It’s all about writing crap.

Really.

Or at least, giving yourself permission to write crap.

So with that in mind, I dare you to write at least 100 words inspired by one of the following photographs. Not just any words though, make them terrible. Write the worst beginning of a story you possibly can.

Then if you’re really brave, share it in the comments section

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There are only a few more days before NaNoWriMo starts.  This is when people begin to panic because they don’t know what they are writing about.  This is when people start chomping at the bit because they do know what they are writing about. 

Whatever category you fit into, it’s not too late to get yourself prepared.  Last year I posted about Tools. 

Let’s get a little more general…

Don’t think you have the time?  Write down your activities during the next few days (or think back to how you spent your week) and decide what to cut.  Make time.  If it’s important to you then you will find it.

Do you have a support team?  If not, find one.  There’s this community, the NaNoWriMo forums and a bunch of other sites/communities.  They may not be able to replace your family, become your maid or cook meals during November, but they will be able to commiserate.  Do you have a writing buddy in town or online?

Find your motivation.  Even that person who will razz you about not completing your goal can be motivation.  Do you want to test yourself?  Do you want to be a storyteller?  Are you marking something off your life goal list?  Will a reward system keep you motivated throughout November?

What is your goal?  Are you writing 50k for one novel?  Are you writing 100k for two novels?  Are you re-writing a previous NaNo from scratch?  (Yes, MFA students regularly do this with short stories to make them better.  Sounds like torture, doesn’t it?) Do you want to see if a novel can be written that includes song lyrics in every paragraph and still makes sense?  Are you going to focus on dialogue, action, plot or character?

More specific tools:
yWriter - helps you keep track of your novel and lets you move scenes/chapters around.
Write or Die Desktop edition ($10) – did you use the web version last year and find yourself surfing the net?  You can get the same oompf without the temptation.

What other ideas do you have to make the next few days fly by so you’re more prepared for November?

It’s very handy, when doing NaNoWriMo, to know how quickly you can write. It helps you plan out writing times and know, realistically, how much time you need to finish your novel/catch up/meet your daily goal. The goal of this exercise is to give you an idea of how quickly you write. Don’t cheat :-p

Set a timer (or use Write or Die) and then write 500 words of a story set in one of these images:

Images courtesy of Dreamstime (where I have my stock image portfolio).

Not only does this exercise give you an estimate of how quickly you can write 500 words (which you can obviously use to calculate about how long it will take you to write your 1,667 daily word goal) but it also gives you some practice just writing without caring if it’s good. Do you hear that? Write 500 words of utter crap set in one of these pictures. Not something good, this is NaNo, quantity over quality remember. You’ll make it good when you revise, for now, just get it written.

At this point you should register for NaNoWriMo if you haven’t done so already.  The servers seem to be stabilized and it’s a good time to go hunting on the forums for tips and tools.

Most of us this year have vocalized we have no idea what we’re doing.  No characters, no plot… not a problem!  Take a moment or two this week to write down a few things to help you get started.

Write down:
A short description of the novel you’d like to read.
Key plot words that intrigue you.
Character names or occupations that you want to explore.

Now take out this list every few days and review it.  Feel free to add to it.  Your subconscious will work on it and soon you’ll have an idea before November 1st.

Here’s the very late exercise prompt from Monday.  Coincidentally, it will help with NaNoWriMo prep or could be used as an exercise in NaNoWriMo to increase your word count.

One of the unstated premises of shows like The Real World and Survivor is what happens when a person is removed from their element.  As a NaNoWriMo character exercise this can reveal how your character reacts to a stressful situation.  As a word count booster, it can be a dream sequence.

So what happens when a computer geek is put on the court as a professional basketball player?  Or the surfer dude is in Alaska near the water but no waves?  Or the earth bound human winds up on a ring of Saturn?  Or the 6 foot tall man finds himself standing amongst a crowd of women who are at least 8 feet tall?

Run with it and have fun.