Preptober might be my favorite time of the year. Crisp fall weather has started to settle into the nooks and crannies of Colorado. And for me, it’s a time of daydreaming about my next book which is WAY less stressful for me than actually writing the book. It's kind of like the calm before the storm.
For me, brainstorming includes making a checklist of all the things I need to accomplish before NaNoWriMo starts in November. This includes things like plotting, creating character profiles, and researching the setting for my story as well as setting myself up for the most productive writing sessions. Here's what my Preptober checklist looks like:
1. Announce project on NaNoWriMo
In order to participate in NaNoWriMo, you have to announce your NaNoWriMo project first. And if you're new to NaNoWriMo and haven't created a login for NaNoWriMo's website, you can do it here: nanowrimo.org/sign-up
2. Create a dedicated NaNoWriMo Notebook
I always buy a new notebook for each new writing project I'm working on. I use these notebooks to write down story ideas, write out scenes by hand, jot down notes about my characters, outline plots and subplots, determine the rules of my world, capture my research. My notebooks are where I can get messy with my writing process. It's not organized which it the way I like it for the first draft. After NaNoWriMo, I create a binder that is more organized so that my next drafts for my book can be more organized and cohesive.
3. Gather writing inspiration
For me, a good story hits me in all the senses. I'm definitely someone who appreciates purple prose. Some YA authors I think are masters at description are Stephanie Garber and Roshani Chokshi. As a writer, I love writing descriptions. But in order to do that, I need plenty of inspiration to capture a scene of a story.
If you're looking for ideas on describing how your character feels and experiences the world around them, I highly recommend checking out this blog post by T.R. Chandler: http://trchandlerwrites.com/descriptive-writing-using-all-57-senses
For now though, here are some ways I find inspiration for the five senses:
Sight: Pinterest, Design Seeds, Home Depot Paint Colors
Smell: Purchase candles, look through perfume catalogs online (my fave: Sixteen92)
Hearing: Make a playlist on Spotify and Pandora for your novel
Taste: Eat the food your characters are eating, watch cooking and baking shows or food documentaries (Any GBBO fans reading this?!)
Touch: Go to a fabric shop or take a walk outside
Also, if you Google "how to describe ______", you can usually find some good lists of words to describe the five senses.
Lastly, if you have some money to spend, I can't recommend the books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi enough. The Emotion Thesaurus has been a lifesaver for me when trying to describe my characters' emotions.
4. Buy snacks to keep at your desk
So, cookies might not be the best choice for this because if you're like me you'll end up consuming a whole plate of cookies by yourself during your writing session. But, I know that if I'm hungry it's really hard to concentrate on what I'm writing so buying some mints or jolly ranchers that I can just pop into my mouth really helps me concentrate. Also, you can make a reward system with yourself so that when you write X amount of words you get to eat another snack.
5. Choose rewards for writing milestones
You don't have to do this, but creating a reward system is really motivating for me. What I like to do is for every 10K words I write during NaNoWriMo, I get a reward. I usually up the value of the reward for every 10K I hit. This does not have to involve making a purchase, but it certainly can. Last year my ultimate reward for hitting 50K in NaNoWriMo was attending a writing conference I really wanted to go to.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Hope to see you around here sometime soon!
Taylor
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