People prepare for the mayhem of NaNoWriMo in different ways. I, for example, went online and bought all the NaNoWriMo shirts I could get a hold of. I even bought last years, which I technically didn't participate in, but I feel like I did.
Some people prepare by plotting plotting plotting, and fleshing everything out. They go through a frantic hustle, and wonder if there's enough time to finish planning everything in time for November.
Then others plan a little, but want to mostly go with the flow during November.
Still others only discover NaNoWriMo a few days into the challenge, and *really* haven't had time to plan.
All ways are great! And I recommend them all. If you're a planner, but get stuck halfway through because you run out of plot, or you feel like your creativity is squashed, then try it without planning. If you don't plan and find yourself feeling like you have nothing to say and it's all filler, then try planning a bit more.
Every writer has to discover the right balance between planning ahead and seat-of-your-pants writing.
For me, my first novel was almost entirely seat-of-my-pants. It wasn't very good, but it was also my first novel. For my second novel, I planned more, but not too much. It was definitely better, but the plot felt stretched and the characters not as well fleshed out as I would have liked.
So this coming November, I am trying a new approach. I'm currently working to flesh out my characters more this time around, and develop the plot a little bit more. I've definitely left room for myself to explore side plots, characters, and the plot.
If you flesh out your characters and story, it will make it easier in November to write by the seat of your pants. You don't have to plan out every scene, but if you have multiple ideas that you can explore, it will make you feel more comfortable with discovering the plot along the way.
I have to give it a try first, but I think this approach might be the most fun!
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