Have you signed on for this year’s National Novel Writing Month? I have! I’m determined to finish a novel I’ve been working on ALL YEAR LONG. NaNo starts tomorrow. (I can’t believe it’s here already!) But I am ready. Are you? Here are five last-minute prep steps to be sure you are ready to NaNo Go!

Hopefully you’ve done all the really hard work already. Hopefully you already know who your characters are, what their backstory is, what they want out of life, what lies they believe . . .

Hopefully you have the gist of a plot in mind and know what opposition is going to come against your hero.

Hopefully you’ve done your major research.

If you’re writing fantasy or science fiction, hopefully you’ve already spent some time creating your storyworld and (if you have one) your magic system.

Why have you hopefully done all this already? So that you won’t have to stop and do in in November. So that, in November, all you have to do is write, write, write.

So, hopefully all that is done. Whoo! If so, here are a few extra things to do today so you can start off tomorrow with your best foot forward.

1. Do your math. 

Your goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. You need to decide if you’re going to write every day or three days a week or five days a week or whatever. Once you know when you’re going to write, print out a blank calendar (or find a regular one) and count up your writing days. 

I’m going to try not to write on Sundays. I need at least one day of rest each week, so that’s the day. I also know I’m not going to be able to write on November 10, since we are driving up to Seattle as a family to take my son to visit a college. (Ack! My baby isn’t old enough for that, is he? *dies*) I also know I won’t write on the morning of the 17th, since I’m selling books at a Christmas bazaar that day, and I’ll be busy packing the car. I won’t write on Thanksgiving day. And my BFF from high school is flying in the night of November 29, so I won’t likely be able to write Friday the 30. All that tallied, and I will have 22 writing days in November. I divide 50,000 by 22 and I get 2273. I must write at least 2273 words a day to meet my goal.

Now you do the math. What’s your daily NaNo writing goal?

2. Prepare your work zone and gather your things. 

If you’re anything like me, you have things. Piles of papers, charts, notebooks, sheets of paper with character lists and traits. Maps. I even have a sandwich board that I cover in pictures of my characters that I’ve printed out. I want all these things close by. So I’ve tidied up my desk and put away anything non-NaNo related. I have my map close by, my character lists. I have my sandwich board with all my character pictures. My writing spot is surrounded with inspiration!

Not only that, I’ve found my favorite water bottle. I have a mug and tea ready to go for the morning. I’m planning to get up at 5:00 a.m. on the weekdays to try and WRITE FIRST THING each day. (Because it’s maddening when life happens during NaNo and your plans go out the window. Not too much random life happens between 5:00 – 6:00 a.m., so I’m getting up with the roosters in November!)

I also have purchased NaNo snacks. They are in the kitchen, and I will use them as bribes for reaching certain word counts. These kinds of bribes are especially important when I reach a difficult scene and need to push hard to get through it.

3. Know when you will write.

I already told you that I plan to get up at 5:00 a.m on weekdays to write. I also know which days are exceptions to that rule. I won’t have to get up early on Veteran’s Day or November 21, since both are school holidays. And while I will get up early on Black Friday, it will be to Shop First Thing rather than to Write First Thing. On those days, I’ll need to make an alternative plan as to when to write. The same goes for my Saturdays. 

If you have school or work, be sure and come up with a plan to set aside time to write each day. If you know now when you’re going to write, that will make it so much easier for you. If you don’t, you’ll be scrambling each day to squeeze in your writing time. So plan ahead now.

4. Have at least ONE NaNo partner or accountability friend. 

Find someone to check in with during NaNo. Have someone you can email or text each day and say, “I wrote 1298 words so far today. How are you doing?” You can also set up word wars with this person to encourage you both. It’s SO HELPFUL to have a person. If you don’t have one, check out the Go Teen Writers Community Facebook Group and post your stats there. I’m sure there will be other NaNo participants eager to talk about how they’re doing.

5. Prepared to write messy. Prepared NOT to edit.

NaNoWriMo is a race to the finish. It’s not a contest in which your story will be read by anyone. It’s an opportunity for you to write a fast, messy draft of a novel that you will, later, go back to rewrite and edit. If you are the kind of person who struggles with having everything perfect, know that such behavior could very well sabotage your NaNo goals. Give yourself a firm talking to now. Your NaNo book isn’t meant to be perfect. So take time today to get your head in the game. Give yourself permission to stink!

I leave you with this note of encouragement. Good luck, everyone!

SHARE IN THE COMMENTS: What is your daily word-count goal? When will you try and write each day?