NaNoWriMo Planning Has Officially Begun!

25 days until National Novel Writing Month

It's October, my official NaNoWriMo planning month.

With me, planning isn't a very extensive process. I like to have a list of characters (including their names), a title, and a general plotline. Perhaps a touch of worldbuilding. I need a direction to head in and a few provisions for the way, but not a map of every twist in the road. As these things occur to me, I write them down in a notebook that I carry throughout October.

Planning notebooks are another aspect of my writing that is affected by my color coding system. The color paired with this year's NaNo, my untitled lucky genes story, is yellow. Hence, my notebook must be yellow.

Notebook without Strap

I had the perfect notebook picked out for this October. During the back-to-school sale at Wal-Mart, I discovered notebooks similar to the one I used for this year's NaPoWriMo but in bright colors. They were even in the clearance section by the time I went to purchase one. However, I had failed to notice the notebook did not come in yellow. I was devastated. To make up for it, I bought the notebook in every other color. Then, to top it off, once I got home, the strap on the green notebook snapped.

That was it. I took that broken notebook and made it yellow myself with the help of this video.

Here are a few pictures of the process that go along with the steps in the video:

Step 3

Step 5

Finished

My Planning Notebook

After my notebook was satisfyingly yellow, I decided to snazz it up a bit with some stickers. I also replaced the strap with a yellow rubberband.

For the past five days this notebook has traveled with me. I have yet to put much in it, but it's still only the beginning of the month. Soon it will be filled with all sorts of planning goodness.

Are you participating in NaNo this year? How do you prepare?