NaNoWriMo - Thus it Begins...

Well, it’s finally here: National Novel Writing Month. It starts in T-minus ten hours. Holy crap.

This weekend was a bust (preparation-wise) for me as I was driving around the Scottish countryside drinking Scotch with my husband and his pals. I most definitely did not plan this trip (the theme or the timing). Therefore, I am now officially behind in my NaNoWriMo plans, and NaNo hasn't even started. Today begins the panic.

As I sit here, still in my pink, thermal robe I have the following as a NaNo Preparation Plan, divided into two parts:

• Writing-related Tasks 
• Finish pre-writing tasks for NaNoWriMo (Surprisingly, DONE);
• Clean/organize writing desk (meh, it's looked worse);
• Create word count sheet (Someone has saved me from myself, here);
• Finish editing of WIP1 (Still about 200 pages to go - hey I edited 15 pages whilst traveling this weekend, drunk off of Scotch);
• Write two blog posts in advance (I've written the titles of the posts, does that count?).

• Non-writing Tasks, meant to keep me and my husband sane - or at least fed. 
• Clean house (gah!);
• Empty fridge and dead freezer (Almost. Dead freezer is defrosting);
• Stock fridge and freezer (Not even the coffee is stocked, and I'm running low);
• Take suspicious food from dead freezer to the tip (This I HAVE to do as it is melting and stinky and my cat keeps trying to dig the food out of the trash. Ugh);
• Attend volleyball practice tonight (Already thinking of skipping. There goes one of my goals);
• Call boiler repairman and pray he can finally fix this damned thing (No heat, no hot water, part of the reason I'm still wearing a pink, fluffy robe).

 As you can clearly see, I’m in a bit of a time crunch.

Despite this rather long-ish list, I am making progress as compared to last year. NaNo 2010 saw me deciding ON November 1 to join…with zero writing preparation, an empty cupboard, dirty house and a buried writing desk. Hey, at least this year, I have my novel’s ideas and characters sort of sketched out. Like I said, progress, right?

Bah, who am I kidding? Somehow, I always let this happen. I have the best of intentions, but I’m very easily distracted. And, I hate lists and plans. Love to make ‘em, hate to follow ‘em. Faced with a plan, I start to feel like a trapped animal, all twitchy and desperate to escape. Don’t know why I bother to make the plans and lists in the first place, really.

On that note, here’s my NaNoWriMo 2011 Plan for Week One:

• Go to bed early on October 31. Staying up till midnight leads to staying up till the wee hours of the morn. This is a path to madness as I will eventually switch my days and nights, becoming a vampire who writes pure, incomprehensible, drivel while wearing a pink, thermal bathrobe and drinking cold coffee until dawn;
• Wake up early on November 1 and write until 10am, at which time I will take a break and GO TO YOGA CLASS. (see my goals, ha ha);
• Write at least 5,000 words on Day 1;
• Write a minimum of 2500 words each day;
• Each night, sketch out the scenes to write the following day;
• Get some fresh air and exercise, each day;
• Continue to edit my WIP1, finishing the edits by the end of week 1.

That's it. That's the "plan" for week one of NaNoWriMo. I have some overall goals for NaNoWriMo, and they are as follows:

• Write a complete, 70k word, rough draft of WIP2;
• Finish editing WIP1;
• Finish rewriting first 1/4 of WIP1;
• Get daily exercise and fresh air;
• Go to at least one NaNo write-in;
• Don't binge on caffeine and sugar.

Now it is T-minus-nine hours till NaNo. Got to go take a cold shower and take down the list.

Posted by Jennifer B. at The Writing Cocoon.