Less than a month until National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo or more lovingly... Nano. Starting November 1st is a month long, no holds barge, caffeine fueled writing madness where masochistic writers commit themselves to writing 50,000 words or more in 30 days. You laugh, you cry, you get carpal tunnel syndrome from typing too much but in the end (literary gods willing) you have a brand spanking new novel to love and cherish before you spend the next few months picking it apart as you try to make it fit for others to read.
It's my favorite time of year.
So... In preparation for the upcoming month of insanity I am totally redoing my workroom. The whole vibe of the room is chaotic, messy and totally unusable. No self respecting plot would be caught dead spending time here.
If you want to woe a novel, you have to create an atmosphere, set the mood, make your space warm and inviting so the novel will feel welcome. Then, you can ply it with enough coffee or tea, depending on preference (chocolate if you get desperate), so the plot will become willing and pliable to your suggestions. If your space is cluttered and chaotic it says to a prospective novel that you really don't care, that you aren't serious about committing because you have to many other things occupying your mind; novels are very needy and prone to sulk if you aren't attentive.
For the next couple of weeks I'm going to construct a writing space that will bring any plot to it's outline. I am going to de-clutter, get rid of anything that isn't conducive to the writing process. For the past couple of Nanos I've not had good luck snagging and holding onto a plot and this year I'm determined to find the right novel for me.
Good luck!