Getting Ready To Write: NaNoWriMo 1st Steps

One of the greatest things about preparing for NaNo is that you don’t have to prepare at all.   It’s perfectly ok to wake up one day in November, decide to participate, and start churning out words with no characters, no plot, and no genre in mind whatsoever.    A lot of people do just that, and have a blast along the way. 

But for me, preparation is part of the process.  It’s how I set my mind to a task, and let my subconscious start working on the ideas.  It’s also just fun.   I love organizational tools, setting up systems, trying out software, testing ideas and concepts and … well…. I like just like preparing to write.  So for the next couple of days, I’ll be talking about this year’s preparation, recommending a few tools, and generally wasting time yakking about preparing instead of actually preparing.   First up? actually getting signed up for the project.  

This is a bit tricky, because as I’m writing this post, the NaNoWriMo site appears to be down, so you’ll have time to think up a reaaaaaaaaaly good user name before actually taking action.

Ready? Lets Go!

Step One:  Sign up with NaNoWriMo here: Register For A User Account.  It’s free, and the only info they ask for is an email address.   Once you’re signed up, you’ll get  periodic peptalks via email, unless you set your preferences otherwise.

Step Two: Log in, and make me your writing buddy! You can find me under the name "DearChoice" .  And no, I don’t exactly remember why I chose that name last year, but I’m stuck with it now.   If  you have trouble associating it with me, just sing "Deaux, a Dear…"   Once you’ve buddied me, the site should notify me so that I can list you in return.  (Or you can send me a NaNo mail, or leave me a comment here, or….. whatever)

The benefit to having buddies is that your word count progress bar will show on their profile - meaning they’ll know if you aren’t writing.   Some buddies are good about offering nudges and encouragements - others just offer passive encouragement by lurking and letting you imagine their smirks when you fail to update.

Step Three:  Wander around the site.  Set up your profile.   Not all of it will work, yet — you can’t update your wordcount or paste a novel excerpt before Nov. 1st (because you aren’t supposed to be writing yet!) but you can upload a picture and write a brief bio. 

Explore the forums a bit.   There are sections for people from geographical region, different genre’s, age and interest groups.  There’s fun stuff, too, like writing challenges, dares, and word wars.

Step Four: Drop by the NaNo MindTweaks thread, and say hello.  Ok, I haven’t got the thread set up yet, because the NaNo site is down for maintenance right now, but as soon as I have the thread open, I’ll tell you.  Then you can drop by for writing chat, gossip, encouragement and occasional reminders and tips to keep your brain in top creative shape.

And yes, you lurkers will be welcome there too

So. There you have it.  Hopefully, this made some sense, though I’m a bit concerned since I’m typing through  a NyQuil haze. Tomorrow, I’ll blather on about software, and (hopefully) share photos of the <cue evil voice> Plotting Organizational Binder of Doom!