Just curious what people are doing to prepare for nanowrimo. I've been in a funk myself so I'm not sure I'm going to be very successful this year.

I wish I could do it at least once in completion but sadly my writing muse hates me that much.

I admire anyone who takes part every year and even FINISHES their works... just gets a lot done within the time frame.

I participate every year but with widely unsuccessful results of varying sizes. I have the will but not always the fortitude to complete this goal.

This will be my 8th Nano. I have a pretty basic reunite to prep. Whatever story I can't get out of my head is the one I write.

I always start with characters and really focus on fleshing them out, back stories, likes and dislikes, fears, things they would have in their bedroom, what they do for fun, just general personality stuff. Once I have a good grasp on the characters I move on to setting. I usually already have an idea of the setting so all I really do is write a brief description of each one. Then I write a plot summary, make a playlist, and finally create an outline. I like to keep my outlines loose and I never outline the ending since things change while I write anyway. I mostly just use outlines to organize my thoughts prior to writing and never actually look at it during writing.

That's a pretty good routine. I think I'm going to work more at actually fleshing out my characters. I've been working on a loose outline just trying to get some semblance of organization. I feel like part of the reason I don't ever stick all the way through is that I've been doing the same thing repeatedly. So this year its a whole new bag of tricks.

That seems like a good idea; there is no such thing as knowing too much about your characters. And that's awesome that you're trying new things to find what works. I tend to kinda get stuck in my ruts without really thinking about it, so the fact that you're thinking and making changes is huge.

Well I've been doing nano since I was 16 which is more than ten years. I figure if I haven't done it by now I need to figure something out.

Wow, that's a long time. I didn't even start liking writing until I was 19 or 20. Well, I hope this year goes smoothly and you're able to pull out a win :)

I guess this is a bit of an old post. It's been a few years since I've done NaNoWriMo (2013 was the last year I really did it in) but I used to follow the Subeta megathreads for it and the thing that kept me going was partially talking to everyone and partially the word wars. We'd do like 10-15 minute word wars to see how many words each of us could write in that time. It was partially a self goal/motivation and partially an outward motivation because you were doing it with friends.

I miss the mega threads. Word sprints are always fun but I don't think that will work for me this year as most of my writing is being done at work between phone calls, I don't have a set amount of time that I can sprint sadly.

I didn't prepare much but I've been trying to keep up with some daily writing of various projects anyway and NaNoWriMo is good motivation! :)

For the most part I am a "pantasizer," a little bit of organization and a little bit of flying by the seat of my pants. This is my 10th NaNoWriMo and I am currently finishing my third manuscript. .

What are you all working on for your writing project this year?

This is year 14 for me and I'm sitting here staring at my story and realizing that I didn't prepare nearly enough for this one.

I'm working on a supernatural high school story. The characters have been in my head for years but I only have the vaguest plot and probably should have done a bit more world building before I started.

: That sounds very interesting. Supernatural as in demons, witches and ghosts, or extraterrestrials with powers that differ from humans?

My stories so far are all centered in Glen Meadow California, a thriving mountain community of small creatures. The first two manuscripts took seven years to complete and are sequential. The first is about the battles the small creatures have with the humans who have illegally encroached on their habitat. The second is about the civil war that results from the hardships brought on by the habitat loss. It the second story, a new queen of the weasel tribe is crowned. ( ahem...it's me...hee hee )

This new manuscript is set in Glen Meadow during the 1960's. Glen Meadow is a dying human mining town which is consumed in a massive wildfire following a bungled gold heist. In the wake of the miasma, the wee creatures join forces to save much of the fauna and preserve their precious way of life even though the town is utterly obliterated. (We catch a glimpse of my ancestors too...)

Sorcerers, witches, vampires, werecreatures, ghosts... The story I'm working on follows a couple of best friends who happen to be a ghost and a sorcerer and are now going off to boarding school to fend for themselves for the very first time. If everything goes as planned, they're meant to make friends with a group of misfits and save the school and maybe find some clues about how the ghost girl actually died.

Your Glen Meadow stories all sound fascinating. I look forward to reading them all some day.

: Oooo...sounds creepy, but I imagine with a wicked sense of humor and irony thrown in there for fun. Good luck my dear Otter-boy! I hope you get your 50,000 words effortlessly! You sound like a pro at it.

I prepared by doing Inktober this year... so not at all OTL I'm very far behind. (Anyone who remembers me from any previous nano knows that that's where I live though, so I don't mind too much, I should be able to find the time to catch up)

Tried to take part this year and failed..... I haven't done any meaningful writing in a month. :(

: Today is the day of reckoning, How did you do this year? I barely made it by staying up to midnight last night and hammering out some really important, but unnecessary backstory. Lots of dialogue, story moving at a snails pace. Too much telling not enough showing. But I got my words in. I'm sure in the edit, much of what I did this year will probably end up on the 'cutting room floor.' (so to speak).

Anybody else finish today?

I ended up having to drop the ball this year. I hated breaking my winning streak but I'd been having a pretty hard time keeping up to begin with and then I got sick so it was game over. I'll be back at it again next year, though, and I'm thinking of doing one of the camps this summer.

Congrats on your win! The point of a first draft is just to get the words out of your head, whether they're the words you actually use in the end or not.