a guide to preparing for nanowrimo
@writingintheafterglow on ig | reposts not allowed!
1. Intro - what is NaNoWriMo?
NaNoWriMo (Nano for short!) stands for "National Novel Writing Month", and it's also the name of the website that hosts this challenge. Basically, every November, the participants of Nano try to write 50,000 words in one month, aka the length of a standard novel. This challenge isn't as easy as it may sound - you need to write at least 1667 words every day of the month in order to complete it on time!! But, if you power through, you'll be able to write a full length novel in just 30 days, which is quite a feat!
2. Know what you're writing
This might seem obvious, but if you're going to write a novel, you need to know what novel you're going to write! Some people choose to start a new novel idea, or to write a second/third/etc draft of their current novel. Whatever you choose, make sure you're clear on it before you start planning.
Right now, it's only July, so you might not know for sure what you want to write, and that's okay!! It's still pretty early to start prepping :)
3. Plot. Plot. PLOT.
Look, I get it. I'm a plantser. Plotting can be boring and time consuming and hard. But if you really want to write a novel in thirty days, you can't really afford to not know what's happening next. I would encourage you to plot out your chapters in detail, with at least three or four bullet points for each chapter's events. This is what I've found works best for me.
Make sure you really flesh out the plot and the events, so you know exactly how the story goes!!
4. Get to know your characters
While you might not enjoy plotting, you have to admit that planning your characters is really fun. They're literally the backbone of the story, and it's important that you get to know all your main characters before you start writing. So, you can fill out character profiles, write backstories, or even use other methods to flesh them out (interview, etc). I have a whole post on this in my blue theme, so take a look if you need inspiration!
5. Practice writing!!
If you want, you can start writing before Nano even starts. For example, if you're writing a fantasy novel, your target word count is probably more than 50k. So you might try to write 30k before Nano and then finish the novel during the month, it's up to you.
But whether you're planning to start your wip before Nano or not, at least practice writing it so you get a feel for the vibe of your story. You can write whatever you want, random short stories, random scenes of your characters, self indulgent scenes of your main ship- it's up to you!! But this will help you get into the mindset of the story, so you're not struggling come November!
Outro
Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate your support more than you know :)
If you'd like to show some support for my account, consider sparing a like, follow, share or save. If not, that's totally fine and i understand!
Reminder: you are loved, valid and beautiful, and dms are open!!
Again, thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!!
