National Novel Writing Month is only a few days away. I signed up to participate as I have the last three years. As I previously blogged, I also won the past three years, and I intend to do the same this year.
This year I am a little frightened to begin writing. I went ahead and started an outline. As I write this blog post, I have 13 chapters outlined and need to double that by the time I start writing. As much as I have flown by the seat of my pants in the past, I do find that outlining helps me significantly. This is especially important when I’m trying to pound out 50,000 words in a mere 30 days with a holiday shoved in there as well. I like to try and have each chapter at least 1667 words. Why the specific word count as a minimum?
Because if I write 1667 words a day for 30 days, I win NaNoWriMo.
Obviously if I write more than the 50,000 words, it only works in my favor for a full-length novel.This year I’m afraid to start writing because I’m writing something a little different than what I’m used to. Two years ago I wrote my first young adult paranormal romance during National Novel Writing Month. I had never written a young adult book, much less with a paranormal aspect. I sat on it for about a year, and then tried to break that book up into a three-part novella series. It didn’t work. So the book still sits on my computer. Maybe I will revisit it again in the future.
This year I’m going to attempt a young adult novel again. About a month ago, I planned on trying my hand at a middle-grade novel, but I’ve determined that a minimum I need to work with a high-school grade level for my characters. A slight change in friendship happened in my life recently and that sparked the first sentence of my book. Once I wrote the sentence, I knew I needed to write the novel. So I decided I would use this as my 50,000-word goal book this year.
I’m not sure why I’m so afraid to get started on this book. It’s still a romance, which I write, and there are no paranormal aspects, which is what I think screwed up my other book. In fact, I may take the paranormal element out of that book entirely and make it into a straight romance.
The rest of this week I fully intend to spend working on my outline. Of course as a writer, my mind is constantly working overtime and I’m already starting to think of plot lines for a fourth book in my Pastime Pursuits series. I haven’t even finished revisions on the third book!
I want to try to incorporate a sticker system for NaNoWriMo as well. I believe I already have some stickers at home and when I reach my goal, I’ll earn a sticker. Planning the time to write should be fairly simple, and I intend on using my dictation as much as I can. I don’t really know what else I can do to prepare for this intense writing challenge. I also have a Facebook NaNoWriMo group that I run to help with motivation.
I have an outline, a solid idea, and 30 days ahead of me. How are you preparing?