It’s October, meaning many writers are turning their thoughts to NaNoWriMo, (National Novel Writing Month) starting November 1st, when they will attempt to write 50,000 words in a month.
NaNoWriMo is a great time to lock up your internal editor and let creativity take the wheel.
But unfortunately for most writers, it can be a time of disappointment, because while hundreds of thousands of folks step up to the NaNoWriMo plate, near as I can tell, only around 15% actually finish. And that’s a big bowl of sadness, if you ask me, especially as it’s often preventable.
Two Big Reasons Why Writers Quit
1. Sometimes life fish-slaps them in the face. An emergency crops up, or something unexpected comes along, and their time needs to be reallocated. Other times, already-overloaded writers decide to participate and discover they just can’t manage it along with everything else.
2. The writer loses track of where the story should go. When writers struggle too long with the “what happens now” question, they lose that forward momentum, start to doubt themselves, and fall out of love with the story. As those calendar dates pass with lackluster word count totals, catching up begins to feel impossible, or the story becomes too much of a mosh pit mess. So, they give up.
Most fall into this second category, but this doesn’t have to be anyone’s fate. So how do we avoid it? We prep, of course!
Prepping is for Plotters & Panters
No matter where you are on the plotter-or-pantser spectrum, you want to sit down on November 1st and feel good about having your fingers on the keyboard. The heady excitement of NaNoWriMo won’t last if the words dry up, so it’s best to make sure you’ve done everything you can to feel ready to create.
The two big types of NaNo prep we want to think about are Life Prep and Story Prep. Taking care of these in October is a super smart move.
The Ultimate NaNoWriMo Prep Guide
If you’d like some help getting ready, Becca and I have created an Ultimate NaNoWriMo Prep Guide for you!
This special guide looks at how to prep your writing space, NaNo-proof your life, and plan helpful story elements so you are ready for November 1st!
And don’t worry, Pantsers – our planning recommendations won’t hem you in. And Plotters, you’ll have suggestions that suit your process so you can plan as much as you need to write with confidence.
This guide is truly for Plotters, Pantsers, and everyone in between, so check it out!
Is One Stop for Writers in your NaNoWriMo Toolkit?
One Stop for Writers has a library full of powerful storytelling tools including the Storyteller’s Roadmap, a step-by-step writing plan to get you from that first idea to a publish-ready manuscript.
In the WRITING portion of the roadmap you’ll find a CODE RED section that will help with practically any struggle you might encounter, so subscribers, if you write yourself into a corner, get stuck in the middle, or you think you should quit, please check the Roadmap. A CODE RED solution can help you get you back on track!
50,000 words is within your reach.
You’ve got this, and we’re cheering you on!
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
This is just what I needed because I’m trying to be more of a plotter, especially for NaNoWriMo. I’m more of a panster but this time I’m going to move toward more planning out the story.
Now on to the story planning checklist. I appreciate having one place to keep all my notes.
I hope this helps a ton. I use to pants for a long time but I switched to being more of a plotter, and I have to say, it shows – my writing is much stronger (and revising was easier). Plotting isn’t for everyone, but plotting some things I do think is important.