NaNoWriMo 2011

As October lurches toward the second half of the month, the start of National Novel Writing Month nears. Are you participating? Are you ready? Are you scared out of your mind?

My first attempt at Nano last year was, for me, successful. Granted I didn't get to the 50k word goal, but I wrote. I wrote just about every day, plugging away at my first attempt at a novel since I was 20. I haven't finished it yet, but I will. The characters I've spent so much time on deserve to have the rest of their story told, it is just not meant to be today.

There seems to be two groups of people when it comes to Nano. Those that outline and those that don't. Neither one is right or wrong, just a matter of what you as a writer perfer. I am an outliner. I tend to be anal/OCD in some tendencies and I try to be as prepared as possible. I will have a thorough outline, backstory notes, and character sketches ready by October 31st. Now whether all that preparation translates into a novel is another story.

I've seen many a blog post by other writers with advice and anecdotes of their previous experience with Nano. And while all of it is good, when it comes to YOU actually writing, how much can their tips help? After all, it can be quite daunting to write a novel. Will anything they say stay with you when you stare at that blinking cursor on November 1st?

I will throw in my own bit of sage advice, much of which will largely be unnecessary when it comes to that first day. It doesn't matter how you write or what you write. What matters is that you ...

WRITE.