2: How I NaNoWriMo

And so begins the penultimate to the count-down. The only difference...this time, it's personal...

and not in a revenge sort of way. Instead of just talking about NaNo, I will be telling how I do NaNo.

I know it says "Becca's Dictionary, but I changed it into my

outline book.

The first thing you should know, simply because it is really obvious if you ever see me during NaNoWriMo, is that I am a total planner. I part of me wants to be a panster, especially during NaNo, but a story needs to be in my head for several years before I even begin to think about writing it. Anything I write isn't worth very much unless it has time to "age," like cheese or wine. All this time is to accumulate plot points for a wonderful plot, otherwise the plot is is forced and reads as stilted and predicable. For having to plot for so long, I don't go too detailed on the plot, surprisingly enough. I used to think I did, but then I looked at some of the more detailed plots people write. A chapter is typically only a couple sentences in my outline, and really I don't even bother separate things into chapters. I do it to the manuscript as I feel fit. 

The inside of my outline book. You can even see the Q
from back in the day when it was still a dictionary.

So, I am a planner, so an outline in an outline book is the first thing on my list of things I need to do NaNoWriMo. Next on my list is my laptop.

A part of me will always like writing with paper and pencil more than the impersonal computer, but it just takes to long too write a novel doing it the old fashioned way.


As I said yesterday, caffeinated beverages are a large part of NaNoWriMo, and while I don't drink chai because it has caffeine in it, I still like to have a cup of it while writing. Oregon Chai is the best kind IN THE WORLD!!!! All chai drinkers I know agree. The only sad thing is that it is hard to get unless you live in Oregon or the surrounding states.

Last but not least, when I write I simply use the Microsoft Word processor that came with my laptop.

Sure, a part of me is attracted to the shiny cool writing programs, but once I research them I still always come to the conclusion that it will be easier to use Word. I know how it works, plus I've built quite a bit of my writing style on using Word, and I have a really good and efficient system for me. Frankly I don't think a really cool program will make my writing any easier or better. The same probably once I get used to the new system, but Word is free, so it has the cheaper card which is dealt quite a bit with me.

Last year I was pretty consistent. I did about 2,000 words a day in about an hour and a half and never had any real trouble in keeping up. Not really slow, but definitely steady wins the race with me.

NaNoWriMo is so close! Only one more day.