NaNoWriMo Prep 2020
Posted on October 24, 2020 by benjaminfrog (Benjamin T. Collier)
Hey guys! Who’s doing NaNoWriMo this year? Are you all done with your prep work? If not, there’s still a week to go before November kicks off. Still time to cram in some prep. I myself have had a few projects on the go the past couple of months and now have to cram some of my prepping into the last minute, but I think I’m in a good position to get started on November 1st.
This’ll be my second time doing NaNo. When I did it last year I had no idea how it was going to go, but in the spirit of challenge I gave myself some added restrictions. One month – start from scratch – full-length novel of at least 50,000 words – only self-editing and revision within the same month – publish as-is, warts and all.
It wasn’t a challenge I was about to take on with just any project – I needed something equally crazy and fun where I felt I could just go for it and enjoy the ride. That’s why I settled on ‘Vampires Vs. Dragons’ – a story idea I’d had in mind for a while but that I knew would be a bit of a departure and experiment compared to my other works, so I knew I needed to approach it differently. NaNoWriMo felt like the best context for that project.
By that time, I had spent so long editing and revising other projects that it had been over two years since I’d written an original manuscript, and I was worried my head would not be in the game. NaNoWriMo revived my passion for creative writing, got my juices flowing, and gave me a context to just express freely. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to come back this year for another project!
I’ve completed most of my prep work, I think. I’ve got a skeleton plot, details for major characters, ideas of how the world works, and I’ve even put together a musical playlist. Stuff I still have to finish off are a Pinterest board, some starting details for the first scene so I can hit the ground running, and a schedule as to when would be the best time of day for me to write.
What about you? Are you doing NaNo this year? How’s your prep going? Have you ever done NaNo before? Let me know in the comments!
~ Ben