You’ve finally got Drupal installed, now what? What will your first project be? How about a “new media” novel? After all, November is National Novel Writing Month NaNoWriMo. Become a site builder AND a novelist. In just 30 days!

In this session, I’ll take you through how I use my NaNoWriMo 2011 novel as the core content for a new site. Beyond the core prose, other features will be added to the site to enhance the story being told. The end result will be a story richer than a text-only novel. These same principles can be used to enhance the content on any site you do in the future. Plus, you can laugh at my bad novel! It will involve a Drupal novice, alternate universes and Kung-Fu!

Target Audience

Drupal beginners trying to figure out what to do next. Optimally, you will have installed Drupal at least once (using C-Panel counts!) and be familiar with FTP. That’s how new modules and themes will be added to the Drupal installation. If you have a local install or Quickstart on your laptop, that’s even better for following along!

What You’ll Learn

• How to get over the fear of starting your first site. Don’t worry, be crappy…and productive!
• How to take advantage of resources the Drupal community has to offer new members. These include contributed modules and various types of support.
• How to sustainably build your first project over time. Contrast this with burning yourself out in a single mad dash and quitting.
• How to iterate your site design over time and remain open to emergent design choices.

Please note, these may NOT be Drupal Best Practices. This is about getting started Practicing Drupal.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

This idea was HEAVILY inspired by Katie Cunningham, a Python developer in Washington, DC, and past NaNoWriMo participant.