NaNoWriMo is Coming

I often think of participating in National Novel Writing Month, but with a family to look after and a day job, the thought of writing an entire novel in a month is overwhelming. The quickest I’ve ever written a novel draft is three months.

I tend to be a slow and careful writer, so it's hard for me to "just write" and ignore my perfectionistic tendencies. I love the idea of having a month where one writing project is high priority, with the goal of getting a good chunk of a novel written. I'd also like to see if I can speed up my drafting process and get some of the story out, so my revising work can be even more purposeful, since I'll know more about my characters and where they're going. So, I’m thinking of doing a “mini nano” for myself, where I try to get as much done as I can, without any pressure to finish a novel.

Have you ever done Nanowrimo? Do you have any tips?