It’s almost here!
National Novel Writer Month begins on November 1st.
If you aren’t familiar with this challenge, every November you have from the 1st to the 31st to write 50,000 words. Ironically, you don’t have to write a novel to qualify for novel writing month. If you want to write 50,000 words worth of poems, chicken soup recipes, diary entries, or ANYTHING at all, you are more than free to do so.
JUST WRITE!
While most writers consider the process to be stressful, we still return to it every year. I challenge you all to take place in it this year as well.
I want you all to be creative and give this challenge a shot. Here are some tips on how to prep for next month and have your November go smoothly.
Happy writing!
For more information and/or support, go to Nanowrimo.org
I am not sponsored by this organization.
Step 1: Prepare your story idea
Take a small, seemingly insignificant scene from a book you like and use it as an opening scene in your book. Change the characters and give the story a new twist. This opens the door to let your imagination run. Staying inspired is an art, but this challenge takes something you love (an old book) and breathes new life into it.
If you still can’t think of anything, try this random plot generator:
Step 2: Create Characters
Characters are incredibly important to the story so having fleshed out characters is crucial. Think of your characters as real people. They have wants, needs, goals, and personalities. If you need help making your characters realistic, try filling out this character profile.
Step 3: Build a strong world
World-building is creating an entirely new and unique location with exotic creatures, societies, religions, and governments within your book.
World-building can be overwhelming, but it can be broken down into straightforward, enjoyable steps.
Here are four questions you need to ask yourself before you start building your world.
How would the world look?
What populations inhabit the world?
What does the history of the world consist of?
What are the rules that govern society?
Step 4: Outline
Many people enjoy outlining their stories before starting but others prefer to wing it and make it up as they go. The people who use outlines are called “Plotters” and the ones who wing it are called “Pantsers”.
Which one are you?
If you find you are a plotter, these are the different kinds of outlines you can try (but not all of them):
A good synopsis is a summary of your book’s key thematic concerns, must include conceptual points, and conveys the key relationships between characters that make your narrative complete.
If you desire the creative thrill from draft zero but realize writing without a plan will only leave you overwhelmed or lost, a synopsis might be the right choice for your particular situation.
Randy Ingermanson, created the Snowflake Method, an extremely popular outlining system that provides authors a way of expanding an outline one small point at a time until they truly possess a full understanding of their novel.
Are you fond of a lot of wiggle room when you write? You might enjoy the Bookend Approach, which begins with a general idea of where you begin your story, and ends at its logical conclusion, while you fill in the middle step by step.
The key to incorporating these techniques well is to know your story cold: Know your premise and what your story is actually about before you do anything.
Gabriela Pereira, novelist, and writer, shares her method of mapping out the story:
“As a New Yorker born and raised, I think of an outline as being like a subway map. What I love about this approach is that it allows you to see how the various threads of your story work together, but you can also tease those elements apart and look at them individually to see how each thread holds up on its own.
When you make a subway map outline, each line represents a different subplot or story element you want to track. The dots (or stops) represent scenes in your story. Some scenes are like local stops on a subway and apply only to one story thread, while other scenes are like express stops and represent intersections between the story threads and mark key moments in your story.”
Step 5: Organize your life/Schedule Time
To complete Nanowrimo, you will need to write 1667 words every day for 30 days. Once your book planning is complete, you will need to find the time every day to get these words down.
Here’s some advice:
Step 1.Assess the free time you have during the week.
Do you have all the time you need? Allot time now and schedule it. Do you need to write while you are on your commute to work? Can you get up earlier? Do you have the time?
Step 2. Create time slots for when you’ll write.
Now you’ve organized your schedule, schedule writing into your plan. This will make you feel accountable and allow you to adjust for other events as they arise.
Step 3. Create A Writer’s Ritual
During National Novel Writing Month, especially when you have a full-time job, following a writer’s ritual is crucial to staying on track.
The writer’s ritual creates a “trigger” that gets you into the writing zone every time you need to be.
The first week or two while writing takes some getting used to and is hard when you’re exhausted after a long day at work. By creating a routine or ritual, you can quickly get into the writing mood by using sensory cues.
Step 4. Give yourself extra time the first few days
As you get settled in, allow yourself an extra 30 minutes per day for the first week or two. Once you’re in the rhythm of writing every day, you can reduce those 30 minutes over the next weeks.
Step 5. Prepare for reality
Be prepared for the worst-case scenario by predicting what can go wrong and finding a way to circumvent it. Whether it means telling your wife, partner, or friends you’ll be writing and need extra help from them or meal prepping ahead of time. Try to think of what might get in your way and figure out how to work around them.
For more in-depth advice and resources, check out these two links!
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