Halfway through NaNoWriMo and I’m slipping behind. Bad.

With half a month to go it seemed like a good time to get a new strategy in place.

So today I’ve marked my computer with my new daily goal.

2,200 words. Every day for the rest of the month. I’m cooking for Thanksgiving so I’ll be taking that day off. And probably the next day to wash all the dishes I didn’t get to when exhaustion sets in on Turkey Day.

2,200 words.

I’ve printed that number on my laptop to remind me. Every day.

Truth is, I should aim for even more than that. Because I know I’m going to have slump days.

But this November I’m not going to have many because I came to NaNoWriMo with a kernel of a plan. That kernel sprouted in the past week and I’ve developed a full outline of my story. Thanks for the guidance that led to my creating this outline, Kristie Wolf.

I know. This is supposed to be a seat-of-the-pants adventure where we don’t ever edit until December. I’ve done that for several years now.

In fact, my 2016 book is STILL in the works. It’s been through several edits—enough that I thought it was ready for queries.

It wasn’t. After a few rejections and a nice comment from a thoughtful editor, it’s nearing the end of a complete re-write. I’ll be ready to query again in January with TO DANCE WITH THE GENERAL.

With this novel I don’t want to spend two years looking for the right story, the right conflict, the right motivations and goals. I want to know them now.

And with my outline, I think I do. I know what happens in each of the 20 chapters still to write.

I know where the story is going. I know when they fall in love. When they kiss and when the ship sinks. Just kidding with that last one. That story was done and made into a wonderful Leo DiCaprio/Kate Winslet movie.

2,200 words. A day. I can do it. Are you reaching your NaNoWriMo goals? How are you going to “win” the month?