Prep-tober? Some thoughts on NanoWriMo '18

It's that time of year again--NanoWriMo is just around the corner. Here's why I'm attempting it once again, even though every month should be a heavy writing month for me. Also, need some reasons why you should try, too?  Read on.

According to my Nano dashboard, I've been doing NanoWriMo since 2009--nine years. It wasn't until 2014 that I had a good streak, though, entering every year and tracking my writing/word counts. Last year, I got 12K words down on the project I'm prepping for this year. Here's my plan for October:

• Read through the 12K from last year. There's a good start there, but I know there's a lot that will need to change and be rewritten. 
• Using notecards (real and virtual in Scrivener) to map out daily writing focal points. I'm not going to be a pantser this year. Instead, I'm going to gather 30 notecards and put out specific scenes for the month. Those will go in Scrivener's cork board as well. What's great about this system is that once I put the scenes in, I can rearrange the cards in Scrivener to match up with the organization that best fits the final novel (which will be revised extensively).
• I have a NEO 2 coming my way for November writing. I suck at staying off the Internet and social media if I am at my computer. I have tried turning wifi off, using a bluetooth keyboard with no mouse so I'm not able to move to different tabs easily, etc. Nothing works better than having a keyboard that is just a writing machine. AFter five years with my Alphasmart 3K, it was time to upgrade. 
• I have plenty of purple pens and looseleaf college-ruled paper to start scribbling, too.

I've never "won" Nano. And that's ok. That's not really the point for me. Why should you consider signing up?

• Why not? It's free and there's no consequences if you bail. And lots of us make it a week or so and fall off the writing wagon. That's ok--November is a tough month, what with Thanksgiving and other holiday prep. Last year, I was going strong until the book fair and things just dissolved. That's ok.  I have some travel this year, too, but I'm hoping my daily notecard plan and NEO 2 will help me stay on track.
• Just knowing everyone else is plugging away is motivational. And this year, I found a regional group that is Arkansas: Everywhere Else. This group is made up of a lot of rural and small town folks who don't fit in the Little Rock, Fayetteville, etc groups.  I'm still in the LR/Hot Springs regional group, too. You'll meet people who write yearly and never publish, for instance. It helps to see that there are a multitude of reasons people write and to realize that you define your own vision of success.
• Something about committing to the project is liberating. The intention is a big part of the battle.
• You can also get some great resources at discount prices when you sign up. Check out the Sponsor Offers page.  Of this year's sponsors, I can say Scrivener is awesome (although it takes a bit to learn how to really use it), as is AutoCrit. I know a lot of people are skeptical about how useful something like AutoCrit can be, but it does help you identify patterns in your writing and can help a great deal with pacing and revision. RescueTime is also a great tool that I've used in the past, and DropBox is great, too.
• Writer's Digest also has a bundle on sale right now:  30 Days to Your Novel. 

I will do updates in November on my progress, as well. I'm off to clean my desk, gather note cards and start my Survival Kit.