It’s Preptober! 5 Steps to Preparing Yourself for a Successful NaNoWriMo

If, like me, you woke up this morning with a thrill zipping down your spine, welcome to Preptober! The shorter days and cooler nights mean fuzzy sweaters, hot drinks, and more guilt-free indoor time, which for many of us, means it’s time to get writing.

Because November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), October has become a fun-filled lead up to the mayhem of NaNoWriMo.

While you can start NaNoWriMo on day one with a blank page and no idea what you’re going to write, your likelihood of success is much higher if you put a little effort and intention into getting yourself ready for NaNoWriMo.

5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Preptober

1. Develop Your Story Idea

If you already know what you want to write about in November, October is a great time to read similar novels in your genre, brush up on your knowledge of craft and story structure, and, if you’re into it, outline your beats. If you don’t have a project in mind, here are ten ways to find your next story idea.

2. Announce Your Intentions

Once you’ve decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, tell everyone! Not only will announcing your intention enable you to connect with other wrimos, it will reinforce your commitment to yourself and your writing.

Even if you prefer to whisper your intention, sign up for an account on the official NaNoWriMo site. It’s free and can help keep you accountable. Through their site, you can find other wrimos, get access to tons of tips and tools, and even find webinars and classes to help you prepare for NaNoWriMo. I just checked their site, and they have scheduled two webinars on world building, discussions for Writers of Color, and even a Yoga and Word Sprint session, all for free.

My NaNoWriMo project this year is to draft Charcoal and Smoke, book three in The Elemental Artist series.

3. Make Space for NaNoWriMo

Unless you are already a full-time writer, chances are you don’t have dedicated time set aside to write. Preptober is a great time to block out your calendar and make a plan.

For me, this usually means identifying easy-fix meals, chore trading with my husband, and blocking off the weekends so I don’t accidentally overbook myself with social events overlapping my limited writing time. They haven’t announced the dates of my local write-ins, but as soon as they do, I’ll block those out on my calendar too.

4. Flex Your Imagination Muscles during Preptober

If you’ve let yourself get out of writing shape, Preptober is a great time to rebuild your daily writing practice.

Use this month to journal, connect with other writers on your socials, and get your workspace cleaned up.

Take a writing class, attend webinars, dust off that writing prompt book you bought years ago, or do anything else which will fill your creative well.

5. Get Involved

There are many ways to get involved with the NaNoWriMo community. Through the official site, you can find a NaNoWriMo forum for support and answers, or you can respond to calls on social media to be NaNoWriMo buddies. In the Seattle area, there is also a NaNoWriMo discord channel, and by joining the virtual write-ins last year, I made friends I’m still in contact with.

Preptober (and life) Happens

Even with the best intentions, life happens and you may not reach your NaNoWriMo goal, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try if you’d like to join the fun. A huge part of Preptober is resetting your writer mindset. Besides, you have an entire month to decide if you want to join NaNoWriMo this year, but even if you don’t, you can use the Preptober activities to plan your next project.

Although I’m fully prepared to try for the 50,000 word goal (and obviously, I need to get Book 3 drafted), this year, I’m expecting edits on Graphite and Turbulence back at the beginning of November, and I’ll be attending a virtual writing conference in the middle of the month. But even if I only get half-way through my project, that’s still a win and will move me closer to my goals.

How are you using Preptober?

Header Photo by Alex Geerts on Unsplash