Write while the heat is in you… The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.” -Henry David Thoreau
Many writers are starting to Prep for NaNoWriMo…. aka National Novel Writing Month.
NaNoWriMo is an entire month(officially in November of every year) that many aspiring novelists use to kick-start an exciting new creative adventure – to write their novel in 30 days.
This idea was started by Chris Baty, who gives really practical steps on how to get it done in No Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition: A Low-stress, High-velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
I know it sounds impossible. Yet many writers have written their 50,000 words – the goal for NaNoWriMo – in 30 days. Broken down, that’s roughly 1700 words written every single day.
I’ve tried to do this a few times before, but didn’t get enough words written. At the time I was just happy that I got farther along in my project, which is a worthwhile goal, but I felt disappointed because I didn’t reach a personal goal. However, this year I want to change that.
Maybe that’s where you’re at too. If so… read on.
Play with Different Story Ideas that Intrigue You
In other words, play the “what if?” game. Ask fascinating questions that perk your interest.
Try to find a story idea that captures your imagination.
Here’s some questions that might spark some ideas:
- What if a heroine from the 1800’s finally found her true love only to discover he didn’t even notice she existed? How would she capture his attention?
- What if your heroine’s grandmother’s house, held the secrets to all the questions she had about her origins? What would she do to uncover those? Who would not want her to uncover the secrets?
- What if in the year 2133, each city that had survived the apocalypse had to cover their cities with a dome so the people could survive? How would they live? How would that shape who they were?
Take a few minutes to write down as many “What if’s” as you can think of. Do your best to fill up three handwritten pages.
Next step is to read through your list and find the “what if” idea that really intrigues you. If you can’t pick one right away, choose the top three. And narrow it down from there.
Learn what the Story is about…
Look again at your “what if” question. Ask yourself what your story is about?
For example, in the western historical romance I’m writing now, the story is about forgiveness and redemption. The heroine is scarred from her past and so is the hero. One needs forgiveness the other needs healing from wounds of the past.
Maybe your story is a mystery or a thriller where the heroine has to fight a character who stands in the way of her and her dreams.
The character that drives your story line is your protagonist. The character that opposes your protagonist is your antagonist.
Once you know who your protagonist and antagonist are and have a better idea of your story, you might find it helpful to sketch out – on blank paper or index cards – all the things that would keep your protagonist from getting what they want.
Learn to understand your main characters
Grab two pages of notes, one for your protagonist and one for your antagonist. Then for each character ask yourself a bunch of questions:
- What are some wounds from her past?
- What does she love more than anything else?
- what are some of her biggest fears?
- Is there anything unique about how she looks, talks or acts that sets her apart from other characters?
Write down your answers in your pages.
You can also google and find some great pictures for your characters. I did that for the book I’m currently writing and I put the images up on Scrivener.
Your main goal at this point is to understand on a deeper level who your characters are, their wounds and what their motivations and goals are.
From there, you’ll get an idea of other interesting characters in your story
Something to remember here, is that as you continue to write more about your characters and especially as you write your 1st draft, more than likely your characters will change. You’ll have new ideas and discover new aha moments as you write.
Trust story emergence. Your story will come to you as you let your imagination take you away. Joanna Penn talks about how to let the story flow in this interview.
Focus on the characters that really interest you. Write down physical traits, ideas of how they talk and possibilities on their behavior.
Better yet, when you go out for coffee or shopping for groceries, really watch and listen to people. You’ll start to get a good feel for creating realistic characters.
Find your Scenes to help structure your story
After you have a tentative cast of characters, take out the stack of index cards and lay them out on the table. Put the index cards in the order that makes sense to you.
Really take time to think about your story, and take the time to let your imagination take you away. Add new ideas to the cards and continue to create new index cards as needed.
This is the fun part. You are creating a whole new world.
When you’re happy with the order that you’ve put the index cards on the table, next pick the scenes that have the most conflict. These are your best scenes.
You want to have a lot of drama that propels your story toward it’s unavoidable conclusion. Many fiction writers I know use the following order of scenes…
- The Inciting Incident. This is the scene that is the event that catapults your protagonist into the story.
- End of Act I. This is a scene that has a lot of conflict and is where your protagonist realizes the huge obstacle she faces … and realizes that she can’t go back.
- Middle. A point in your book where things look the darkest for your protagonist. It seems like there’s no hope and that their enemy – the antagonist – is too strong. They feel like they should run rather than stand and fight.
- End of Act II. This is about 75% of the way through the story. Your protagonist has chosen to fight and this is a big test for her. The stakes are really high… and it’s what brings the story to it’s conclusion.
- Climax. This is the last huge conflict which comes near the end of your story. This is the BIG ONE. The battle of them all – and the game changing moment that determines whether your protagonist gets what she really wants … or not.
The goal is to have a gradual emergence of your story. If all you do is learn a little more about your story after doing these exercises, that you’ve made progress. If you need to take a break for a day and come back the next day for a fresh look at your story, then do it.
Next steps…
- Rearrange your scenes/change them as needed – to show your cast of characters.
- Continue to rearrange and change your scenes/characters until you feel like your story has settled how you like it. There will be many details that seem ‘foggy’ at this point… but no worries, the story will come together.
Write a story summary
This is something I do. I write a summary of the story – as much of the story/character that has emerged at this point. I don’t know the whole story at this point, so I just write down as much of the story as I can think of here.
What will this do?
Writing a short summary of your story will help you…
- understand and flesh out your story
- to go deeper to understand the main character that the reader will be rooting for
- give a sense of why the story you’re writing is compelling
To make this a little simpler, think of your story equation like this: When a inciting incident completely devastates the main character’s world, she must overcome a bunch of obstacles to reach her goal.
If you’re adventurous, write an outline
This is simple… just write your story structure in the 4 parts mentioned above. Just tell your story and most of all have fun with it!
What are your tips for prepping for NaNoWriMo? I’d love to hear your tips in comments below 🙂
