Pre-Planning with nibo

I know that a lot of writers are on those sides of this debate. Some, like myself, use October as a time to hone their craft and prepare for the break-neck pace that will be November's writing challenge (especially those WriMos, like myself, who have opted to set an even higher wordcount goal). Others prefer a more organic approach to noveling. Many use November as a way to explore themselves by becoming just another observer of what their novel is going to become. A good friend of mine particularly seems to enjoy this method as we were talking about it today during our weekly Thursday Writing Night.

I met Simms last year at the NaNoWriMo kickoff party in what was possibly Portland's kitschiest coffee shop ever (sadly, it's no longer operating and has been renovated by new management with better coffee and furniture with a little less character). He was my table buddy for the overnight crazy-fest that is Portland's usual kickoff. I was there in blue flannel pajamas and, as a token of my goodwill for sharing his table (and powerstrip) with me, I gave him a small, hand-knit, green bunny that looked possessed and just a little bit demonic. With all due gravity, I informed my new friend that this was, in fact, a Plot Bunny(tm) and it would bring him wordcount. As a note of interest, up until at least recently, he still carried it in his laptop bag to all of our writing meetings.

Anyway, back to the story at hand. Simms and I have very different approaches to NaNo. He's a partaker of the organic approach to writing, immersing himself in the story and letting it tell him where it's going to go. For the first few years that I did NaNo, I was the same. I'd come up with some ideas and maybe a character or two, but never really outlined. The last couple of years, however, I've started outlining! I have characters, locations, a plot, and lots of other things that seem a little un-NaNo created  by the end of October to aid in the writing process. This year, I'm telling myself that it's all okay, because I'm aiming for 90,000+ words in 30 days and that means averaging a bare minimum of 3,000 words Every. Single. Day!

I don't know if this all really had a purpose except for me to come onto this communal blog, talk about outlining, and simply brag a little bit that I got A LOT of outlining done tonight. I'm aiming for somewhere around 35 chapters when all is said and done. So far, I have a basic plot idea for 26 chapters and a pretty good idea of where the rest of them are heading! I couldn't be more pleased. It's going to be the best crazy zombie book I can come up with!! And I'm already planning several gratuitous PG-13+ scenes to keep my interest when I'm writing next month.

Oh, and I know for a fact that some more plot bunnies are going to show up in Portland this season. I have a wonderful friend working on making a whole warren for raffling off!