NaNoWriMo Prep

This year seems to be flying by in a blink of an eye. While it's just about a month until National Novel Writing Month, it's time to get ready for a month full of daily writing with the goal of just under 2,000 words a day. That's right NaNoWriMo is about finishing a 50,000 word novel in just one months time. It's a great time to work on your craft of getting your butt in that chair and getting that first draft done.

For some the first draft is a scary thing, always going back to rewrite and fix the parts that they have finished in a vicious cycle that makes it near impossible to get to the finish line. That's what is wonderful about NaNo. It's about getting that first shitty draft done. After you get that done you can go back and fix the draft to make it all nice and shinny. It's also about getting in the habit of writing every day. Even if it's not for 2,000 words a day. For a writer this is one of the most important things to learn.

The one piece of advice I always hear first from successful authors is But In Chair, and Finish the Damn Book. It's not about waiting till you get your muse to write beautiful prose. No it's about getting that word count done and when your muse shows up to work  you take full advantage of her.

This year will be my second time taking no the challenge of writing 50,000 in a month. Last year I rewrote my first book and wasn't quite able to meet the goal, though I did eventually finish the draft. As I type this I'm bouncing between revisions of that manuscript along with a contemporary novel. Now the question is what idea should I take on to write for this November?

Personally I'm torn between, once again, contemporary and paranormal. I still have some time before I go into full writing mode, but I think I'll start preparing for either.

What does it mean by preparing for both? For me it means breaking out the index cards and starting my plotting of each story. Personally I try not to do too much plotting since my characters tend to switch things up on me as I write, so I keep it to the important parts of the story that will help guide me as I write.

I will do this with my second book in my paranormal series, as well as a new stand alone contemporary novel. Once November arrives I will see or shall I say feel which characters are talking to me more then will pants my way through writing with the help of my plot points.

Pants my way through writing? Emily, what the hell am I talking about, you ask? Well that means I have no clue what is going to happen next and I'm flying by the seat of my pants. It's a lovely writing term for the type of writer a person is. As is pantster, plotter, or puzzler. Nope you don't have to be just one but a combination of all.

Anyways, I digress, NaNoWriMo is just around the corner and it's prep time to get ready for the challenge. Are you going to accept the challenge of writing 50k words in a month? Even if you don't hit the 50k it's a great exercise for your writing. I'll make sure to check in with everyone when November comes around to let you all know how it's going.

Now, I gotta get back to revisions and preparing for NaNo. Hope you all have a great weekend and will talk again soon!