14 October 2008

A small strategy against insanity

277080_lightbulb NaNoWriMo is only 16 days away. No plot? No problem, right?

By now you have all your character sheets drawn up, the story line worked out nicely in your head and you are burning for 1 November to roll in, so you can start typing.

No? Well, you are in good company. I have a basic idea for my NaNo novel – it is the follow up to the first one – but I have absolutely no idea how to start it, just like last year. No, actually, last year I at least had the first sentence, and the ending scene before I started.

So, here is my strategy for this year:

1. Prepare a template now, with all the right formatting. I spent an inordinate amount of time last year formatting and reformatting my novel in progress as another means of perfecting procrastination. So, if I prepare the template now, I can’t use this one as an excuse.

2. Do all my spring cleaning now. Another excuse removed.

3. Stock pile chocolates and assorted snacks, so I don’t have to leave the house in the middle of a scene. Another excuse removed.

4. Cancel all social appointments and end a few friendships before NaNo kills them for me. Lots of time freed up.

5. Sleep with a dictionary and a thesaurus under my pillow. Osmosis must come into play eventually, right?

6. Make sure I have a spare laptop/computer available to me. My laptop crashed on the 10th of November last year, and stole 10 days of writing from me. I had to write like a demon to finish on time (but due to some very late nights and an over-dose of chocolate, I made it just in time).

Ok. Good. Yes. Right? Right.

50,000 words in 30 days. 1666 words a day. That’s doable. It is just like writing three blog entries a day. Every day. About the same topic. Yes. We can do this.

What is your strategy for NaNo? Any secret recipes for chocolate cake that wards off insanity that you care to share?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My strategy is still a work in progress. Is that a bad sign?

I will be ready. I am writing a my memoir this year. How can I screw up writing about a portion of my own life?

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