Today is the official NaNoPrep day. Here is how I prep for NaNoWriMo:
1. Clear a space in the apartment that is to be The Main Writing Area. The name is neutral now, but depending on how things go in November, the name of the area either changes into “The Place Where the Magic Happens” or “The Place Ideas Go to Die.” This year, my writing area in the new apartment is actually my desk in the reading nook. Exciting stuff!
2. Choose a roaming notepad for when I am inevitably not anywhere near the novel and suddenly have marvelous ideas – check (see above)! Into the purse it goes!
3. Make a master grocery list for the month (with weekly supplementals) for meal planning. This generally consists of sandwich stuff and frozen vegetables so that I can throw them in a pot with some broth and call it soup without having to chop anything. On the last weekend of October, I’m actually going to make and freeze loaves of bread, veggie burritos, and a few casseroles so that I can do no-brainer dinners in November. This is what keeps me from the very tempting, “Write? Sorry, I’m out of bread, so clearly I need to spend time making this incredibly complicated loaf that I’ve been planning to try when I have a day off instead,” and the more tempting, “No food in the house? Clearly I need to drive through and get something that will make me feel terrible.”
4. Pick up books on writing from the library. I find this helpful when I’m trying to write a large word count, because reading is one of the ways that I procrastinate. So when I try to avoid writing by reading, these books will inspire me to get back to writing.
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?
M. Suzanne Terry 
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