Take the NaNoWriMo habit by writing mini-stories  

Eager to write for NaNoWriMo ? If you follow the rules, you cannot write your novel before November 1st. But you can write peripherial material. I call them mini-stories because they are short and don't interfere with the plot of your novel, but they help you to have a better vision of your characters and your world. In addition to that, if you write mini-stories regularly before NaNo, you will get the habit of writing 1,700 words a day...

Imagine you want your NaNoWriMo to be a tale of a barbarian from the dark ages who return to his motherland, only to see that it has been destroyed by time travellers tourists (worst plot ever, I admit, but I made this up live).

Here are the two main types of mini-stories.

Write in another POW
Your protagonist is the poor sad angry barbarian. But what if you write a short blurb from the tourists perspective ? How does their time machine work ? Did they have other destinations to choose from ? And what did they to do adapt to life in the dark ages ?

Write a prequel
Your novel must begin when something go wrong (in my exciting plot, that's the time travelers). Why don't you write about times where everything goes well ? Barbarian protagonist goes for a pillage or two, picks up flowers on the hillside, or builds a house. Some minor events happen : he's stung by a bee, or he's caught in a snow storm.

Last notes : mini stories remain mini stories. They will help you to know better your characters or your world, and get you in the mood for writing. But you don't want them to become a full-fledged project (not yet). So, limit your mini-story writing time to 0,5 or 1 hour, and try to finish it by this deadline. Depending on your writing speed, you'll have a 1000-2500 words story... Just what NaNoWriMo will demand you daily this November :)

Happy writing !