NaNoWriMo cometh!

Next week, I and others like me will begin scribbling furiously to meet the 30 day deadline of 50,000 words that is NaNoWriMo. For me, this will be one of the most productive months out of the year. I work o, so well with a deadline... something to aspire to...

In preparation for that literary frenzy, what am I doing now? Outlining? Pre-planning? Plot-mapping? Oh no! I'm stockpiling books to read... which is somewhat helpful... because they will give me inspiration by either being lovely and enjoyable or hideous and horrible (something to aspire to... or to aspire to be better than...) (for a complete reading list, just ask me). I'm also trying to a)start and complete creative projects that may distract me next month otherwise... and b) refrain from starting and NOT completing creative projects that will MOST DEFINITELY distract me next month. I'm convincing myself to hold off on beginning the quilt I just bought fabric and a pattern for... but I AM working on a new painting inspired by Hawaii and my love for dolphins (oh, did you not know that about me yet?). It's definitely a work in progress:

I'm also planning to go to the NaNoWriMo kick-off party for my region. This is somewhat intimidating on a number of levels... 1. I'm decidedly introverted now... and worried that they won't like me or I won't be able to connect to them at all (they being those writers that are also attending this party). 2. The "You're not a REAL writer" monster has been roaring rather loudly every time I consider mentioning that I'm a writer... and he scares me! 3. (suspect this is a byproduct of the aforementioned monster) What if I meet them and we're all geared up to write 50,000 words and then I completely fail and don't meet the goal? Or worse... what if I DO meet the goal and the whole thing sucks??

Ugh.

If anybody has a muzzle for my monster, would you please send it to me ASAP? Thanks.