Welcome
Welcome to a page about NaNoWriMo hipster PDAs. I am NewMexicoKid, co-Municipal Liaison (ML) for the Illinois::Naperville region of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). A hipster PDA is a concept invented by Merlin Mann in 2004: a pack of index cards with a clip where each card serves a different function as a retro-PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). In 2005, I introduced to the NaNoWriMo ML community the NaNoWriMo hipster PDA.
So what kinds of cards do you keep in a NaNo hipster PDA?
- reference links to important sites
- advice cards for noveling
- NaNo calendar
- blank cards
- story board cards
- cards with forms upon them for various purposes
What do you use your hPDA for?
For myself, mostly I use it to have blank index cards with me at all times so I can jot down ideas when the muse is with me. Helpful references or inspirational cards can also be useful.
2021 virtual Hipster PDA
Since NaNoWriMo is again virtual this year, we've created a virtual hipster PDA (naperwrimo.org/vhpda) for your preparatory enjoyment. This is implemented as a google docs presentation.
2019 Hipster PDA: The Time Traveler's Guide to Writers & Writing
While supplies last, we will be handing out this Guide to Writers & Writing for Time Travelers (LibreOffice odt file) at each of our five preparatory workshops.
These were created by Jenny Johnson (Gwen Tolios), Sam McAdams (samcadams), Tim Yao (NewMexicoKid), and Ellie Roth (eleanor.roth).
2018 Hipster PDA
While supplies last, we will be handing out the 2018 NaNo Hipster PDA at each of the four preparatory workshops this October. If you can't make it out to one of these, then feel free to print out your own:
These were created by Jenny Johnson (Gwen Tolios), Sam McAdams (samcadams), and Tim Yao (NewMexicoKid).
2017 Hipster PDA
While supplies last, we will be handing out the 2017 NaNo Hipster PDA at each of the four preparatory workshops this October. If you can't make it out to one of these, then feel free to print out your own:
These were created by Jenny Johnson (Gwen Tolios), Sam McAdams (samcadams), Sara Vallejo (paperlanterns) and Tim Yao (NewMexicoKid).
2016 Hipster PDA
While supplies last, we will be handing out the 2016 NaNo Hipster PDA at each of the five preparatory workshops this October. If you can't make it out to one of these, then feel free to print out your own:
These were created by Sarah Johnson (anobi) and Tim Yao (NewMexicoKid).
2015 Hipster PDA
While supplies last, we will be handing out the 2015 NaNo Hipster PDA at each of the four preparatory workshops this October. If you can't make it out to one of these, then feel free to print out your own:
- NaNo place card--just write in your username and fold in half
- NaNo Bingo and a wordcount calendar
- the majority of the set
- Character emotions and the 7 point novel structure chart
Files
- 2014 Novel Stone Soup hipster PDA (aligning with the Stone Soup Method preparatory workshop and the first Library Crawl
- 2012 nanobots hipster PDA
- 2011 November Novelist Essential Toolkit, featuring the Cyborg Ninja Helper Wombat
- 2010_Naperville_hipster_PDA.PDF (five 3x5 cards, double sided; intended for printing directly to 3x5 index cards. This version has references to favorite writing books and blogs)
- Story question cards (four 3x5 cards: intended for printing directly to 3x5 index cards. From K. Kitts)
- Self-esteem-toolkit.pdf (six 3x5 cards; intended for printing directly to 3x5 index cards. These are a condensed version of Gerald Weinberg's excellent blog post: Satir's Self-Esteem Tool Kit for Writers. Adapted with permission from Gerald Weinberg. Also see his home page and his books: More Secrets of Consulting: The Consultant's Tool Kit and Weinberg On Writing: The Fieldstone Method)
Links
- PDF SAM tool for manipulating PDF files--you can use this to extract individual cards from PDF files and merge them into a new hipsterPDA
- 2012 NaNoWriMo hipster PDA from LA
- 2013-09-07: West Virginia Eastern Panhandle hPDA (PDF) and Word (docx) files by mishmhem, ML for USA::West Virginia::Eastern Panhandle
- NaNoWriMo hipster PDA (original 2005 page with 2006 updates and files; organized by NewMexicoKid, co-ML for the Naperville region of NaNoWriMo)
- Introducing the Hipster PDA (original 2004 article from 43 Folders)
- Hipster PDA - 43FoldersWiki - with Benefits, Ingredients and Assembly, Hipster Contents, Hipster Accessories
- The 2005 D*I*Y Planner Hipster PDA Edition - from a million monkeys typing; also see the v3 version of D*I*Y Planner Hipster PDA Edition
- Illinois::Naperville forum for National Novel Writing Month
