NaNo Plan-O

Is it too early to prep for NaNoWriMo?  Eh, probably not.  Oh, but the questions all start.    How to plan?  How to begin?  Should I do this?  Should I do that?  So here's a quick look at my thoughts on "different styles of planning for NaNo" and where I might end up this year.

The Overplan

The first year I did NaNoWriMo, I thought this was the way to go.  I had a big spreadsheet and listed out what I thought would be the scenes or chapters in a giant outline and started typing to it.  Along the way, I ran into a few problems.  First, I drastically underestimated the number of scenes necessary.  I think I started with about 50 scenes or so, thinking that I could write that many thousand-word scenes.  Unfortunately, several of them started ending up as 600 or 700 word scenes and I rapidly fell behind.  In addition, this approach led me to focus on plot to the exclusion of everything else.  I think had I built up character sheets and done a little more planning on that front as well, I might have ended up with something more palatable.  This only gets worse as I work on mysteries and start targeting 75,000 to 100,000 word counts for first drafts.  Still, some others swear this works for them, and I've even put out some spreadsheet walkthrough tools that I have used to plan novels beginning to end.  NaNo'ers call these folks planners or plotters, and several people follow through with this and make it work.
Pros:

• Allows you to know where you are going
• Allows for setting the pace
• Gets some of the creative energy out early
• Allows for reworking holes before they appear
• Provides solid base for rewrite later

Cons: 

• May result in underestimations of amount of action you need
• Unduly focuses on plot
• May restrict deviation from the "plan"
• Does not provide enough fodder for rewrite

The Lack of Plan

For those of us in the other camp, called pantsers (for flying by the seat of our pants), the plan is totally constricting.  It is a cord wrapping around the neck of our creativity and choking the life away.  As a result, we start with just this: an idea.  It may be a character, a plot line, a setting, and we run run run with it.  This, for me, has been very effective for completing 50,000 words in 30 days.  It has proven to be much less effective for creating a good lump of clay for me to mold beyond that into a good novel. 
Pros:

• Allows for complete openness in storyline
• Allows you to "let the characters lead the way"
• Provides freedom in plot to take unexpected turns and twists
• Requires less effort up front

Cons:

• Often leads to rambling parts that seem to have no point
• Difficult to work in subplots
• Lacks overall vision
• Not entirely scalable to larger projects

Somewhere-In-The-Middle Plan?

So I've done the extremes.  No plan, and tons of plan.  I think there is probably a happy medium somewhere in the middle.  So what I think I'm going to do this year is to try out this free-mind-mapping approach that I read about here to build out the story.  Will it work?  I don't know, but here's the way I envision using it.  First, I brainstorm non-linearly, to create characters, setting, and plot, and put them all together.  Then, I utilize different facets of the characters to tie different plot elements together.  And I do it all with a very high level timeline and plot that don't constrain me scene by scene.  Ultimately I want to try to work in two or three plot lines to resolution, and build a framework for the subplots before I begin.  Not sure how I'll end up, but it's something new to try.

Pros:

•  Not sure yet, but my thoughts are that it will allow me to think about interconnecting characters, plots, and subplots in a way I don't normally do
• Provides some guidance but doesn't try to write the story before I write the story.

Cons:

• Untested, unproven by me.
• May still feel limiting

 So now on to my bigger question of traditional horror meets virus treatment novel or a prequel to White Rock that hopes to set up a big rewrite of that one later on?

While I ponder that, what type of planning method do you plan to use this year for NaNoWriMo?