Prepping for NaNoWriMo

It’s nearly that time of year again and I’ve been busily prepping for National Novel Writing Month.  For the first time, I decided to try working from an outline – now that may seem like a no-brainer, but in all honesty, I have never used an outline with any degree of fidelity.  Sure, I outline upon occasion, but when my fingers are on the keyboard the story usually just flows.  Then my outline is completely obsolete after a few chapters.   I manage to wind my self back to the ending I had planned, but the twists and turns of the story line are completely spontaneous.

But then again, the last time that happened I had oodles of time to concentrate and these days I’m rather short on time – not to mention my powers of concentration match those of your average fruit fly.    So outlining it shall be!

I don’t anticipate getting through the entire first draft of Jealous Magic (the latest in the Relic Hunter Series) but I do plan on getting the bulk of the scenes crafted.  I hope to not let my NaNoWriMo group down (like I did the last time I participated).  I hope to keep moving forward and not getting stuck on the details.  So I’ve put a few safeguards in place to prevent being derailed by my usual demons…

I have a cover for Jealous Magic (I write best when I have the cover already done – I think it provides me with a little motivation).

I have the ending written. (It might change, but I have a hard time not obsessing over where the story’s going to finally end up – so when I write it first, I can relax and let my characters take me on the journey).

I still need to log into the NaNoWriMo site and re-join my group (if they’ll have me :)).

And probably 387 other things I didn’t think of.  But for now, it’s full steam ahead –  I even have an outline to prove it!

 

 

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