Regarding NaNoWriMo...
I've actually got a couple of ideas this year. For those who have done NaNoWriMo before, would you say it's a wise choice to spend time ahead of November outlining and laying out how one's proposed story is to go? Because I've tried the whole "I've got an idea and I'm just going to jump right in!" approach, and that didn't go so well. *grin*