How I Prepped For NaNoWriMo 2019!
November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and I’ve been wanting to take part for YEARS! I’ve had an idea for a romantic thriller in my mind for a very long time. Bits and pieces of this novel have been floating around in various notebooks of mine since before my son was born- that’s over 5 years! This novel has changed a lot over time, but I finally felt ready to just write it.
October is considered “prep-tober” in NaNoWriMo terms, so I took the later part of October to complete the prep work necessary to be ready for November.
Every writer has a different process when it comes to prepping and writing. I can’t write creative fiction without a plan in place, otherwise I get writers block and the project gets put on hold.
This is how I prepped for NaNoWriMo 2019:
1- I Created My Characters & Made A Private Pinterest Board
Once I knew what my book was going to be about, I began planning out my characters. I wrote a master list, then broke each character down further to include their likes, dislikes, motivations, history, what they look like, their style, personality, etc.
I also created a private Pinterest board for my novel where I pin photos of what I imagine my characters looking like, outfits they wear, cars they drive, what their houses look like, etc. When I’m having trouble describing something, I refer back to the photos I’ve pinned and create my descriptions based on what I see.
2- I Outlined Every Chapter
I am addicted to one subject spiral notebooks. I have them scattered all over my life- at work, in my truck, at home, etc. I bought a new notebook and used one page to map out each chapter. I wrote in point form everything that would happen in that chapter to use as my guide when writing my novel. I am the kind of person who writes down scenes as soon as I think of them, and I have notes (in my phone and in my notebooks) of various scenes, written at random times. When I outlined my chapters, I made sure to include notes like “ You have this scene written in your phone from that time you drove home from the beach”, so I would remember to include scenes I’ve already written.
Some writers prefer to just write as they go and make things up along the way, but for me it really helped to plan everything out so I could see a clear vision of where my book was going. As I’m writing the actual book, I will fill in more details and add things in that I think of along the way, but for the most part I stick to my original outline.
3- I Created A Playlist
The novel I’m writing is a romantic thriller, and it really helps my writing process to emerge myself into the feelings I want my novel to evoke. I find it helpful to create a playlist of songs that remind me of themes in my book, songs I think my characters might listen to, or songs that bring me back to moments in my own life where I’ve felt a certain way. I’ll share my playlist in another blog post soon!
4- I Joined NaNoWriMo Facebook Groups & Forums
I find it helpful to talk to other writers who are also taking part in NaNoWriMo so we can keep each other accountable and bounce ideas around.
5- I Carved Out Time To Write
I’m typically a very busy person with work, my side jobs, and being a mom, so I had to decide when I would actually carve out time in my schedule to write this thing. I decided to cut back on blog posts, and work on writing my novel in the morning when work was slow, and in the evening after my son goes to bed. I haven’t reached my word count goal every day, but I’ve got a good rhythm going.
Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo? Comment below and let me know how it’s going! What do you do to prep for it?