Are You Ready to NaNo?

I am! Last night I finished my outline. You'll remember how I talked about how I failed miserably at staying organized last NaNo, so this NaNo, I've decided to be uber-oragnized. It can't be any worse than last year!

Like a true numbers geek, I did my outline in Excel. For some reason, I have an easier time moving things around in Excel than Word. I used a formula that Jami Gold talked about on her blog in a two part post. If you haven't read it, I suggest you get your butt over there and do so - here's Part 1 and Part 2. This really helped me in getting all the pieces of each plot line in their proper spot. My story actually seems organized, now.

Here are some screen shots of my spreadsheet if you're curious:



This is Act 1. I know it's hard to read, but you can at least see the color coding. Each color represents a different plot line, and then within each color I marked where the major plot points occur. If you can read it, you're probably thinking, "why is there a resolution so close to the beginning?" Well, that's because one of my plots sort of goes backwards. A mystery, if you will.

On to Act 2 - You can see the coloring of each scene better in this one. I tried to map out where each chapter should begin and end because I'm an utter failure at figuring that out once I get writing.



And finally - Act 3 and the climax/resolution.



And that's my story in a nutshell. If you can read Wingdings, that is. I'm sure it will all go out the window at the end of day 1, but at least I tried, right?

Now, I'm off to finish my 2nd round of edits on my other WIP before November starts...


What are you doing to get ready for NaNo?

P.S. I don't think I'll be getting a book review up today because I've been slacking on my reading. Maybe I'll do a bonus post tomorrow.