My Third NaNoWriMo

Yup.
I'm going there again this year.
National Novel Writing Month.
Writing 50,000 words in 30 days.
Insanity unleashed.
Can't be done, you say?
I beg to differ.
And so do all those who wrote feverishly during November, edited their work and published it.


My method the last two years consisted of not thinking, just writing. Turning off the inner critic. Typing without thinking.

My first story was over 50,000. It was about an African village. A young girl was told by the medicine man whom she had to marry. The intended groom was old. The girl's mother helped her run away. She made it to America, learned and grew up, returned to Africa to find her village slowly dying. She gave them a way to live again.
I have no idea where that story came from. Seriously. It wasn't ANYWHERE on my radar. The MC has a very distinctive voice. I haven't written a strong voice in any of my other stories so far. It's my next story to be edited.

Last year I typed without thinking again. The story that evolved was a dystopian story. One day the moon shifted in its orbit, causing tidal waves and earthquakes. A group of teens learned they would find a sort of "Eden" in the "big crack" that runs down the middle of the earth. Many people seek it and many are taking advantage of these people. They are led to a prison instead. The teens must find Eden and figure out how to free all humanity.

Once again, how did that story come out? No idea. I had NEVER read dystopian before.
This year I want to try writing with an outline in mind. I have no idea if it will work.

What about you? 

Are you signed up for NaNoWriMo?

If you've written like crazy in November, what was your method? Was it successful?