My NaNoWriMo Tool Box

I'm slowly compiling a list of the things that are most crucial to my success over this month of Word-trackery.

• pens. My favorite are the Pilot Precise rolling ball, extra fine. They are nice and smooth and you can get them in a multi-color pack which keeps note-taking creative and fun, and can help organize my thoughts into category-by-colors.
• notepad. Small enough to fit in my purse and be used on the sly in case I hear a snippet of dialogue that strikes a creative chord, or see a crazy hat that I must write about.
  
• Google Calendar phone app. Set with reminders to track my Write-ins.
• Advil. Can't allow a headache to cripple my word count.
• Big Train Vanilla Chai. Gotta wash down the meds with something, might as well taste good and keep me awake, to boot.
• water. It's imperative to keep hydrated, which can help with avoiding the dratted headaches in the first place. Much as I love the taste of Vanilla Chai, nothing quenches like a tall glass of good water. And, yes. Thanks to my momma, I am a water snob. Aquafina, Dasani, or Sparkletts are the dessert waters of the H2O choices out there.
  
• VOICE RECORDER!! This is one of my favorites. I discovered while writing the first book in the series that long bouts on the road are a goldmine for talking myself through plot road blocks. Simply turn off the music and ruminate out loud about all that could happen and usually the best course will outshine the rest and cause me to look ahead with great exuberance toward the night's writing appointment. But it is crucial that I record this brainstorming train of thought because, invariably, I will forget some of the details I was most excited about and then sit and waste time trying to remember them again when the time comes to write!
• laptop. (with a charged battery for when I'm not near an outlet.) For those valuable opportunities to sit down and plug in to my manuscript.
• Scrivener for windows-- with NaNoWriMo presets. What a great manuscript processing tool. You can set each text document with a goal, and it will track your progress in the footer with a bar that begins blank, turns red, then yellow, then green when you are in the final stretch of the day's word count goal. Nice visual encouragement.
• headphones. To listen to music in public, so as not to be disturbed by chatty strangers.
  
• thumb drive. to back up my writing, lest I lose everything. *gasp*
  
• timer. To keep my fingers tapping away, or limit my research time.
  
• backpack. A way to lug all this stuff around with me.

And that is how I've been able to manage so far. We'll see if I realize any other items of necessity as the month goes on.