Next month is NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. I attempted it last year. Didn’t finish. But I got more writing done in a month than I had written for the previous year so I was pretty pleased. This year I want to win! I know if I put my mind to it I can do it. I just have to tell the procrastinator in me to go away for a month. She doesn’t listen very well. She’s always pointing out other things I can do. Tweak one of my websites, play with Excel, watch TV, post updates to Facebook or Twitter, refresh email every five minutes. And the silly thing is I really love my story and want to write it.
This month I will focus. Focus on evicting that procrastinator for two months. Focus on finishing up the current WIP. Focus on preparing for NaNoWriMo. Last year I didn’t really focus. I was all over the place. I didn’t have a plan or an outline. If a scene came to me I wrote it. Towards the end though I started getting stuck because the scenes weren’t coming to me as fast as they were in the beginning.
For this year’s NaNoWriMo I have a plan. I am starting my outline now. I’ve already started my scene by scene outline. One sentence to tell me what the scene is about. I already know this character like I know my best friend. I will be working on my urban fantasy book! I still need a title. I have no idea what I’m going to call it. Title suggestions are more than welcome. It’s an urban fantasy shapeshifter book. Can’t say much more than that though.
I will be using my NaNo tracker again this year. It’s an Excel spreadsheet with randomly generated target number for each day and an actual number. Ideally the actual number will be equal to or higher than the target. I like doing the random number generator because then I have a different target number each day. As you can see I didn’t do very well hitting my target number last year.
So this year I’m making sure I set myself up for success. I am not teaching a workshop this November (I did last year). I am not taking a workshop this November (I did last year). I am going to have an outline. I am going to make dinners early or ask the boyfriend to take care of them for November. I am going to put my headphones on and just write in November. I might even move the laptop to the table in the dining room. I will write 50,000 words in November.
So how are you preparing for NaNoWriMo?
Right now I’m off to work.
Until next time…
Cindy
October 6, 2010 at 10:49 am
Good luck! What are the headphones for?
October 6, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Thanks, Jan. Ha. I forgot to mention that part. They’re for the music I’ll be listening to so I don’t disturb my boyfriend’s TV watching.
October 6, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I love the Excel file…where did you get it???
October 6, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Hey, Lara. Where did I get the spreadsheet to track my progress? I created it. Excel is an awesome software. I love it.
October 6, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Good luck this year! I’m sure you’ll hit the 50k mark. I didn’t finish last year either. So, I’m starting an outline now and trying to prepare a bit more than I did last year.
Love your worksheet!
October 7, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Thanks, Stephanie! Good luck to you too.
If you have Excel and want a copy I can whip one up for you. Just tell me what you want your minimum word count each day to be.
October 7, 2010 at 7:22 am
I just finished reading Chris Baty’s book called “No Plot, No Problem.” He’s the guy who invented Nano. If you haven’t taken a look at it, do so. He’s got an interesting take on how to get through it all, and successfully.
October 7, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Thanks for the tip, Lara. I’ll have to check out that book.
October 8, 2010 at 11:43 am
Morning Cindy!
I would love a copy of that Excel file. I guess I’d have to set my minimum word count at 1,667 since that’s the least we’re supposed to achieve on a daily basis.
I thought I was going to go in cold this year, but my stomach roils just thinking about it. So, here I am, on my day off, frantically putting together an outline, acts and disasters for next month.
At least, until the staff meeting. Then I’m going to Panera’s to work some more with my usual Nano partner Livvi.
Have a wonderful, productive day!!
Lara
October 13, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Sent the spreadsheet. I hope it helps you write lots of words! I hope you got the outline worked out.
October 14, 2010 at 7:30 am
Well, it’s a process. My writing partner Livvi introduced me to the Snowflake Method of pulling things together before you actually get the writing done. Since I’m having trouble with my middle section, I decided to attempt it. Wow! It’s helping a tremendous amount, and I’ve only got about 33% of the analyzing work finished.
If I get this done, I’m going to be able to go into Nano and completely rock! (With the addition of copious amounts of caffeine, of course…)
Lara