This week I've decided to do another article about writing. The article will be about NaNoWriMo in particular.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Isn't it a little early to be writing about NaNo? Well, yes and no. You can't possibly start NaNo yet, since it's not November, but that doesn't mean you can't start preparing. Thus my contradictory answer.
Like I've mentioned in previous articles, there are two pretty common types of writers, especially when it comes to NaNo. These two types are planners and pantsers. Don't misunderstand though. There are plenty of people that fall in between the two categories, exhibiting qualities of both, but they usually lean one way or the other. I'm one of those people who is a pantser by nature but has moved closer to the middle. Now I lean a bit more towards planning. This happened gradually as I learned more about writing over the years.
I mentioned these two categories specifically because they're two of the main types of writers you'll talk to during NaNo. There's the person who has even some of most minute details planned out for every chapter, down to how many steps it takes to cross the room in the first scene. Then there's the person who barely, barely has the faintest idea of the beginning, middle, end end of their novel.
Now these are the two extremes. But as I said before, everyone falls somewhere in between these two. Neither are good or bad; it just depends on what works for you as a writer.
Personally, I find that when working under a deadline where I'm required to write a specific minimum of words per day in order to succeed, I need to have at least a rough outline of every chapter. Even if I change it later, it's nice to have. Sometimes, I plan about 10-15 chapters ahead and advance the outline as I go along. Other times I outline the whole book in advance. It really depends on you, as well as the novel itself. I find that if I plot before I write, my story ends up having less plot holes and scenes that need to be cut out. Both of which mean less editing, which is always nice.
Another important thing for me (and maybe for you too) is to know the characters in your NaNo extremely well before you start. Otherwise, I find that this can throw a kink in your progress very quickly. There are a few different ways to do this. You can get with a friend and you can interview each other's characters. You can do personality quizzes for your characters. You can also do a few writing prompts to experiment with how your character would react in specific situations. You can find those on Pinterest pretty easily. Those are just a few of the things you can do to get to know them a little better.
There are plenty more ways to prepare for NaNo, but I find these tips to be the ones most important in order for me to finish by November 30th. Hopefully they'll help you too!
Happy planning or pantsing!
