October NaNo Prep: 2011 Calendar

OBSOLETE.
Please see the current year's calendar
linked in the contest instructions:

FORUM

October Novel Prep Challenge  (13+) A month-long novel-planning challenge with prizes galore. #1474311 by Brandiwyn🎶

Ever had a "huh?" moment in the midst of a good book? Picture this: the main character encounters a dense thicket. This is no problem for our hero, who whips a sword from his scabbard and slices through the underbrush. But wait a moment... didn’t he just lose his sword over the cliff in that action-packed battle? More... ▼

Up until that moment, you were captivated - you were completely engrossed in the story. But this discrepancy just yanked you right out of the narration and plopped you back in your living room.

The longer a work, the more important planning ahead becomes. Because of the length of time required to write longer works, it's easy to forget what happened in Chapter 3 two weeks (or months) later while you're writing Chapter 17. Even if you catch the error in the edit phase, the problem might permeate the entire piece. Take for instance the previous sword example. The hero now needs to find another way through the thicket, or else the author needs to remove the thicket from the plot entirely. But what if the thicket is central to the plot, such as it is in the story of Sleeping Beauty? In that case, the hero needs to either find another sword, or not lose his sword in the first place. Fixing errors such as these in the edit phase is frustrating, because every correction can ripple, yielding new and unforeseen problems.

Prevention is the best method for avoiding mistakes in your story plot. Outlining in advance prevents the errors in the first place. Draft a rough outline before you begin writing the piece. When starting a new writing project, you may not know everything that’s going to happen in your story, and that’s okay. Your initial outline can be limited to your beginning, your climax, and your ending. Once you have that in writing, you can begin to flesh out the middle, outlining how your characters will get from the beginning to the climax, and finally, to the end.

Some writers feel that outlining stifles creativity. While opinions vary, two things remain true: (1) plot errors take a lot of work to fix after the fact, and (2) overlooked plot errors run the risk of pulling readers out of your story. Whatever your thoughts on outlining and the creative process, consider the headaches that planning ahead will save you. You may find that it’s worth it.

October NaNo Prep Challenge: 2011 Calendar

This list of daily challenges accompanies "October Novel Prep Challenge"  [13+]. If a challenge does not apply to your novel project (for example, if your story takes place in a single setting, and therefore you can't describe three separate settings), post "Challenge not applicable" in the forum for that day. You will still be eligible for the grand prizes.

BRAINSTORMING TOOLS:
         Brainstorming and Mind Mapping  
         Free Mind Mapping Software  


WRITING PROMPTS:
         "Invalid Item" 
         Seventh Sanctum: various name and other fiction generators  


THE CALENDAR:

Saturday, Oct. 01
The general premise of your novel. Summarize the following: Who is your protagonist (or protagonists)? What will happen to him/her/it/them? Why? How will it turn out? What does that tell us? Is there a moral to the story? Resources to help you: Developing a Premise   and "Premise"  .

Sunday, Oct. 02
CONTEST ROUND: Write a background story about your protagonist. Make your readers relate to him or her in such a way that we would be devastated if he or she were to experience conflict (which, ultimately, sometime in November, he/she will.) The object of the contest is to make your judges root for your protagonist! Simply put: the character we like best wins. If your protagonist is an assassin or someone similarly "unlikeable," never fear! I love Vlad Taltos, the professional assassin (reference: "Dragaera" series by Steven Brust.) You can make us love your character, too.

*Submit your BITEM link by 1200 noon WDC time on Monday, Oct. 03 to compete. If you miss this deadline, or choose not to compete, you may still enter your challenge completion within three days for the grand prize, per the standard Challenge guidelines.

Monday, Oct. 03
Character profile: Your protagonist. The point of this exercise is for you to get to know your character inside and out before you write your novel. If you don't know your character, how can you expect if of your readers? How can your readers sympathize with a vague, unknown protagonist? Flesh out your character in detail, either with by listing his/her attributes or writing a description from the perspective of someone very close to your protagonist. A couple of resources to help you: Character Chart   (thank you, Waltz Invictus !, How to Write a Character Sketch   and "Invalid Item"  (thank you, Shanachie !).

Tuesday, Oct. 04
Outline: first draft. Basic overview of main events. Check out the section on Outlining in this free ebook: Lazette Gifford's "A NaNoWriMo Survival Guide"  .

Wednesday, Oct. 05
Marketing exercise: Describe your target audience. Explain in detail what aspects of your novel will appeal to this particular audience, and why.

Thursday, Oct. 06
Get out your pencil (or Excel or Visio or Autocad if you're the nerdy type) and draw a physical sketch of any setting in your novel, which we will call Setting #1. This can be a map of a town, woods, or valley, a layout of a room with furniture and walls, a floor plan of the castle, or any other physical setting. It doesn't matter if your art skills are lacking. Just get a feel for where obstacles and objects are in relation to one another.

Friday, Oct. 07
Describe Setting #1 (with words.) Use all five senses, and make your reader experience the setting as if he or she were there.

Saturday, Oct. 08
Character profile: antagonist. If your antagonist is a situation rather than a person, write about what it is and how it will create conflict for your protagonist. Further clarification: "ANTAGONIST (Re: A LOT of confusing things)"  

Sunday, Oct. 09
CONTEST ROUND: Write a background story about your antagonist. Make your reader empathize with the motivations of the antagonist. If your antagonist is a situation rather than a person, write a background story about that.

*Submit your BITEM link by 1200 noon WDC time on Monday, Oct. 10 to compete. If you miss this deadline, or choose not to compete, you may still enter your challenge completion within three days for the grand prize, per the standard Challenge guidelines.

Monday, Oct. 10
OFF/Freebie. Take a break, catch up, or download and browse Lazette Gifford's "A NaNoWriMo Survival Guide"  .

Tuesday, Oct. 11
Outline, second draft. Revise and add detail to the beginning, climax, and end.

Wednesday, Oct. 12
Write any background story that sets up your plot. An example of this: The Lord of the Rings story revolves around the One Ring, its significance, and how it's destroyed. But how did Frodo get the One Ring in the first place? ...that background story is in The Hobbit. You obviously can't write a full-scale novel in 15 minutes, but you could write the scene where Bilbo encounters Gollum and stumbles across the ring. That would be a background story that sets up the plot in Lord of the Rings.

Thursday, Oct. 13
Character profile: supporting or minor character #1.

Friday, Oct. 14
Background story: supporting or minor character #1

Saturday, Oct. 15
Physical sketch (drawing): Setting #2.

Sunday, Oct. 16
CONTEST ROUND: Describe Setting #2 (with words.) Use all five senses, and make your reader experience the setting as if he or she were there.

*Submit your BITEM link by 1200 noon WDC time on Monday, Oct. 17 to compete. If you miss this deadline, or choose not to compete, you may still enter your challenge completion within three days for the grand prize, per the standard Challenge guidelines.

Monday, Oct. 17
OFF/Freebie. Take a break, catch up, or download and browse Lazette Gifford's "A NaNoWriMo Survival Guide"  .

Tuesday, Oct. 18
Outline, third draft. Fill in some of the gaps.

Wednesday, Oct. 19
Character sketch profile: Minor or supporting character #2.

Thursday, Oct. 20
Background Story: Minor or supporting character #2.

Friday, Oct. 21
Describe the political setting in your novel. What kind of government rules your world? What laws or rules of society are in place? Who enforces them? How successful is enforcement of laws and rules?

Saturday, Oct. 22
Describe, in detail, an object that is critical to your story

Sunday, Oct. 23
CONTEST ROUND: Write a commitment letter to yourself, promising to do your best during the month of November, and vowing to not allow distractions or procrastination to keep you from your goal. Explain in the letter why you are awesome, how you plan to complete NaNo 2011, and what you will do to celebrate when you win.

*Submit your BITEM link by 1200 noon WDC time on Monday, Oct. 24 to compete. If you miss this deadline, or choose not to compete, you may still enter your challenge completion within three days for the grand prize, per the standard Challenge guidelines.

Monday, Oct. 24
OFF/Freebie. Take a break, catch up, or download and browse Lazette Gifford's "A NaNoWriMo Survival Guide"  .

Tuesday, Oct. 25
Outline, fourth draft. Start to build the middle.

Wednesday, Oct. 26
Physical sketch (drawing): Setting #3

Thursday, Oct. 27
Description: Setting #3

Friday, Oct. 28
You are a journalist. The story of your novel is complete. Interview your protagonist and ask the following questions:
How did the events of your story change you?
How is life for you now?

Saturday, Oct. 29
Write a list of all the things you tend to do to procrastinate, and establish a schedule for the month of November outlining when you are and are not allowed to procrastinate. Schedule time to write and put your schedule in writing.

Sunday, Oct. 30
Outline, fifth draft. Flesh out the logistics of how your protagonist gets from the beginning of the story to the climax of the story.

Monday, Oct. 31
OFF/Freebie. Take a break, catch up, or download and browse Lazette Gifford's "A NaNoWriMo Survival Guide"  .

Tuesday, Nov. 1
Start writing your novel!

The calendar accompanies:

FORUM

October Novel Prep Challenge  (13+) A month-long novel-planning challenge with prizes galore. #1474311 by Brandiwyn🎶

and

GROUP

October Novel Prep Challenge Group  (E) October Novel Prep Challenge participants. #1474310 by Brandiwyn🎶