Preparation for NaNoWriMo

Hello, readers!! to start off the post for today I wanted to show off how I was preparing NaNoWriMo this year.
For those of you who don't yet know what NaNo is, I'm talking about national Novel Writing Month, and annual event for aspiring (and published) novelists run through a website and its sisters.

NaNoWriMo is a yearly challenge that pushes writers to write a 50000 word novel in 30 days and nights, starting on November 1st. every year, an average of 300,000+ writers participate in NaNoWriMo and/or its sister site, the Young Writer's Program (or the YWP). the YWP is what I'm participating in for my first year of NaNo so I can adjust my wordcount goal as I learn my capabilities.  The YWP is for young writers under 17 years of age, and the real McCoy (or in favor of my friend, the real Hatfield) is for writers aged 13+.
As this is my first year of NaNoWriMo, I set my YWP goal to be 15,000 words. My last major writing project that I've finished was around 20k and took two months to draft! However, that project was not only collaboration-based, but it was littered with arguing and...well, a lot more arguing on top of it. On my own, I think that I might actually be able to make my goal.
Every year, there are several ways that the NaNoWriMo staff helps you become - and stay - mentally prepared, including pep-talks, workbooks, and interesting dares over at the YWP. However, it is also important to be physically prepared for the month's madness.

1.) Clean Up Your Room This Instant!

the "thing" on my chair is a cat

Besides dodging fire hazards, there are several reasons to clean up your writing space. One of them ties in to the next point, but in the recent month, I've cleared and stowed away an entire bookshelf to add a wicker rocking chair to my room, along with a decent lamp. I must say that it's almost a utopic place to write in. I can get the full view of my house's hallway (as to not forget about the dog) and have an open ear to doorbells and necessary phone calls. Also, it's steps away from my desk so I can finish up school-related stuff without much work done.

2.) Oh, You'll Need to Staple That...

Where's your pencil sharpener? How about your volume on predatory wildlife? Your butter knife? It's important to know where your supplies are, no matter what you do and what they are. For me, my musts are my iPod, laptop, flash drives, and my tennis racket for quick rushes. If you don't spend a lot of time finding your supplies, then you won't waste time, and less time wasted equals more words written, and more words written equals a successful NaNo!

3.) Come (At Least Partially) Prepared

It doesn't matter whether you're a planner or pantser (great article on that here), but having the smallest bit of plot and character preparation. A good idea is to have your protagonist read-to-go and to have an idea of what you're planning to write, even if it's just a quote.
Personally, I'm a planner at heart, and I have an elaborate plot down already. I just need to fill in a few more character sheets (*COUGH* Next post) and then I'll be set!

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Reason to skip serve practice: It died and you need to attend its funeral.

D.S. Dev

I'd also like to shout out again to Y. Bromberg, who is helping me manage the blog and with a tad bit of promotion! Thanks so much!