Preparation For NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month is what NaNoWriMo stands for, just in case you were wondering. This year, 2016, will mark my first year doing NaNoWriMo. I am beyond excited! This may be my first year, but hey, I’m a writer. I can figure this out. I hope.

NaNoWriMo is a yearly event where writers try to write a novel in a month. The goal is 50,000 words. I get stressed just hearing that number. So, November 1st-30th is going to be crazy. If you have to reach 50k words in just 30 days, that means you would have to write 1,667 words a day. Wow, that made me sound really smart, but really I just used a calculator.

I put together a few helpful tips to make NaNoWriMo easier. Now, since this is my first year, I haven’t done any of these things personally. But, I talked to some people that have done it. Here are some things they found helpful.

1. OUTLINES!

It’s pretty obvious why outlines would help. I don’t know about you, but when November comes, I don’t want to be ill prepared. Outlines are basically what is going to happen in your story. Just write a few ideas of what you want to happen, then when November comes, you’ll have something to work with.

2. HAVE YOUR CHARACTERS DONE.

You don’t want to sit down on November 1st without a main character, do you? No. Your answer should be no. What always gets me is names. I feel like I need the PERFECT name. I change it halfway through the story sometimes, no joke. So, during October, you might want to work out your characters names, personalities, and description.

3. PLAY SOME MUSIC!

I love music. It calms me down. I’ve been playing piano for, well, a long time. And I’ve been singing since before I can remember. It makes me happy, and less likely to kill a character in my story. A lot of people listen to classical or movie soundtracks, but I like to listen to Christian artists such as Francesca Battistelli, Jamie Grace, Matthew West, Chris Tomlin, and Phil Wickham. If something inspires you to write – listen to it! Even if it’s a recording of cats screaming! Okay, maybe that’s too much.

4. PINTEREST.

Ah, Pinterest. A great way to throw away your time. But seriously, it’s great for a visual writer. I use it for character inspiration, writing prompts, and dialogue prompts.

5. CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE.

They really put a lot of time putting the NaNoWriMo website together. They thought of everything. It has helpful books about writing, blog posts, and webinars. They just created a thing called Word Sprints. There is a countdown, so you put in how long you want to write for, and they time you. But the great thing about it is that under the countdown is a Dare Me. You click the button and it gives you a writing prompt. You can click it as many times as you want. I think it’s awesome. Here is the website: http://nanowrimo.org/dashboard

I hope that helps! I would love to know if you end up doing NaNoWriMo! If you have any more helpful tips, please let me know by commenting below. Good writing to you!