NaNoWriMo 2017 is just around the corner. How are you preparing?

If you’re a pantser or a plotter, you have to be doing something to prepare for NaNoWriMo.

Right?

I’m mentally preparing.

AKA: I’m thinking about it.

But what does that mean in terms of truly, actually, no, really getting ready?

Well, not much.

I’m a card-carrying pantser. But I believe, I swear, that there are huge advantages to at least dabbling in plotting. I’m not against plotting it’s just that I love moving along in the story and, literally, seeing what’s unfolding in my imagination. When I write fiction, it’s like I’m watching an IMAX movie with surround sound. It’s all right there in my mind and I just write down as fast as I can what I see.

So how am I supposed to plot that?

See my challenge?

But in order to write a novel that has the right amount of tension, a good balance of dialogue and backstory, maybe a bit of a teaser to something that will happen later, I openly admit that plotting would make that all better.

So that’s my goal for NaNoWriMo 2017: step over to the other side of the corridor and say hi to the plotters and join their ranks.

Or at least dip my cracker in the spinach dip in the Plotter deli buffet and come back over the way-more-fun pantsers.

See, I need help.

How are you preparing for NaNoWriMo 2017?