It is getting close to that time of year, and I'm getting excited (and a little nervous).

Is anyone else planing on participating in NaNoWriMo this year? If so, what, if anything are you doing to prepare?

I'm trying to get my characters sorted out, and outline the overarching plot line in general and the first plot arc in detail. It's hard though, because I just got the idea for this novel a few days ago, and I'm itching to start writing... I don't all ways get a good feel for who I want the characters to be until I've written at least a couple of scenes with them, so I'm thinking of writing the first plot arc out before November, which is an almost self contained set-up for the main story. I would not, of course, count anything written before November 1st toward my word count. Of the two years I made an actual committed effort, I did better the year I had an established story that I was continuing, rather then a fresh idea I was starting from scratch.