Countdown to Nano 2009: Day 2 (Clearing the decks)

Well, technically it's 38 hours and 43 minutes until the mad white-hot writing begins. Planning should be on the downward slide and time left now will concentrate on preparing the writing environment. Clear the desks, get the files containing the daily templates in place, and bring the index cards and scene notes to the table. Yesterday was consumed by a severe neck/back spasm leaving me with a severe headache to contend with all afternoon and evening. Muscle relaxer and pain pills helped. Hoping they finish the spasm off today so my head is clear and my neck and upper back are relaxed and ready for the butt-in-chair approach to story engine dynamics. How about you? Are you ready for Sunday and Nanowrimo 2009?

Countdown to Nano 2009: Day 4 (Side Wagers)

Well, yesterday is no way to greet the advent of Nanowrimo. Wordcount? Zip. Nada. Nuttin'. By the time I got back from a day of errands I didn't much feel like tackling the keyboard. I'll be out today but I really need to buckle down and go for even a very small amount of words. The one thing I did do is take on a wee bit of a side wager with a fellow scribbler Lia Keyes over at Scribblerati, We both have about the same aim in wordcount and similar goals. While Lia is offering a $100 Amazon gift certificate for the Scribbler who manages the highest wordcount, she and I will be throwing down the gauntlet daily as we march toward the finish line. If you want a little extra boost, you might try a little wager with a friend yourself.

Countdown to Nano 09: Day 5 (Stretching the imagination)

Okay, so I thought I'd try and do a little writing every day to stretch the old imagination. I managed to eke out two paragraphs with 197 words. Dismal. Dismal production and pretty dismal content. I'm going to have to do better than that if I want to get excited. Today's production is nil...at the moment. I still have a little over an hour and a half to get a few words in but I can't say my brain is on fire with some dueling characters or atmospheric-ridden prose. Enough kvetching for today. Time to rescrew my head and gin up a better attitude. I hope the rest of the nanobots are having a better time of it.

Countdown to Nano 09: Day 6 (Prep work)

With less than one week before the 2009 Nanowrimo writeathon begins, it's time to get serious about prep work. Plenty of writers I know are busy testing out a storyline with character studies and preliminary outlines. They tend to be the writers with Nano history. Some new writers to the Nano experience are getting cold feet now that their first gust of excitement has passed. Others are dithering over which story to tell or whether they have a good enough plotline to go the distance. Me? After a flurry of excitement updating my Nano account and announcing my attention, I sort of drifted into riding a soft, lapping wave of anticipation--no real production. But the time has come when perhaps I need to think about doing some writing scales to nimble up the fingers. Maybe a simple, non-threatening goal of a page a day would suffice. What are you doing to prepare for Nano this year?

Start your engines for Nanowrimo 2009

Do you hear the increased clicking as writers around the world begin preparations for their 2009 quest to make Nanowrimo history? October 1st writers, new and returnees, registered for the 2009 50K wordcount marathon that will consume them daily all the month of November.

I'm a regular NaNowrimo participant, although last year I missed the annual fun. Instead I did my personal Nanowrimo in December and ended the month with a grand total of 53,000 words. It was a great month. I've already signed up for 2009 and am ankle-deep in Nano preparations. What about you? Are you ready?