 For Authors: September 09, 2015 Issue [#7205] |
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This week: NaNoWriMo: Prepare or Procrastinate? Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Looking at the upcoming novel event, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the question of whether one needs to prepare ahead of time. If so, some options of what to do. |
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It's nearing that time of year. Soon people will be constantly talking about word counts and how they should be writing if they want to reach 50,000 by the end of the month. It seemed a little early at first for a NaNoWriMo topic but the prep challenge is less than a month away and for those that don't decide on November 1st what story they are going to write, it almost time to get busy with note taking.
I have to admit, most of the time I'm a procrastinate as long a possible, do little prep work besides having my story in my head type of writer. For any other story or novel I rarely ever outline and if I do it's just one draft. I also don't do character sheets or even know many things about my characters since I leave some details up to the reader to decide if it's not an aspect about the character that is linked to the conflict. Makes it difficult at times, like when I need names but it's how I write.
However, when it comes to NaNoWriMo, almost every year I take part in "October Novel Prep Challenge" [13+]. In fact, the first year I took part in the preparation challenge is the first year that I managed to write 50k. It's fun and I often get the prep work done a couple of days in advance once October hits, which goes against my usual procrastination.
Why prepare beforehand?
For some, it's better just to write when the time comes. Others, however, will benefit greatly from doing a little preparation ahead of time. This is true of the newer novel writers too, as it's not easy to go from writing 1200 words stories to a 50,000 word rough draft. Even if you don't use the notes later, having spent a whole month focused on an idea before writing it does benefit the writer when it's time to type. Even us non-outliners can benefit from the exercises that come during prep work.
How does one prepare to write a novel?
Take part in the prep challenge! Okay, that is just one way but it's a great one. There is a calendar with different assignments for each day that varies from outlines to character sketches, a few writing practices, short stories and even for fun you can make a novel playlist (my favorite). But any type of prep will work. You can do just some outlines and makes notes of who is involved in the story. You can do extensive world building. It's all up to you and what you find works best.
Non-writing preparation, is that a thing?
Yes, for NaNoWriMo it is a must because November can get a little crazy and the non-writers in your life might have some issues with you staying at the computer that long, yelling at characters on occasion or typing really loud cause my keyboards are never quiet. Plus, you don't want to run out of steam on the physical side along with mental and emotional. So, prepare a little in advance. Halloween candy is a good option though some of us will still have to ration due to calories and what not. I buy Halloween candy not for the holiday, but for write-ins and to have a tiny snack after writing sprints. Works as incentive to get stuff done too. For healthier options, also plan out some shopping days, time for making food, cleaning and such in advanced. Having a game plan can make the month a little easier to manage when it comes to the chaos and potential messes that might ensue. Make schedules, figure out chores, get easy to make food and/or plan a meal prep day into your writing schedule. It will all help come November.
And after all that work, you should be ready at 12:00 am November 1st to start writing that novel. Or you can use prep suggestions to write other things. Either way, it's up to you whether you just write, prepare or do a little procrastination. I might do all three. Either way, we keep writing.
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Do you spend time preparing or doing any types of notes before writing a novel? If so, how much do you do?
My last For Authors newsletter was a year ago. I wrote about note taking options, which actually ties into this week's topic. Here are a few of the responses sent in way back when it came out, where people discuss programs they use in writing and taking notes.
Comment by SpiderGal 
Nice newsletter and very helpful! I use Scrivener, Ywriter, Writers Blocks. I am starting to prefer Scrivener because it does so much more and I can use the Corkboard or Outline instead of flipping over to Writers Blocs. Scrivener is like Ywriter on steroids. Ywriter is free and Scrivener is $40.00. Ywriter was developed by an author who works as a computer programmer. I read that he developed it originally to help him with NaNoWriMo. Both are great programs and Writers Blocs is fun to use but pricey! Throughline is like Writers Blocks but WB is so much better. Outline 4D is easily beat by Ywriter and Scrivener. Power Writer is a good program but similar to Ywriter and Scrivener. MasterWriter is OK but now they want you to subscribe yearly.
Comment by alfred booth, wanbli ska 
I am a fervent user of Evernote. iPhone, iPad and Mac synchronization is immediate and I can work on any of my documents from any computer with an internet connection.
Comment by Osirantinous  
I love gadgets but when it comes down to it, just give me a pencil and a notebook to jot down my ideas. From there I write the full story on A4. Only later do I type it up, and when I do I'm 90% on Microsoft Word. However, since joining WDC I've been put onto Scrivener, and I like it for the same reasons you outlined. (Plus, I really like the tone/humour of the tutorial!). I have two stories written in Scrivener and they seem to be more organised than those in Word. One programme you didn't mention, but is from the same Literature and Latte team, is Scapple. It's basically an electronic place to hold brainstorming diagrams. It's really cool, though I don't use it as often as I should.
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