Nanowrimo 2019: Warmup Step 1

Posted on Sep 8th, 2019

We begin our prep for 2019s NaNoWriMo. It shares all the strategies I go through in preparation.

Sure, I didn’t get to the 50k I wanted last year November, I just got so far I wanted to finish my first novel. I’m editing it daily so I can take it forward to publish it.

The Plan

First, this is my personal strategy, there are tons more from published authors you should read and follow. I think my strategy is nice since doing it last year.

Consider having a book idea 5 years ago. I tried NaNoWriMo and got past 5k words. The story didn’t feel right for my novel; it died out. The following year? I wrote less. I got stuck sooner. The year after? I wrote so little. I just couldn’t stick to writing yet.

• First: write some short stories
• Second: plan your novel plot
• Third: practice your routine of writing

First step

Go to a site like reedsy and pick a random topic. For example, the first was a heartbreaking love story for me this year. Pick a topic, then go through a few simple steps.

1. Jot down a little plot you want to write

This you will go back to for thinking of what to write. A simple plot idea will help you with this.

2. Write through the entire short story plot

We don’t want to just split it in a few days, you can if you want to, I just prefer to make it short enough to finish quickly.

3. Give it a day or two, then edit it

A fresh mind on the story can help. I chose 2 days for each. There is a lot you can think of that needs work. Edit as you please.

Consider doing it in an easier way. Wake at 6 and lie in bed worrying your quick story before you start your day. The first story was simple for me and took a little over an hour to write. I will edit then share it tomorrow.

The second story I wanted more depth. It took me roughly 2 and a half hours to write; I did tons of other things in between short sessions. You will understand your timing, your writing style, and it is something that can point out where you might be slower.

For instance, I’m not the best at writing dialogue. There are tons of things we should practice with before November starts

This can wake your writing skills up, we need to have a method we can trust to write our 50k in November.

Other notes

This strategy is to edit regularly. It’s a personal goal, I want to write every day, start editing in batches from November 3rd. Since I take quite a lot of time to edit, I’d prefer when November is near finished that I’d have all bases covered.

If you are new to NaNoWriMo, perhaps just try writing a bit. You might see you don’t enjoy writing about computers. In the second step which we will go through next, have a better idea of what you want to use as your story idea.

The plan this week is a short story every day from Monday to Friday. It can help us next week when we delve into the deeper plot idea we have.

Hence, look forward to a few short stories this week!