There is no shortage of drawing and writing challenges in October. One of the big ones for writers is Plantober, also known as Preptober, where writers start getting ready for NaNoWriMo 2020.
What is NaNoWriMo?
For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Every year during the month of November, writers from all over the world sit down to write a novel in a month. 50,000 words, 30 days, an average of 1,667 words per day to succeed. You don’t even need to be an adult to participate! The non-profit agency that runs NaNoWriMo also has a separate site for their Young Writers Program for writers under the age of 18 and K-12 educators (for those who want to bring National Novel Writing Month into the classroom).
From the Young Writers Program Website:
National Novel Writing Months is a fun, empowering approach to creative writing. The challenge: draft an entire novel in just one month. For 30 wild, exciting, surprising days, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create!
ywp.nanowrimo.org
Why Start Planning in October?
It’s not a requirement. However, as any NaNo (short for NaNoWriMo) veteran can tell you, when you’re trying to churn out 50,000 words in a month you don’t have much time to sit down and plan things out. If you’re someone who likes to wing it, which NaNo veterans refer to as a Pantser. People who need a plan, though, should start getting ready beforehand.
In the past I’ve never bothered with a plan. This isn’t so much because I’m a Pantser, but because I tend to forget and leave things at the last minute, so I start November 1 with only a vague story idea and a main character. This doesn’t usually work out for me, as I’ve been participating in National Novel Writing Month off and on since 2011 and have only hit the 50,000 word goal 3 times.
And that’s okay! The main purpose of NaNoWriMo is to end with more than you started with, whether that’s 50,000 words or 4000. Either way, your story likely won’t be complete from start to finish on November 30. There will be more work to do. But you’ll have a jumping off point to do that work.
This year is the first time I’m making a solid plan and writing it down. I realized when working on some personal projects over the past few months that I am the type who works better with an outline. My outline won’t be super in-depth. It’s purpose is to be a guide to keep me on track in November.
A Sneak Peek at my NaNoWriMo 2020 Project
Hopefully you can read my writing. For those who can’t, I’ve transcribed the image below:
NaNoWriMo 2020: My Home is My Castle
Premise: Colby is an immortal. Bored, lonely, and in need of a change of scenery, he buys a haunted castle off Craigslist. All the locals try to warn him away, and there are whispers that it’s occupied by monsters.
If only they knew Colby was a monster himself.
He and his cat Popcorn move in an quickly meet the supernatural denizens of the castle. Most quickly resign themselves to his presence, but Colby is forced to kill a hostile werewolf.
Little does he know how many problems that act will cause.
From my notebook
That’s right. Due to popular demand, I’m turning my short story My Home is My Castle into a full-length novel!
I haven’t gotten far into the chapter breakdown of my outline yet. After all, we’re only five days into October. However, here’s a look at the characters we’ve met before (pictured below).
I hope you’re as excited as I am!
How are you getting ready for NaNoWriMo 2020? Let me know in the comments down below!