ALYSSA LOST IN SPACE

It’s finally here! It’s officially October! *cue the spooky sounds*

I love the spring, but there is something about the fall – the cool air, the spooks, the changing leaves and pumpkin spice lattes. There’s an atmosphere in the fall that cannot be matched by any other season, and I am completely obsessed with it!

Not only that, it’s the season of the biggest online writing event – NaNoWriMo!

In my mind, NaNo begins on September 1st – that’s when you start your brainstorming and get hyped about the project you’re going to be working on. October – sorry Preptober – is for the planning, and then finally, we get to November, when we can actually start drafting!

Unless you’re a rebel and you decide to start early. It happens. Sometimes you’re really excited about a project. I’ve been there. I’ve rebelled.

No chances of that happening this year though. Figured I’d explain my plans for the next couple of months!

If you read my last post, you know that I’m on a very strict schedule for October because September was good for the brainstorming, but not so much for the drafting. I wanted to have the first draft of my current project done by NaNoWriMo ’cause I’m itching to write something totally new for November. Something fun and totally self-indulgent. I’m not sure what yet, and I’m not sure I’ll get the chance. It depends on what I can get done this month!

My goals for October (and tentative deadlines):

• Draft the first novella in my near-future sf detective series (due October 6th)
• Draft the second novella in that series (due October 25th)
• Outline the third novella in that series
• Write three short stories – two in my sf detective series, and one fantasy (due October 20th)
• Stay on top of my blog post schedule for this month
• Prep for a new NaNoWriMo project
• Create a 10 episode outline for a podcast idea

Is that too much? Yes. Yes, it is. And I’m not going to stress myself out if I don’t manage to get it all done in time, either. I said in Monday’s post that I need to stop procrastinating, and I know that when I’m focused I’m a fast writer. If I don’t let myself get distracted, it’s completely plausible for me to get most of this list done by the end of this month. So I’m going to give it my best shot.

My reward for getting on top of my to-do list this month will be the freedom to write something purely for myself next month. I’m also probably going to be exhausted, but I’ve got that sort of bubbling energy that I always get this time of year, and I’m counting on that to help me get through it.

What am I working on in November?

I need to get the first novella done this month. I would also like to finish the short stories. Those are the bare minimum. I’d like to make some headway on the second novella, but if I don’t finish that, I will be starting my NaNoWriMo by finishing off that draft. If I can do that much, I can work on something new!

I mentioned that I wasn’t sure what I was going to work on, only that it was going to be purely for my own enjoyment. That was only a half-truth. I know it’s going to be a fantasy story, and I have a loose ‘guide’ for the sort of thing I want to write, the sort of magic that will be involved and the themes I want to explore.

I will need at least a week to do some prep and whip up an outline – at the very least a piece of paper with all the story beats listed. If I can get the bulk of the work done by the 25th of this month, then I’ll have a green-light to start prepping this new project!

Not sure how much this counts as a Preptober goals post. After all, none of the actual NaNo prep can start until the 25th. If it turns out I don’t get enough done, I’ll be spending my November slogging through what I don’t finish, so I guess everything I do this month, in a way, is preparation for NaNoWriMo.

Or is that cheating?

Anyway, I’ve got to get back to work! Let the prepping begin!

Let’s Chat!

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? What about Preptober? What are your goals for the spoopy month of October? Let me know in the comments!