Pre-NaNoWriMo Panic

NaNoWriMo starts in just days, and to be honest, I've been struggling with my book and the whole NaNo thing all for days.

You CAN survive NaNoWriMo.

I talked a friend/neighbor into doing NaNo with me this year, and in helping her get set up, I discovered I had a TON of NaNo-mail on my account, which meant I needed to get my butt in gear and read it.

The first is already booked for me, with a kick-off party in SecondLife on the 31st, after my real life stuff for Halloween, and a trip into town and a long-awaited doctor appointment on the first that will eat up most of the first day of NaNo. So I've been furiously trying to finish what little planning is coming together for me prior to the start of the challenge.

Here's what I've learned so far:

I am not a planner. I can do a little planning, but until I actually start writing, I cannot count on anything actually coming to me before hand.

I can pants a book like crazy. Priestesses and Kings, book 1 came together almost completely pantsed, and is now undergoing revision. As I revise and edit, I'm finding bits and pieces, and all the other "background" stuff is flowing beautifully. This leads to even more writing, to make scenes more rich and vibrant. Works for me. Trying to plan everything out ahead of time, does not. And I'm okay with that.

Stocking up on snack food before NaNo is a horrible idea for me. My beautifully stocked snack supply is utterly gone, prior to actually starting my writing, so I'll be doing some restocking on the 1st when I'm in town, and I've made several kinds of Chex Mix to munch on, along with making sure I have stuff to make cookies.

My walking shoes are ready to roll out when I need to get away from the house and writing. I have playlists ready to rock my writing time, and my work space is cleared so that I'm not distracted (hahah.... yeah, you can stop laughing now. All good writers keep distractions around. It's how we think through the tough stuff, or so I am assured.).

And I'm back to reading this year's peptalks. The first one rolled out, and I wanted to share it here. Really, this can be applied to any marathon creative endeavor, but this was awesome. You can hop over to the NaNoWriMo website and read it here.