to set multiple goals for several stories, this is allowed too; however, please pick one as your "main focus."
- When setting a goal, I strongly encourage you to do one of each (a word and a picture goal), however it is not required.
Here are some example goals:
Hi, I have my Ghibli Legacy, which averages about 1,500 words and 100 pictures per update. I feel I can easily do 5 updates in a month, so let me challenge myself and say 7 updates, which would total 10,500 words and 700 pictures.
I'd like to sign up with Where the Willow Walks, which I can usually do about 5000 words and 120 pictures per chapter. I've done 3-4 chapters in a month and I kind of push my limits, so I'm happy settling on between 3 and 4 for this! Let's do 17,000 words and 350 pictures!
Hello, I'm starting a new story and HERE is the link where it'll be. As I'm starting new, I'd like to challenge myself to write 10,000 words this month and 175 pictures. I have no trouble writing, but I want to challenge myself on my images specifically, so my goal will be emphasizing that!
I'm starting a new challenge for this, and HERE'S the link! I tend to not be very verbose in my challenges, so I'd like to just do a picture goal. Let's say 1,000 pictures! I can easily do 100 pictures an update, and I'd love to do 10 updates this month! Let's do this!
I've got a story I'd like to do this with, and HERE is that link for you! I don't really like taking pictures that much, as my game can be slow and sometimes it doesn't show what I want, but I want to challenge me to write more! I'm setting my goal to be 25,000 words! I'd love to do half a NaNoWriMo normally! I'm up for the challenge!
As you can see, there's a lot of variety and the sky is the limit. If you want to aim for NaNo Goals or more (50,000 words and above) GO for it! If you want to aim for just improving your personal best... do it! If you're just getting started and would like to get out at least a single update, we're here to help you! Everyone has their own pace and it's all about embracing yours!
SimNaNo: How to Sign Up
- Navigate your way to the Sign-Up thread (opens June 11th).
- Post a reply in that thread with your Story Name, BOOLPROP link to the story, and your personal goal. I'd also like to encourage those who sign up to share a little bit on why they picked the goal they did, but again, it's not required.
- If your story isn't created yet or your challenge doesn't have a link, you can put a placeholder there (by creating a thread for it) or you can provide the link to me at a later date. So long as I have the Story Name and Goal it should be fine.
- If you have a name you'd rather have on your banner/count than your forum name, please provide that!
- In the case that you're not feeling comfortable sharing your goal, but you'd like to participate, please feel free to PM Me (Livvielove) with your goal so I can make you your own personalized banner, but I will not put it up with the others in the Sign-Up/Update threads! It will just be between us!
- Feel free to plan, prep, and schedule in advance if you like! Sometimes we get busy during months we wish we weren't. So long as your goal challenges you and you feel good about it that's a win in my book!
- Wait for July 1st and start posting in the Update Thread!
SimNaNo: Completion
At the end of the month, you'll receive:
> A banner for your efforts!
> Your Personal Goal Medal (if your personal goal has been achieved).
> Either a SimNaNo 2020 Medal (which you must post an update at least one time to qualify) OR a SimNaNo Boost Medal OR a SimNaNo Plus Medal (see other challenges for details).
SimNaNo: Other Challenges
To spice things up, we decided to throw in a few "honorary" goals as a nod towards NaNoWriMo, which inspired SimNaNo in the first place. What are these goals?
SimNaNo Boost: Reach 1,500 pictures or 25,000 words.
SimNaNo Plus: Reach 3,000 pictures or 50,000 words.
Make it to one of these goals and you'll receive a SimNaNo Boost or SimNaNo Plus Medal instead of the SimNaNo 2020 Medal!
So there's the rules, any questions or comments regarding them can happen in this thread! I'll keep a post below this one for updates on the rules over time (more for my own documentation).
Other SimNaNo Links:
The Coffeehouse ~ Sign-Ups ~ Update Thread
Other SimNaNo Links:
The Coffeehouse ~ Sign-Ups ~ Update Thread
