Happy Halloween! The scary day is upon us! Made all the more scary by two things: the Halloween Scarefest wrapping up (you can add scenes with a character who’s afraid through today!) and what happens tonight at the witching hour:

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH BEGINS!

Indeed, the time for Nano has come. And they’ve finally gotten the Writing Buddies feature working—feel free to add me as a buddy. You might be able to find me under the enigmatic name of “JordanMcCollum.”

If you’ve spent October preparing, you’re probably like me, champing at the bit (yes, it’s “champing” and not “chomping”) to get started, and maybe a little amazed you’ve been able to wait this long. You might even be planning to stay up until midnight to get a jump start on the month. (Or head to bed early to get a jump start in the morning.)

But even if you’re not participating in Nano this year, there’s sure to come a time when you have to up your productivity: writing for a deadline, a personal goal, a challenge among friends. We can even strive to make the most of our time and our writing efforts outside of Nano (gasp!).

To help with that, throughout November, I’m planning a series on NaNoWriMo success and inspiration: ways to help you get going and keep going, tips for the best Nano ever, and fun ways to reconnect with what inspired you to write this story in the first place.

What do you think? Are you ready for Nano? What areas of Nano do you need the most help with (other than, you know, actually writing the words)?

Photo by Andrew Skudder