Are You Planning to do NaNoWriMo?

Just one month to go until NaNoWriMo...

I'm starting to think about ideas. My mind is thinking fiction and it won't stop! Improbable plot lines are flitting through my head like wind through leaves. Characters are waving at me and appearing in my dreams.

I'd like to be more prepared this year. I'd like to have an idea of what I'm going to write about, the audience I'm aiming for and a rough idea of period.

I first took part in NaNoWriMo in 2008. I chose to write a story that had been roaming around my head for a few years. I was surprised how easily the words came to me.

For NaNoWriMo you have to write a 50 000 word novel during the 30 days of November. It's a great discipline and in order to achieve it, you need to write 1,666 words a day. I found 2000 words to be well within my capacity and could achieve 4000 if I needed a day off.

The good folks at NaNoWriMo cheer you on with emails and guest posts from authors. There are forums to chat in and even local moderators who sometimes organise get-togethers or 'write-ins' local to you. It is by no means a solitary writing experience and if you are a young person, then they run a Young Person's programme just for you.

So many people feel they have a novel in them and never get it down on paper. Why not take some time out of this November, turn off the TV and write your novel?

At worst you'll have a first draft. Some people have gone on from NaNoWriMo, entered their November novel and won prizes!

What have you got to lose?