October, the Month of Outlining

Last week was crazy. Our homecoming was Saturday night and the buildup kept me insanely busy. On Wednesday, my choir performed and Lizzie and I led the singing of our school's Alma Mater at our homecoming assembly. Then, there was the Friday football game where my choir sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before kickoff. Both performances required rehearsals. Along with that, I helped make locker decorations for those choir members who made All-Region, attended Quizbowl practices, and prepared for the dance itself.

And I don't even know where this week went. It can't possibly be Friday already.

Unfortunately, all of this means I'm starting my NaNoWriMo planning a little late this year. For those who don't know, October is my month for NaNoWriMo planning. I almost always have a concept picked out months in advance, but October is when I take the time to flesh it out. To craft plot and add characters along with figuring out my world. But today is the tenth, and I haven't started.

Not on paper anyway. I don't have the right supplies yet. But my brain has been throwing around some ideas. I haven't experienced any major epiphanies, but it's something. And the "on paper" planning will be happening soon. I'll be running by Office Depot tomorrow after my SAT to purchase the perfect orange notebook.

On top of that, the first chapter of THINK OF ME will be premiering on Wattpad on Oct. 31st and there is still much to be done. Before I continue on with the second draft, I want to revise my plot in order to fix the problems I mentioned last month. This means I'm going to have to move forward with the third draft before the second is even close to complete. So, along with my outline revision, I'll be revising chapter one, sending it to critique partners, then revising it again.

Besides working on the actual story, I need to decide what I'm going to do about the cover. I'm considering paying to have one professionally made as, later this month, I'll be receiving money for passing my AP tests. I also need to figure out TOM's posting schedule for next month since NaNo will be going on. I don't particularly want to be trying to edit and revise in the middle of such extreme rough draft writing.

In conclusion, October's going to be a month of outlining with a dash of revision. Life has been off-the-wall busy lately and probably will continue to be for an indefinite amount of time, but I'll find a way to make it work.

What are your plans for NaNoWriMo? What else are you working on? How do you like my new blog layout?