Are you attempting NaNoWriMo this year and challenging yourself to write a 50,000-word novel in just 30 days? If so, it’s time to get on the ball! November 1st is next Wednesday!
Sure, you could just sit down on Wednesday, start writing and see what comes out. Or you can take things a step further and actually do some prep work prior to the start of this annual writer’s event.
When you plan ahead of time, you’re much more likely to end up with a useable draft than you are if you just sit down and write.
Either way, here’s a list of resources to help you on your NaNoWriMo journey.
1. From Idea to Fully Viable Story Plan
Story planning genius, Larry Brooks, shares his tips for how to plan your entire story out from start to finish. He even shares an example he made up and planned out… in only 32 minutes!
He says, “boil your story down to these key points and watch what happens.”
2. The Single Most Powerful Writing Tool You’ll Ever See
Larry Brooks from StoryFix.com has put together a complete outline of everything you should know about your novel before you start writing it. This outline is an extremely powerful writing tool (hence the headline of the post). It will help you breakthrough the fog and find what your story is actually all about.
>> Get the most powerful writing tool ever
3. 5 Things You Absolutely Must Know About Your Novel Before You Start Writing
If you’re not much of a planner and don’t want to plan out everything before you write, you should still, at minimum, know these 5 things about your story. Pantser or planner, these 5 things are important to both types of writers.
4. How To Create Believable Characters
If you want your characters to come alive on the page, they need to be three-dimensional and have depth to them. You can’t create that by just knowing a few surface facts about them (such as hair and eye color and what they like to eat for breakfast). No, you have to dig deeper and learn even more about them. You have to know the three dimensions of each of your characters.
>> Learn about the three dimensions of character
5. Character Planning: A Little About Backstories and Inner Demons
Characters must have backstories and inner demons in order to be successful. Just like humans, characters need these dimensions to come alive. They need flaws and internal issues to overcome within your story.
>> Discover more about backstories and inner demons
6. How To Prep Yourself and Your Schedule For NaNoWriMo
Once you’ve gotten your story plan finished (or as finished as possible), then you need to take a little bit of time to figure out how to get writing time in every day for the next month. This blog post will not only give you ideas on how to do that, but it will also aid you in prepping yourself to write.
In order to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days, you have to make a commitment, not only to yourself, but to getting your writing done.
As a bonus, this post gives you ideas for creating a NaNoWriMo survival kit to help you make it through the 30-day writing process.
>> Prep your schedule and create your survival kit
7. 5 Resources to Help You Plan Your NaNoWriMo Novel
Had enough yet? If not, check out this blog post, which lists 5 additional resources to help you make the most of your planning time between now and November 1.
BONUS: Free 30 Days of NaNoWriMo Tips for Procrastinating Writers
If you’re ready to make this the year you finally win NaNoWriMo, but would like some encouragement along the way, sign up for my annual free tips for Procrastinating Writers. Every day during the month of November you’ll receive an email that offers guidance and encouragement to help you reach the finish line.
Share With Us
How do you prep for NaNoWriMo?
Image courtesy of mrsdkrebs
Please share this article with your friends:
[...] 7 NaNoWriMo Resources to Help You Reach the 50,000 Goal Line by Jennifer Blanchard at InkyBites [...]
[...] 7 NaNoWriMo Resources to Help You Reach the 50,000 Word Goal Line by Jennifer Blanchard at InkyBites [...]
[...] Inky Bites has some great posts collected about character development, plot lines, and making the most of your writing time during NaNoWriMo. [...]
I’m so disappointed in myself…I’m failing at NaNoWriMo for the second year in a row! I’m not sure what my problem is, but the 1,667 word a day goal is practically impossible to meet. My record is about 700-800 words before I get discouraged and give up.
Did you plan any of your story ahead of time? Planning your story will help give you guidance and direction for where to go and what to write next. Take a couple days to do some planning and then get back on the wagon. Even if you don’t hit 50,000 words, you’re writing and that’s the important thing.