A day late. My apologies. I had a teensy stomach bug. But, I'm better, and I'm back. Now, to refresh, National Novel Writing Month AKA NaNoWriMo is from November 1st to November 30th. You write 50,000 words in 30 days, with no worries about editing. Just get words on the page. You write a novel. In a month. Or, at least, the bare bones of a novel. And, as it should come as no surprise, there's fair amount of prep needed for this. Everyone's prep is going to be a touch different, depending on your personal project, but here are a few of my prepping tips that might help you along.
It's Never Too Early
It's true. While the rule--and we're all on the honor system here--for NaNoWriMo is 50k in 30 days, there is NO rule on when prepping can begin. Heck, if I wanted, I could begin prepping for NaNoWriMo 2019 in December 2018. So look at your calendar. When is a good prep time for you? For me, it's October. But that might be different for you.
Read
This should come as no surprise to anyone who seriously wants to be a writer. A writer is a reader. But, specifically in this case, I mean, if you are writing a sequel or continuing from where you left off. Part of your prep should be to re-read what you've got. Reacquaint yourself with your old ideas and marry them to your new ones. In my case, I'm writing the second half of my 2017 novel. So, I will be reading what I wrote last year (God help me). If you're staring fresh, then perhaps schedule in the time to read a novel, novella, or two in the same ballpark as your novel to get you in the right headspace.
Outline
There's a whole badge for people who don't do this. They're called "pantsers." I'm am a planner. In fact, the only time I've come close to pants-ing it at NaNo is when I had reviewed the last events of my 2016 novel in my head so many times I had it memorized. Otherwise, I outline. Now, outlining works differently for everyone. Some like charts. Some like vague notes complied together. Me? I use Microsoft OneNote and just type, separating everything out by chapters. Then, I type out what happens in each chapter as if I'm rushing through explaining it in a conversation, adding in specific details only when I really want to include them and am afraid I'll forget them by the time I get to writing the actual chapter. This really helps me create a cohesive narrative, and it makes me a little less crazy.
Grab a Calendar
There are people out there that make calendars specifically for NaNoWriMo. On each day, they include what word count you should be at. To reach 50k by Nov. 30th, you roughly have to write 1667 words a day. Now, last year, I used the Reverse Nano method. Click the link for a full explanation, but the gist is you start big, and end with only 1 word required to reach 50k on Day 30. And, guys, it worked wonders for me. So, I made myself a calendar that reflected this. Now, I used GIMP (which is freeware Photoshop) to make mine all pretty, but you could add it into your phone, on a paper calendar, a planner, whatever works for you.
Make a Playlist
I don't know about the rest of you, but I CANNOT write without music blocking out the rest of the world and helping to immerse me in the one I've created. And the wrong song can pull me completely out of that. So, before NaNoWriMo, making a playlist of songs that fit the story you're trying to tell can help. Plus, you won't be spending a bunch of wasted energy skipping songs on day 1.
Honestly, I could probably go on for days about prepping tips, but I'll stop here. These are easily my top 5. So, what are your tips for prepping for NaNo? Feel free to share them, and I'll see you next Thursday!
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