How to Win NaNoWriMo
Decide if you are a planner or pantser., Brainstorm your novel., Outline your novel., Flesh out your characters., Form a writing group., Choose how you will write your novel.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Decide if you are a planner or pantser.
In the NaNoWriMo community, there are two types of writers.
The planners are those who plan their novel ahead of time.
The pansters are those who wing it as they go along.Think about how prepared you want to be before you start writing your novel.
A planner will probably do outlines, character sketches, and other organizational techniques.
This helps the planner avoid writer's block as they have a firm idea of where their novel is going.
A pantser may start out with a vague idea in their head.
Pantsers tend to come up with ideas as they write.
This helps them keep their writing fresh, and it allows them flexibility as they write during the month. -
Step 2: Brainstorm your novel.
You should start drafting several different ideas for potential novels early in September or October.
You can choose whichever idea is the strongest or your favorite.
There are many different ways to start brainstorming.
These include:
Mindmapping:
Write down a main idea (such as “man finds alien”).
From this central idea, come up more ideas (such as “alien is friendly” or “alien warns of meteor”).
Connect these new bubbles with your central idea.
As you come up with more ideas, draw lines between them.
The lines should represent how ideas, events, and motivations tie together.Research:
If you have a general idea but do not have a central plot, you can start researching relevant details to help you generate ideas.
For example, if you know you want to write a Victorian romance novel, you can start off by researching life in the Victorian era or the major events of that century.Listing:
Create a list of different ideas that pop into your head.
These could be character ideas, scene details, settings, interesting pieces of dialogue, or major events.
Keep listing until you are out of ideas.
You may find that by writing down ideas, more ideas come to you., An outline will help you stay on track during your month of writing.
By knowing what happens next in your novel, you may be able to prevent writer’s block.
This also takes much of the work out of novel writing, so you can focus on hitting your word count.
Some ways to outline include:
Skeleton Model:
This is a traditional outline.
List ten major events in the novel.
This should include the introduction, the rising conflict, the climax, the resolution, and the conclusion.
Label each with a roman numeral.
Below each section, in bullet points, list the major events or the most important details of each section.Notecards:
Write down your major events, plot points, or details on notecards.
Lay these out on a table, and arrange them in the order that you want.
If something seems out of place, you can move it around.
Remember to stack the notecards in their proper order so you can pull them out next time.
Chapter outline:
Write down all of your chapters and their headings.
Write a brief summary of what happens in each chapter., Strong characters make a convincing novel, and the more fully realized your characters are before you start writing, the easier the writing process will be.
To start building your characters, answer the following questions for each:
What is this character’s role in the story? Why are they important? What are your character’s aspirations? What are their fears? Do they have insecurities? Are they worried about something in their life? What are your character’s motivations? Why do they act the way that they do? How does your character deal with obstacles in their life? What are this character’s strengths? What are their weaknesses? What does this character believe in? Do they believe in good and evil? Are they morally ambiguous? Do they follow a certain religion or philosophy? , You will write more efficiently and effectively if you have others to write with.
See if any of your friends are willing to participate in NaNoWriMo with you.
You can gather for weekly writing circles for advice and support.
If you do not have friends who want to participate, look on the internet to find a writing forum or to see if there is a local writing group in your area.
The NaNoWriMo website also offers support through its forums.
During November, you might want to join a write-in, which is a local event where NaNoWriMo writers gather to write their novels together.
If you cannot find a nearby event, you can always join a virtual write-in hosted on the NaNoWriMo website.To find events like Write-Ins, you should choose a region for your account on the NaNoWriMo website.
To do this, click on “Find a Region” on the Regions tab.
Your region may pop up automatically, or you may choose it from a list.
There are regions all around the world that will help connect you with other writers and NaNoWriMo specific events., While most writers these days write on the computer, many participants in NaNoWriMo write their stories by hand or on a typewriter.
You can still win if you write your story with pen and paper, but you should stick to one method to keep yourself organized.
Decide if you want to type or write your story.
Either way, you will not be writing your story on the NaNoWriMo website.If you want to handwrite your story, be aware that there is a word count validator.
You can get around this validator by typing up your novel at the end of the month or by using a random word generator. -
Step 3: Outline your novel.
-
Step 4: Flesh out your characters.
-
Step 5: Form a writing group.
-
Step 6: Choose how you will write your novel.
Detailed Guide
In the NaNoWriMo community, there are two types of writers.
The planners are those who plan their novel ahead of time.
The pansters are those who wing it as they go along.Think about how prepared you want to be before you start writing your novel.
A planner will probably do outlines, character sketches, and other organizational techniques.
This helps the planner avoid writer's block as they have a firm idea of where their novel is going.
A pantser may start out with a vague idea in their head.
Pantsers tend to come up with ideas as they write.
This helps them keep their writing fresh, and it allows them flexibility as they write during the month.
You should start drafting several different ideas for potential novels early in September or October.
You can choose whichever idea is the strongest or your favorite.
There are many different ways to start brainstorming.
These include:
Mindmapping:
Write down a main idea (such as “man finds alien”).
From this central idea, come up more ideas (such as “alien is friendly” or “alien warns of meteor”).
Connect these new bubbles with your central idea.
As you come up with more ideas, draw lines between them.
The lines should represent how ideas, events, and motivations tie together.Research:
If you have a general idea but do not have a central plot, you can start researching relevant details to help you generate ideas.
For example, if you know you want to write a Victorian romance novel, you can start off by researching life in the Victorian era or the major events of that century.Listing:
Create a list of different ideas that pop into your head.
These could be character ideas, scene details, settings, interesting pieces of dialogue, or major events.
Keep listing until you are out of ideas.
You may find that by writing down ideas, more ideas come to you., An outline will help you stay on track during your month of writing.
By knowing what happens next in your novel, you may be able to prevent writer’s block.
This also takes much of the work out of novel writing, so you can focus on hitting your word count.
Some ways to outline include:
Skeleton Model:
This is a traditional outline.
List ten major events in the novel.
This should include the introduction, the rising conflict, the climax, the resolution, and the conclusion.
Label each with a roman numeral.
Below each section, in bullet points, list the major events or the most important details of each section.Notecards:
Write down your major events, plot points, or details on notecards.
Lay these out on a table, and arrange them in the order that you want.
If something seems out of place, you can move it around.
Remember to stack the notecards in their proper order so you can pull them out next time.
Chapter outline:
Write down all of your chapters and their headings.
Write a brief summary of what happens in each chapter., Strong characters make a convincing novel, and the more fully realized your characters are before you start writing, the easier the writing process will be.
To start building your characters, answer the following questions for each:
What is this character’s role in the story? Why are they important? What are your character’s aspirations? What are their fears? Do they have insecurities? Are they worried about something in their life? What are your character’s motivations? Why do they act the way that they do? How does your character deal with obstacles in their life? What are this character’s strengths? What are their weaknesses? What does this character believe in? Do they believe in good and evil? Are they morally ambiguous? Do they follow a certain religion or philosophy? , You will write more efficiently and effectively if you have others to write with.
See if any of your friends are willing to participate in NaNoWriMo with you.
You can gather for weekly writing circles for advice and support.
If you do not have friends who want to participate, look on the internet to find a writing forum or to see if there is a local writing group in your area.
The NaNoWriMo website also offers support through its forums.
During November, you might want to join a write-in, which is a local event where NaNoWriMo writers gather to write their novels together.
If you cannot find a nearby event, you can always join a virtual write-in hosted on the NaNoWriMo website.To find events like Write-Ins, you should choose a region for your account on the NaNoWriMo website.
To do this, click on “Find a Region” on the Regions tab.
Your region may pop up automatically, or you may choose it from a list.
There are regions all around the world that will help connect you with other writers and NaNoWriMo specific events., While most writers these days write on the computer, many participants in NaNoWriMo write their stories by hand or on a typewriter.
You can still win if you write your story with pen and paper, but you should stick to one method to keep yourself organized.
Decide if you want to type or write your story.
Either way, you will not be writing your story on the NaNoWriMo website.If you want to handwrite your story, be aware that there is a word count validator.
You can get around this validator by typing up your novel at the end of the month or by using a random word generator.
About the Author
Susan Shaw
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in DIY projects and beyond.
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