NaNo Prep: The Basics

2013 Nano Participant Facebook Cover - National Novel Writing Month November

It’s almost that time of year again!

November comes along and that means NaNoWriMo. Having been a yearly event for me the last few years, all my friends know I’m as good as gone until December. I completely shut down and focus solely on the project at hand–writing 50k.

This year I’m giving some tips and tricks for those who haven’t heard of NaNo or those looking for smoother sailing. I’ve participated in the event since 2010 and have won each year. It’s not a simple task, and at times you spend asking yourself why you signed up for this after your 3rd all nighter of the month–but it’s worth it. It’s a great way to have fun, make friends with those who are participating along with you, and to accomplish a great deal of writing.

Having about two weeks left before NaNo starts, I am putting together a couple blogs to offer advice:

– Pantser or Planner: Ways to help prepare you prepare for your story.
– The NaNo Jar.
– Food Prep: What to eat and the easiest way to do so.
– A Space of Your Own: Creating solace in a time of chaos.
– Holidays and Family: What to do when you have to go out.

***Here’s some simple things to do right now that will get you started. ***

-Sign up on the website and take a look around.

They offer great advice on the step by step process of writing a novel, what to expect, and groups in your area that meet to write.

-Check out the forums.

The forums have an unbelievable amount of information just waiting to be discovered. Need ideas to help get your story going, plots to adopt, recommendations for music to write to, word count spreadsheets (I also love these spreadsheets and use them yearly), and a million other things.

-Tell friends and family you’re busy all November.

If people know this and know you’re serious about it, they won’t be so broken hearted that you can’t go to the movies every Friday night with them or whatever plans they expect you to join in. Get all your socializing done right now so you can focus all November.

-Sign up for Dropbox.

No seriously. You need some kind of safeguard in case who knows what could happen. I use Dropbox and find it extremely easy to use and helpful. It’s free for limited amounts of space, which is more than enough for your novel.

-Look into Scrivener.

Because I *love* this software! They have a free trial and for those participating in NaNo, the trial works from now till December 7th. Go get it and familiarize yourself with it before NaNo officially starts!

Start thinking about what you want to write about! I’ll have more up shortly! 🙂