I've you've been reading this site for a while, you know that I'm a big fan of NaNoWriMo. So with November just around the corner, it's time to get planning. Or pantsing, if that's your thing.
After participating in NaNo for nearly a decade now, the biggest thing I've learned is that blasting out 50,000 words in a month is a terrible way for me to write. If that seems hypocritical with all the praise I heap on NaNo, well, it kind of is. But what that really means is I have to tailor NaNo to my own needs, aka, cheat. I've gotten a head start on my 2013 project, and I plan on using the month of Novemeber mainly for editing. I need an edit-mo desperately. Also, I'm a big proponent of outlining. Outlining was the bane of my college existence, and it took me nearly two decades to realize I'm a shit writer without one.
Another thing I've found helpful for knocking out a lot of writing quickly is to write a skeleton draft, which is basically a lot of dialogue and a few transitions. This can be "prettied up" later. NaNo is great for skeleton drafts, or you can write a pre-NaNo skeleton and use November to write a fuller draft. The key is not to worry so much that you're writing crap.
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