(Hey guys. Just so you know, I usually put all the links where they are mentioned in the post, but I have quite a few today, so I'll have them all waiting for you at the end of the post. Ta. - J)
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As I sat down on Thursday 1st November to start NaNoWriMo, I had a big mission ahead of me.
For those who don’t know- and haven’t read my posts about Camp Nano-, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a ridiculous phenomenon, in which writers all over the world challenge themselves to write 50,000 words of their novel in the 30 days that make up November. For me, a part planner, part winger, who hasn’t drafted anything from scratch in months, this is a hell of a goal. This is my first NaNo ever, and so a little organisation was in order…
Enter, Preptober!
Preptober is obviously a play on words and basically means that we prep for November/NaNoWriMo during October. Get it: Prep-tober. 😉
You know what that means- time for another monthly challenge!
Obviously, the theme for October’s monthly challenge was planning and preparation for NaNo. For the write-in group there were a couple of training sessions, along with their usual live write ins. For those of us who went on the Bali retreat, we had a lot of new information, feedback from our groups to collate into our chapters, organising our thoughts and incorporating new info into our day to day life now that we were home. We also had Implementation Q & A threads and Preptober Mastermind Calls- these are just fancy names for things we could use to ask questions and get answers about the stuff we learned in Bali and how to implement it at home. We were also matched up with critique partners to help us encourage each other along the way.
What was the plan?
To prep for NaNoWriMo. For me, I really wanted to take that feedback from my group, collate all the info and make changes. Then the plan was to look at my outline for the rest of my book and work out what I needed to write and when.
Did it work?
Nope.
What actually happened?
Well. For one, I wasn’t feeling all that great after coming home from Bali. Physically and emotionally, as great as that trip was, it took its toll on me. That slowed me down. But also, I came home surer of my plan going forward than ever before- a plan which included more than just one book. Suddenly I had a whole list of “other” stuff to attend to. I spent October planning alright. But I wasn’t planning for NaNo.
I will say, I did collate all the feedback I got from my group for my chapters- but I didn’t make changes. I also tweaked my outline a little- but nowhere near what would be considered actual preparation.
Instead I planned several months of blog posts, revamped/relaunched my poetry book, Just a Thought, did some research for another novel, and began the search for beta readers for my second poetry book. (More on what I've been working on can be found on my home page.)
As for the training sessions and live write ins?
Well the training sessions didn’t really help me.
I worked out recently that I have a habit of trying to separate my to-do lists too much. This means that, instead of having one long list, I end up with a giant pile of lists with a few things on them- and I can’t find what I know I’ve forgotten on any of them! So, since coming home from Bali, I’ve tried to be less “organised”. I’m trying to focus on just a few things at a time and embrace my natural flow. Some days I’m doing really well with this, other days I fail and end up with three to-do lists on my desk.
So, the training sessions felt a little too “organised” for this new mindset. I watched the replays, but I didn’t follow along with them. And considering the time difference, I wasn’t able to attend the write-ins live. Considering my chaotic nature in October, I ended up forgetting all about them until the end of the month, when I watched almost all of them within three days.
Anyway, by the end of October 31st, at 11pm, I was making a quick list of all the scenes I could think of, off the top of my head, that I knew needed to be in the book. My new plan was to just start hacking away at the important scenes, and add in more, or tweak whatever needed to be tweaked, as I went. I reprinted the first page of Samantha Davidson’s NaNoWriMo workbook. The front page is a picture of an empty bookcase. You write your goals on the spines of the books, and colour them in as you kick goal butt! I loved it so much during Camp Nano in July, so I went and reprinted it, and even added some self-care goals as well. But it’s not like I fixed my outline or character profiles – I just added them to my goal tracker.
And you know what? On November 1st I wrote 3,055 words.
So, what’s the lesson from October’s challenge?
You don’t have to have a plan to do well or get a good start.
Don’t get me wrong, if you’re a planner, set some time aside and plan every word, every chapter, every minute of writing. Flesh out your character profiles, setting profiles and of course your outline. But if you’re not a planner don’t stress. If you’re a planner that feels a little lost and could use a little bit of organisation in your routine, try new things. Set goals and think ahead. Do what you can and then wing the rest. Worst case scenario- you make a plan and then toss it out three days later. But it may end up helping you.
Remember, there are heaps of resources, videos etc out there to help you plan. Some people go into a lot of depth some don’t. find what works for you. Follow someone else’s advice word for word, or tweak a method you like a little, or come up with your own entirely. Kristen Martin and Kim Chance, for example, are your classic Type A’s who love to plan. They have heaps of great tips on planning out everything. On the flip side, Audrey Denholm, who I met in Bali, is a bit of a Plantser and has a combination of planning mixed in with making it up as you go. I love listening to the way she describes her approach to writing. Check out her Nano prep video here.
Whatever your style, for whatever your project, make sure it suits you. Spending hours planning out a novel that you end up changing once you write “Chapter 2” is a waste of time if you know you like to change things as you go. But if you keep hitting writers block because you don’t know what comes next, spending an afternoon having a think about your characters and plot couldn’t really hurt.
Do what’s right for you and your writing.
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I’m really excited about my next blog post on 25th November. Heather Kirchhoff and I discuss our experiences with publishing, and the lessons we learned along the way. I’ll talk a little about what I did with Just a Thought, my poetry book, six years ago, along with what I’m doing with it now, and my plans for my poetry books going forward.
See you then.
Today's Links:
(make sure to check out all their social media accounts too)
Kaila Walker:
- Website
Samantha Davidson
- Website- sign up to her newsletter to get your FREE Nano Workbook (trust me, it's worth it).
- YouTube
- She also has a Podcast (and her voice is a DREAM to listen to)
Kristen Martin
I could do a post just about all the things I've learned from this woman alone. Maybe I will. For now, here's her info. Go check her out.
- YouTube
- Podcast
Kim Chance
- Website
Audrey Denholm
- Audrey's new YouTube channel is super refreshing.
Heather
- Website