Wait- NaNo starts in HOW MANY days?!?

It happens every year- I start getting e-mails from NaNoWriMo or my local ML and I think "Yeah, yeah- you guys are suuuuper early with this.  I've got other things on my plate."  And I go back to life, blissfully unaware of the rapidly passing days and how precious little time there really is before November 1st.

Then at some point I take a look at the calendar- usually because I'm trying to figure out how many awesome Halloween-esque activities I can fit in before my favorite holiday- and I realize: November 1st is the day after Halloween!  And then, inevitably, panic sets in.

I think: "But all I have is an idea!  A vague idea- one that's as amorphous as the weird and quickly forgotten dream that it came from!  I can't get 50,000 words out of that!"

Or: "What about the characters- I don't know who they are!  Even my MC is just a blob of random thoughts and plot points, how am I going to flesh her out?"

And: "My setting is too complicated!  I can't build an entire world in 30 days!  I don't know the rules, I don't know how anything works, I don't even know what it's called!"

And, of course: "What the heck makes me think I can write an entire novel in a month, anyway?  That's insane!"

The bulk of these will plague me throughout the entire month and I will beat them down with the awesome power of pep talks, NaNo videos and sheer stubborn will.  But that last one- that I have an answer for.  It is insane, absolutely.  And I know I can do it because I've done it before.  Four times, actually. 

And yeah, maybe I've never done anything with those fledgling novels (unlike so many bloggers I know who have gone on to publish theirs) and maybe I still don't know if I ever will- doesn't matter.  Every November has been the absolute time of my life.  So yeah, of course I'm doing it again!

But, I'm always looking to make the experience even better for myself.  Do more research ahead of time, plan my schedule better so it's less insanely anxiety-provoking, come up with better rewards to keep me trudging along and the like.  And this year, I want to link up with all the awesome bloggy friends I've made. 

My writing buddies list is absurdly small and there's no good reason for that given that so many of you do NaNo.  I want to be your writing buddy.  I want to engage in word wars with you.  I want your rapidly growing word count widget to make me green with envy and drive me to race to 50k. 

To Be My Writing Buddy!

What do you say?  Will you be my writing buddy?  I promise it will be extra fun and awesome for you if you do!  I'll cheer you on when you feel like quitting, celebrate it when you figure out how to kill off your villain (or your lovely characters, even if I really like them) and throw a virtual party with you when you cross 50K. 

Seriously- it'll be great.  Just leave me your NaNo username in your comment and I will find you and friend you!  Or, just find me on NaNoWriMo: my NaNo name is Bevimus.  *Smiles*

Talk to you awesome novelists soon!