How to prepare for NaNoWriMo

Every person writes differently. Some people plot extensively before they write a word. Some don’t. Some people spend inordinate amounts of time getting to know their characters. Some not so much. Some people fill out questionnaires, calendars, timelines and all kinds of charts as part of their planning process. Some just start typing. Each of us is different, but each of us wants the same thing. We want to craft a story that best illustrates the vision we have in our brains. For some of us, the act of writing brings that vision into focus, for others it’s the act of planning that does it.

Which are you? This week you will hear how the three of us prepare for NaNoWriMo. If you don’t really know how to plan, you’ll get some ideas and can start experimenting. If you already have an idea how you best prepare for writing a story, perhaps you will get new insight into how to maximize your prep time.

Me? I am not a plotter. I can’t make a list of scenes that must happen in order then go write them. But neither can I fill out sheets of information, like eye color, favorite bird, deepest kept secret to get to know my characters. I get to know my characters by writing about them. Or writing their diaries. Or putting them into scenes. (The best advice I heard once was in a workshop led by Laurraine Snelling. She suggested writing scenes with the character in different emotional states . . . glad, mad, sad, and had.)

But I don’t want to write all those scenes BEFORE NaNo! That’s wasteful. So how do I prepare?

Every year is a bit different, but there is a common thread. I take my focus off the story I want to write. Or at least shift it to my peripheral vision. For example, I plan a break from writing in the last couple of weeks of October. Or rather from writing expectations. I try to schedule all deadlines, self-imposed or otherwise, for mid-October or earlier.

That doesn’t mean I stop writing. No way! I keep writing. That daily discipline needs to be maintained. I will be stretched in the month of November and I don’t want to start the event with lax “writing muscles”. I just don’t force myself to produce any fiction. If I want to write something, if it burns its way out of my fingers, that’s great. Usually, though, this is the perfect time to catch up on non-fiction projects that so often get forgotten and neglected. (This month it will be my personal/author website. Maybe I’ll even have it up and running by 11/1.)

I keep my story idea in my “peripheral vision”. That means I think about during the month of October. I mull over ideas, visualize the characters and make notes, generally keep a log of everything that might be useful come November. I rarely write any scenes unless it is imperative to catch the essence of an emotion or conversation or description. Even then it is usually just a few lines. But any notes on the world (I create fantasy worlds) or the emotional dynamics between characters or plot ideas goes into this file. Names, family trees or other technical details get added as I think of them. Scene ideas or theme ideas or must have events get summarized and logged. Come November whenever I am stuck, or want to remind myself of those ideas, I bring up that file. By reading my October thoughts, I often get some great ideas for what to write next. Or at least a nudge back to the writing.

I’m sure this blog entry is of no use to some of you. Those of you who like to plan out the story, get an idea of what you want to write before you write it and have a roadmap to follow in November would probably go catatonic trying to do it my way. Take heart. Kitty and Shonna will have something for you later this week.

For those of you like me, who have to write the story to discover the characters and where they are going, take my advice. Give yourself a break. Maybe even ban yourself from writing any fiction for the rest of the month. Or play with writing prompts, not creating stories, just vivid scenes, emotion and descriptions. Do some daily writing (to exercise that writing muscle) on one or more non-fiction projects such as memoirs, website content, blogs, essays, an article about NaNo that you submit to your local newspaper. And, while you do all that “playing” capture every stray thought about your NaNo project. When NaNoWriMo arrives, you’ll be rested and ready to write up a storm!

See you in November!