Preparing For Camp NaNoWriMo

Hey everyone!

I've recently been thinking over getting ready for Camp NaNoWriMo. If I posted real, non-edited pictures of myself*, I would show you a picture from 2011, when I did NaNoWriMo. That picture has been considered a picture of me "high," "tail-end of a sugar rush," and the likes. It wasn't a very flattering picture of me at all--and it's on Facebook, where it will stay forever and ever. (oh yayness) Anyway, NaNoWriMo was brutal and the novel I had gotten from it was really bad (if anyone wants to read it, comment and I'll make a page with it on there). It was painful to look over, and still is**.

But, getting the creative juices going can be tough--especially after waiting a year to write again. It feels so hard, so difficult, plowing through a book. Right now, I'm working diligently on WHATEVER REMAINS, and it's hard, getting it all down. Characters keep making themselves prominent, then disappear, and keeping to the outline has been my only saving grace.

I never thought I would say something about outlines in a good fashion--outlines are cruel things. They always seemed to capture my creative freedom and refuse to let it out. Which, for those of you that do write, would know it's the complete opposite--once you get the right mindset about outlines, they can be extremely freeing! I actually wrote one, three pages long, for WR, and it's been helpful. Instead of keeping me locked up, it's helped free my mind. Now, I don't have the looming thought of "Where am I going with this?!" over me the entire time. I can just write, and look at my outline for further help.

And this Camp NaNoWriMo, I'll be working on both my novel babies--WR and Jinni (my already completed, needs a lot of TLC novel). If all things go well, I should be writing a lot by the end of the year.

Sometimes it's hard--with my tailbone being broken and school not being so much fun, life's seems to have weighed me down. But because the school's policy on electronics has changed and I can now tote my baby (tiny laptop/notebook) around with me, there's more time to write so my mind is wired to "Get schoolwork done, and write!" It's been the best!

*=I am a firm believer in internet safety--no matter what. My picture has been edited like crazy, and was only put up after showing it to people that see me daily and having them ask me who it was. I mean, you can still see a person. Sorta. Just... it could be anyone with a head, two eyes, big bangs, and a mouth, right?(;
**=Jinni, my first novel, is being written for a second time this April! Yay?


Any questions on writing? Want to learn how I outline? Any writing stories? Questions on NaNoWriMo? Post them in the comments!