How to prep for NaNoWriMo!
Updated: May 22, 2022
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. In a nutshell, it's a worldwide write-athon
that occurs every year during the month of November. On November 1st, participants start
working towards the goal of writing 50,000 words by 11:59 pm on November 30th. That might
sound crazy, but it’s a pretty popular event in the writing community! Thankfully, there’s still
PLENTY of time to prepare!
To set you up for success, here are 8 steps to take BEFORE embarking on your NaNoWriMo
adventure. My hope is that you’ll not only “win” NaNoWriMo but that you'll also walk away with a
finished first draft of your story. The best part? You can use these steps to plan and outline ANY
book you write, whether it’s during NaNoWriMo or not. Here they are:
Step 1: Find the ONE story idea you want to work with during NaNoWriMo.
Nanowrimo is specifically for ONE project only, and its going to be hard finding that story idea or choosing one from the millions of ideas stored in your files.
If you need to find a story idea, try following the exercises below:
1. WRITING PROMPTS.
Sometimes the best cure for a lack of ideas is to let someone else jumpstart your imagination for you. Search for writing prompts online, or purchase story prompt books on amazon.
2. REAL-LIFE HAPPENINGS
Maybe there a dream you’d like to turn into a story or an event on your life that you could write an alternate ending too, or even something that happened to you in your past that you’d want to explore with your writing
3. CHECK FOR INSPIRING HISTORIC ARTICLES
Almost any event, past or present, can be recreated in fiction regardless of the world or time period in which your story takes place. The goal is to give yourself a starting point and let your imagination run wild.
4. RECEATE A MYTH OR STORY
If you find Greek myths interesting, write down an alternate version of it by adding a few twists her and there, or if the bed-time story of little red riding hood caught your attention, write about the fairytale in a different dimension!
Step 2: Test out your idea by writing a 1-2 sentence logline and a 250-word pitch.
I think we can all agree that there’s nothing worse than wasting time on an idea that’s going nowhere. So, once you’ve come up with an idea you like, it’s time to test it out
Psst… I‘ve got a post covering on how to evaluate your story idea, just click here!
Exercise one: Write a 1-2 short logoline of your story. It’s the WHO, WHERE, WHAT, and WHY of your story, (but not the HOW). Include the main characters, the conflict and whats at stake.
Exersise 2: Write yoru story’s pitch
A pitch is the extnded version of yourlogoline (around250 words or so.) When writing your pitch, you’ll want to answer these questions: Who is your protagonist and what does he or she want? Who or what is standing in your protagonist’s way? What is the conflict? Where does the story take place? What happens if your protagonist fails to achieve their goal? What’s at stake? BUT NO MATTER WHAT, DO NOT GIVE AWAY YOUR ENDING
Step 3: Choose the MAIN genre for your story so that you'll know what's most important.
When you hear the word “genre,” you might think of the shelves in a bookstore or the categories on Amazon. But, genre is more than just a way to sort and classify stories according to their shared elements.
Genre can also provide writers with a blueprint or roadmap for writing a story that works. Plus, when you understand your genre, you’ll have a much better idea of how to write a story that delivers on readers’ expectations.
Step 4: Figure out the theme of your story (or the point you're trying to make).
Theme is the overall message you want readers to take away from your story. It's a way for you to make a point about something you feel passionately about.
To uncover the theme of your story, consider what you have to say about life, love, the world, or human nature. What topics or causes do you feel strongly about?
Step 5: Craft a compelling protagonist with believable goals and motivations.
Stories are all about change. Mainly how the external plot events affect your protagonist in such a way that he or she must change internally to achieve their story goals.
To figure out your character’s arc (or how they will change throughout your story) start by asking these questions:
What does he or she want? What micro-goals will help him or her get this?
Why does he or she want this? What’s motivating them? What will success or failure mean to him or her? What’s at stake?
Why can’t he or she have this? What false belief is standing in his or her way on the inside? Who or what is standing in their way in the outside world?
What epiphany will he or she have by the end of the story? What will he or she learn? How will he or she change from the beginning of the story to the end of the story?
What does he or she value? (“Nothing is more important than…”)
Step 6: Develop your setting or build out your story's world.
Setting is not just WHERE your story takes place — it’s also the WHEN. So, first, you need to determine when your story takes place — the past, present, or future?
Then, you can drill down to WHERE your story takes place. Look at what you already know about your characters and your story idea. For example, if you know your protagonist works with horses, your setting might be a ranch or a farm.
Step 7: Write a 1-3 page synopsis of your story that sums up the beginning, middle, and end.
Now it’s time to expand on the short summaries you made in step 2 and write a longer synopsis of your story. Here’s a quick overview of how to write a synopsis:
Tell the story of your main characters. Generally speaking, you’ll write the synopsis with the main character as the focus. You’ll want to include what he or she wants, what’s motivating him or her, and what’s at stake.
Explain the core conflict for your protagonist. Who is your protagonist up against? What’s getting in his or her way? Does your protagonist succeed or fail in dealing with the conflict? This should be the longest section of your synopsis.
Finally, show how the central conflict is resolved. How has your protagonist changed internally since the beginning of the story? What has changed externally?
Aim for 1-3 page (approximately 500-1,000 words) double-spaced. If you go much longer than this, you risk getting stuck in the weeds. The goal is to remain “high-level” here.
You want to capture the beginning, middle, and end of your story focusing on the primary plot thread. You won’t be able to mention every character or event. And you definitely won’t be able to summarize every scene or chapter. That’s okay (and kind of the point)!
Step 8: Map out the scenes that go in the beginning, middle, and end of your story.
Grab some index cards, post-it notes, or a notebook because I’m going to show you how to break your story down using (gasp!) math. If you’re using index cards or post-it notes, then each index card or post-it note will represent one scene.
Since we know the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000-words in 30-days, that means you can break your story down like this:
Act 1 (the beginning) – represents 25% of your story.
That means Act 1 of your story will be around 12,500 words (or about 10 scenes)
Act 2 (the middle) – represents 50% of your story.
That means Act 2 of your story will be around 25,000 words (or about 20 scenes)
Act 3 (the ending) – represents 25% of your story.
That means Act 3 of your story will be around 12,500 words (or about 10 scenes)
Breaking your story down into these three smaller parts will make the planning and outlining process much easier. But guess what? You can break it down even further using the key story moments that occur within each section.
If you do participate in NaNoWriMo this year, I wish you THE BEST OF LUCK! And if you used the exercises in this article to prep for NaNoWriMo, please come back and let me know how you did this year. I’d love to give you a shout out on social media if you “win!”
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Have you ever written a novel in 30-days? Which parts did you find challenging? What are your tips for success? Let me know in the comments below!
