NaNoWriMo is Coming

One of my cats delivered a message to me yesterday.

TK (AKA The Kid AKA Chubs AKA Chubby Goofums) heaved her considerable tabby bulk on to my couch as I reclined last night, watching the Game Grumps on my tablet. Upon accomplishing this incredible feat, she looked me square in the eye and said, in the voice of Peter S. Beagle cats everywhere:

“I am hungry. …Oh, and also NaNoWriMo is coming.”

And so the furious preparations for the golden November writing sprint have begun. I have already determined the novel that I will be working on—a ridiculously over-the-top fantasy tale that is equal parts anime and Tolkien (because basically everything novel-length that I write is equal parts anime and something else). I’ve had the outline for this one for quite a while. It’s a longer outline than the last one I took into the fray of the past few NaNoWriMos, and hopefully it will help me wander slightly less. It is not, however, the longest outline I’ve ever produced.

That honor belongs to a different project altogether, one that has squirmed and struggled betwixt different formats for longer than I care to remember. But that’s not important right now.

I have the project. I’m already about 16K in, but I won’t be counting those stumbling initial words toward my November total.

What about tools? Well, I’ve got Claudia, my trusty Chromebook, who saw me through two solid months of 1K a day writing earlier this year. And beyond that, I’ve also determined that I’m going to try out a new online writing application: Novlr. It’s in beta (so very beta that it doesn’t have a mechanism for creating character profiles yet, but here’s to hoping that shows up soon), but the experience on my Chromebook is very smooth, and the ability to chunk chapters means that there won’t be any late-game lag due to Google Docs suffocating under the heaps and heaps of words I have laid upon it.

If I’m feeling particularly industrious, and if Novlr smooths the way through November like I think it will, I may have to throw some money in the development team’s general direction. Because let’s face it: writing is hard. Making things up and writing them down is sweaty, gross, psyche-straining work. Anything that can lubricate that process, even a bit, is a welcome visitor.

So, I’ve got Clauda, and Novlr, and an outline for a project. The last thing I need for this to be a really productive November is some good writing music.

Luckily, I’ve got a pretty good selection for whatever tickles my fancy, and I can play it all using Enjoy Music Player on Claudia, which is a surprisingly robust music playing app for ChromeOS. I’ll probably be listening to the soundtrack to Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children a great deal, along with music from the first season of Sword Art Online. There is also, of course, the soundtrack to The Last Story, which is one of the finest video game experiences that I have ever had the pleasure to experience. If all else fails, I have a collection of J-pop and movie soundtracks that I can default to. Some moments may call for music from Pacific Rim, for instance.

Now, if I wanted to be really good, I’d take a crack at completing the novel that I began earlier this year, in March and April. But I’d like to see how much headway can be made on this other project, first. It’s been languishing for a while, and it’s about time to play at being a literary Herbert West, seeing if I can resurrect the old beastie. It’s something that I’ve been meaning to do for a well, and I’m quite excited to actually put my hand to it.

So! Anyone else getting reading for NaNoWriMo? Whatcha doing to prepare? Let me know in the comments!