And... NaNoWriMo is upon us

So it's November 1, and that means that a ton of people (like 130K) are now starting to write a book.  Some 20% or so will actually finish the 50,000 word goal, or something, and the rest will drop out.  Then out of that 50,000, there will be two or three (or two or three hundred) that actually write a sellable-length work and even fewer that revise/polish/submit/etc.

Still, it's the time of year when I first fell in love with writing fiction, and it is the time when thousands of hits crash my site with people wanting to download my gadgety spreadsheets.  All of which is cool.

And don't think I am knocking NaNo - I love it, I do it year after year, and I blame it seriously for making me think about fiction in a wholly different light.  That said, for those of you that want to "win" NaNoWriMo and get your 50K words in 30 days, here is how I have done it (several times over):

1. Write as much as you can as fast as you can - the first week you are fired up.  The second and third weeks you will not be so fired up.  Get as many words as you can a day in during the first week (5K a day anyone?) so that when you slack off (and you will), you will not fall insanely behind.
2. Realize that every single time will be different - I have outlined, not outlined, gotten ahead, gotten behind, written on pace, had to cram 20K words in two days, etc.  Every time is different.  And still, with the right motivation, every time has ended with 50,000+ words on November 30.
3. Save room at the end - I generally try to take the last couple of days of November off work.  Chances are that I write just about nothing over the holidays (even though that's some great writing time according to the NaNo staff).  I have never accomplished my wordcounts for every day of the Thanksgiving break.  So I take those days in preparation that I might need to squeeze out ten thousand words a day or so.
4. Plan when you are not writing - Think about what you will write next when you are not writing.  Dwell on it.  This will make jumping back into the writing much easier because you will know where you are going.
5. End your writing sessions mid-paragraph (or mid-sentence if you are brave).  This allows you to more easily pick up your train of thought the next day.
6. Drink lots of hot beverages - I like lattes and hot herbal tea.  And beer (but not hot).
7. Disregard the fact that you are writing crap - there's always room to clean up in the editing timeframe.  Sometimes you make giant steps (male character is now female and now trying to marry old best friend, dead person is now , etc.) that you need to watch out for, but generally you can clean up the rest later.
8. Keep writing - that's the only way you will make it.

Cheers and happy November!