It's only August, I know. But unless your life revolves around NaNo (which mine doesn't), November will be here before you know it, and besides I like advance planning. Gives me something to look forward to.
This is my first year doing NaNo, and I am determined to succeed. But my challenge to myself is harder than the NaNo challenge. 50K for the whole of November is doable, but that's not a whole novel. So I am hoping to finish the full first draft of a novel, which would be about 80-90K. I am really not sure whether it will be possible, becaues I still have to go to work all day. But that's why it's a challenge, and that's why I can only do something insane like that once a year.
So how am I preparing -
- I have officially signed up on NaNo website, and have started to look at forums. I am not posting much yet (hey, I read too many blogs already), but I am keeping an eye on it.
- I read "NaNo for the New and the Insane" by Lazette Gifford yesterday. It's available for free download. I recommend it for a dose of inspiration.
- I want to have a brand new story for NaNo, so I am playing around with several ideas, and see which one develops into a story. The plan is to have an outline done by October. Starting now gives me time to figure out which story I want to write, and more importantly, which story might be possible to write in a month.
How do you plan to prepare for NaNo, or do you just wing it?
Welcome to the insanity that is "NaNo"! I feel obligated to warn you that once you do one year, it's very addictive. After this year, you'll be thinking about next year for the other 11 months. It's an amazing feeling being one of millions of writers worldwide all doing the same thing at the same time. You'll see. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've started with no plot, an outline, and note cards...won three times, lost twice. The times I've lost seem to be directly proportionate to how far ahead I plan - the farther ahead, the less likely I am to make it for some reason. Lots of people spend months planning though, so it just comes down to what works for you.
I have a character, and the beginning of a plot as you saw on my blog (thanks for the note!). We have a huge Halloween party the week before the holiday, and I generally use the week between the party and Nov. 1st to plot out my NaNo novel. That way it's all fresh and shiny, and my excitement level for it is high. This year Holly Lisle's plotting method has been so good for my blog serial that I'm going to use that for my NaNo as well.
Good luck with your planning! :-)
Oh, NaNoWriMo...I love it so. :D I usually start planning fifteen days in advance, which gives me plenty of time to brainstorm and construct a basic outline. As for goals, I shoot for 80 K instead of 50. This year I'm shooting for 85, just to take it up a notch. :)
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