How I'm Prepping for Nanowrimo

It feels like only yesterday that I was starting to map out my novel and wishing Nanowrimo wasn't so far away so I'd have an excuse to get the whole thing on paper. I decided not to wait until November to start working on it though, and I'm really glad I got a head start. These past few months have let me explore my story and where I want to go with it. I've been able to do a lot of research, nail down major plot points, and write several key scenes.

And now, it's actually almost here! Nanowrimo is less than two weeks away, and I couldn't be more excited. I am so ready for the madness that comes with it! In the meantime, this is how I'm prepping for that lofty, 50,000 word goal so that come November 1st all I'll have to worry about is writing (and writing, and writing, and writing...)

Researching my Story's Foundation

Since my story is set in a fantasy world, there's a lot of pre-planning that goes into it. Even though it's fantasy, I still want it feel as realistic as possible. I don't want my readers to feel like parts of my story don't add up, or like the connections I've made to the "real world" don't make sense.2 Since my story has a lot to do with the way our brains work and my fantasy world is very connected to our regular, everyday world, I have to be careful not to leave any holes that would shatter the whole foundation. It's going to take a lot of brainstorming and an endless amount of googling, but I have hope I can get these things down by the end of the month.

Creating a More Detailed Outline

Planning and outlining used to be my sworn enemies, once upon a time, but lately I've been seeing how much it helps my story to plan out my scenes and plot beforehand. I already have a very good idea about my beginning, middle, and end, but before Nanowrimo I want to write out a chronological scene list for the entire story. At the end of the day, it will be just a list and I'll feel comfortable enough removing or adding some scenes as my characters "take over" the story for themselves. But I think it will really help me to have this scene list so I don't have an excuse to sit in front of my computer staring blankly for hours with no idea where to go next.

Getting Comfortable With Writing Badly

As a self-diagnosed perfectionist, I have a very difficult time completing a scene when I know it's not going the way I wanted it to. But Nanowrimo isn't really about quality (that part comes later)- it's about quantity. The whole point is to get the 50,000 words out so that come December all you have to worry about is editing. I know this is going to be a challenge for me because lately if a scene isn't sounding the way I intended it, I quickly skip around to a new one and leave that one for later. That's not exactly the best idea when you're trying to write a chronological story though. I need to practice being okay with less-than-perfect writing by reminding myself that I can always go back and rewrite the scene later.

These are the main three ways I'm prepping for the Nanowrimo madness but I'm sure I'll come up with a few more in the next week as I get everything ready. I'm so excited for this year because it's the first time in a while that I'm working on a story I've been wanting to write for awhile- not just any idea for the sake of participating.

It's going to be a great November :)

#writing #2015