NaNoWriMo: You need a plan part II (Or, It’s a marathon, not a sprint)
Many years ago, before my knees and hips told me that running was not my best form of exercise, I did develop a running practice. I’d always hated running, because I was always the slowest person in any running group, from elementary school on up, but I found I liked competing against myself, to see how I could improve in terms of distance or time. I eventually worked up to a 5K race, but then ended up turning to other forms of exercise that didn’t involve potentially doing damage to already-fragile joints.
I was at least smart enough to realize I couldn’t take on a marathon without any preparation. Most first-time novelists make just that mistake, thinking they can jump in and start cold, with no preparation. There is the prep that comes with figuring out what your novel will be about, who the characters will be, and other craft-based issues. Then there is the prep of writing itself.
This month, we’re focusing on NaNoWriMo prep, which is a specific challenge that asks you to write 1,666 words a day for 30 days. This can be difficult if you’re not used to writing much, or at all, especially on a daily basis. Some of us can pump out that much prose and not break a sweat, but unless you have a regular writing habit, it’s going to seem like a lot. Now maintain that output for 30 days, every day, no break (or you’ll have to make it up on other days).
As part of your prep this month, think about your usual daily writing output. If it’s not in the 1500 word range, don’t fool yourself it will be easy to maintain a 1666 word pace for 30 days. This page: https://careerauthors.com/get-the-words-on-the-page-writing-sprint-exercises/ has some great writing sprint exercises to help you get in shape.
Another way to build your writing stamina is to start to flesh out some scenes as you do the prep exercises below this week. These may or may not appear in your actual novel. These are backstory scenes that will help you know your protagonist and other characters better, so that you can make organic choices for their actions and reactions in the story.
Ask yourself these questions:
1. Whose Story Is It?
2. Who’s telling the tale? The narrator, or the Protagonist? Someone else?
3. What is the story timeline? This doesn’t need to be detailed, but you should know the general time frame – 1939-1945? One summer? One year? 20 years?
4. Where does the narrator stand in time? Are they telling the story as it unfolds, or from the perspective of having lived through it?
5. Where does the story start and end? Try to flesh out the first scene and the last scene.
6. Who is your Protagonist? What are their core beliefs, especially as regards this story? How were these beliefs formed? In other words, we don’t just want age, gender, occupation, and so forth. We want to know what makes this person tick. This is an excellent opportunity to sketch out some pivotal scenes from the person’s life, the ones that formed who they are today. No one cares what your Protagonist had for breakfast. We care about their values and beliefs about the world, and how that affects their decisions and actions in the story to come. This will help tremendously as you write. Your protagonist cannot be a puppet at the mercy of the plot. Their decisions, reactions, and actions have to drive the plot, or they (and it) will be very flat. Don’t think you can “tell the story” (the plot) and come back to shading in character later. It is much easier to interweave character and plot from the beginning (although of course you will deepen it in revision). You may make changes once the story gets going, and that’s fine, but this will give you a strong, unique character to start with.
How is your Preptober going? Share your progress in the comments!
