Happy October everyone! October means many different things, Thanksgiving (in some places), Halloween, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, and the final month before NaNoWriMo. Now, some people prefer to jump into NaNoWriMo headfirst without any planning. This is what I did last year. However, some like to have some idea of what they’re going to be writing about. This is what in doing this year and this is why October can be a very important month to NaNoWriMo participants.
Planning your novel for NaNoWriMo can mean many different things. Some writers plan chapter for chapter, some map out the general plot, others create their characters and go from there. But how do you start?
Well, everyone starts their planning in much the same way: confused and not totally sure where they’re going with their idea. Depending on which method you choose, you may actually stay in this web of confusion for some time. Planning chapter for chapter may sound like it would be the easiest method, and I’m sure when all is said and done and you have the plan laid out in front of you it’s great. But reaching that point can actually be difficult. For my novel this is the main method I’m using and as great as it is it can be hard when you get stuck at a certain point and don’t know how to move forward. Sometimes you have chapters 1-10 done and you know what you want to happen in say, chapters 15-20, but what about 11-14? What happens then? What do you do when you don’t know where to go with your story? Well this is where the other methods of planning can help.
If you map out some of your characters or maybe even your setting, sometimes they can speak to you. The more you know about your characters, the more you know about their motivations and this can help move the plot along even when you don’t really know where it’s going. Of course, the important thing to remember here is that NaNoWriMo is about sitting down and writing. You don’t need to have the entire thing planned out. The truth is, even if you plan and plan and plan, stuff in your story is inevitably going to change.
So what do you think? Are you going to be doing NaNoWriMo this year? How are you getting ready?
J. Carson Writes 
Good post! I’m planning to do NaNoWriMo for the first time this year and am getting excited for it. I’ve already started my novel (first attempt) and plan to use NaNoWriMo to finally punch through to the end. I haven’t specifically planned much but I guess since I’ve already got a good start, that should help me keep moving forward.
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NaNoWriMo is great for that. I did it for the first time last year and at first thought I wasn’t going to do much because I was in school, but having that time constraint of only 30 days was exactly what I needed to push me to write. Even if the project doesn’t get totally finished, it definitely helps get it close. Thanks for reading!
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Thanks, I’m looking forward to it!
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Interesting thoughts. I’m debating on doing NaNoWriMo. I’ve already started my potential writing project now since I’m doing a challenge where I have to write every day. But what I did to prepare for it is to do a three act structure and get to basically know my characters. I’m definitely going to have to rewrite it but I’ll at least have a basis by the time I’m finished.
Stori Tori’s Blog
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Glad you liked it! That sounds like a really interesting idea and NaNo would probably be a great way to work on it. Good luck with your project!
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Nice ideas. I’ve basically planned out my NaNoWriMo and I’ve already written a bit in it to get the hang of the characters. It already has had a few unexpected changes. I like to be pretty rough with my outlining for my first draft because mine always changes for the better. But I’m excited to do it this year and I hope I’ll actually succeed since November is always a busy month for me. 🙂
Stori Tori’s Blog
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I’m usually the same, I’ve got the first few chapters sort of mapped out and know who my characters are, but I figure so much is going to change as the story moves forward. Good luck with your story! 🙂
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Cool. Thank you! You too. 🙂
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