Halloween. AKA the Last Day Before NaNo.
Some of you will begin writing at 12:01am tomorrow morning for your time zone. The rest of us have more appreciation for sleep and will begin at a more sane hour. Whenever you plan to start, make sure you get these things done before the end of today:
- Create your novel on NaNoWrimo.org. It’s in your Author Dashboard. You only have to fill in a title, and it can be anything, including “This is the Title.” The rest is optional.
- Set up your writing document in whatever fashion is most comfortable for you. If you like writing in a particular font, put down “Chapter 1” and change it to that font. Fix whatever else makes you happy.
- Put at least a shortcut to the blank document on your desktop (or in your favorites bar if you use an online wp like Google Drive).
- Know your plan for backing up the doc. If you’re using a cloud-based program, you’re all set. If you’re not, are you working off a flash drive? Are you going to save to a flash drive every x minutes/hours? Email it to yourself once a day?
- Visualize the opening of the first scene. Be ready to start writing when you sit down.
- Have at least one day of eating planned. It’s better if you have multiple days, but one day is a good start!
- Attend to any chores you’d ordinarily do by the end of the week. If you have something, like laundry, that doesn’t make sense to do early, set yourself up so that chore is easy to get to and easy to get done with minimal interruptions for your writing time.
- Set your DVR to record things you’d usually watch and say goodbye to your TV.
- Make a firm commitment to stay off social media except to proclaim your wordcount or check in with your region’s accounts (if your region has them). Set up a timer to keep your visits to ten minutes or less.
- If you haven’t already, bookmark your home region’s page on the NaNo website so you can update your wordcount, check the write-in calendar, and find local NaNo news with one click.
- Arrange your workspace so it’s comfy and welcoming.
May the words be ever in your favor. So write we all.