Prep work for NaNo

The goal of NaNoWriMo, as previously stated, is to write 50k words in the month of November. The goal is to write ALL of those words in November.
Knowing my own creative process - this is my prediction - I'll go along swimmingly for the first week or two, writing my 1666 per day, moving the story along. And then BOOM. Out of no where, the muse will disappear, or the plot will die out. So what can I do to prevent that?

What I've done this year, is something that is apparently called a "style sheet", which is basically a cheat sheet about each major character. This way, I won't fall off track trying to figure out bits and pieces like where the main character went to college (University of Washington for a while then transfered to Boston College), or how many siblings the disapparing boyfriend has (2 a brother and sister, both younger, but not substantially). This also gave me a chance to map out the main character's relationship tree, how she's related to others, be it friendship, romantically, biologically, or professionally.
Lastly, one of the things that happens to the main character is that she sees things. Not in an Alice Cullen sees the future sort of way, but in a flashes of 'what might have been' sort of way... so I have to sort those out.

Another Crack at NaNoWriMo

So I'm trying again for National Novel Writing Month. Fingers crossed that I make it through this year. But to start it off (I know I'm supposed to wait til November 1st to start writing, but I can't help it), here is the prologue. (It's only like 150 words - thus not really a drop in the bucket towards the word count.)

Tentative Title: All Who Wander

“Not all those who wander are lost.” J. R. R. Tolkien

Prologue

I sat up from a dead sleep when I heard the bedroom door open with a creak. I immediately patted the other side of the bed, looking to find my boyfriend of six months. He wasn’t there. As the light spilled in from the hallway, I could see him standing in the doorway.

“Where are you going babe?” I asked sleepily, as I rubbed my eyes.

“Go back to sleep Sweetheart,” he said softly.

“Okay. Love you.” I lay back down, and rolled over towards the side of the bed he had just vacated.

“I love you too,” he murmured.

I heard the click of the latch, as he shut the door, and nothing more.

That was the last time I saw Cole St. John.

***

So there you have it... the start of something new.