(Originally posted Oct 18, 2018)
The stars have aligned, Mercury is in retrograde*, and I’m prepping for NaNoWriMo!
I say that because this will be the first year I’ve actually done prep work for a NaNo story – and not ‘I’ve got a character name and an idea’ prep work, I mean ‘names, backgrounds, world-building, and outline’ prep work.
My first NaNo was a ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ affair, and since I managed to hit my word count I figured that this was the way to go. However, that story was also a really rough draft, consisting of many odd ramblings (when I’m desperately trying to hit a certain word count it’s almost like the ghost of Charles Dickens possesses me and I can suddenly spend paragraphs describing a lamp – good for word count, but not for content). The subsequent NaNos either had similar ramblings or failed to meet the word count**.
So in an effort to write something more cohesive (and something I hopefully won’t have to massively rewrite later) I’m trying this new tactic. Fingers crossed that it works***.
I’m also prepping my cupboards by loading up on food and snacks, since going to the grocery store takes time away from writing, and sometimes when I’m in the zone I don’t realize I’m hungry until I’m famished.
By the end of November I hope to have a story in 3 parts of approximately 16,000 words each (and then a short story or two after that if I don’t hit 50,000).
Have you set your NaNoGoals yet? Are you winging it or prepping? What are your favourite snacks for writing? Do you have the Shovel of Death in your back pocket in case you run into writer’s block?
14 days to go!
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*Okay, maybe it’s not in retrograde right now, but apparently it will be around mid-November. Also, a planet appearing to move backwards is pretty cool.
**Except for last year, when I had something outlined. For more of my NaNoHistory, go HERE!
***If it doesn’t, I’ll just blame it on Mercury.
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