November 1, or the start of NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner. Basically, NaNoWriMo is about writing a 50K work novel in month, by writing a little every day. Not revising or editing, just writing. The emphasis is on completing 50,000 words. You can read more about planning for NaNoWriMo, but today I want to call attention to some of the free the resources available on the NaNoWriMo web site (and don’t forget the Absolute Write NaNoWriMo forum NaNoWriMo and Beyond).
NaNoWriMo has a complete and free step-by-step course about How to Participate in NaNo Prep 101. It’s designed to be completed before NaNo starts, with one step allocated per week. It started in Mid September, but it’s not too late to catch up. The course outline so far:
- Develop a Story Idea (September 9-13)
- Create Complex Characters (September 16-20)
- Construct a Detailed Plot or Outline (September 23-27)
- Build a Strong World (September 30 – October 4)
- Organize Your Life for Writing! (October 7-11)
- Find and Manage Your Time (October 14-18)
It’s not too late to dive in. There’s even a downloadable NaNo Prep 101 .pdf if you want to go it alone.