Tips for writing a Novel in November
First, find some books on writing that you can grab whenever you feel stuck. There’s Save the Cat, and On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. There’s also the 5 Minute Author: How to write a novel by me. That book is free for a few more days, so if you want the ebook version you can find the link in the show notes or look up my name on Amazon to find it.
Second, Decide on a goal. Are you going to go for 50,000 words? Which I can tell you is hard but doable. Or start with a small goal and work from there.
Third, Make a pledge to yourself, write it down, sign it, and post it on your fridge. Research shows that even if it’s a pledge to yourself that you’re more likely to keep it.
Join a group that will support you. NaNoWriMo is a great organization to get you started. I also run a group called the November Writing Roundtable and we’ll have virtual write-ins, as well as some in person events in Albuquerque.
Lock away your inner editor in November. If you have to draw your editor on a piece of paper and hide them away in a drawer until December, do it. But you can’t finish writing a novel in November if you keep going back and editing. You keep moving forward and if you realize you need to make changes, then put that information in notes or in your Scrivener notes section. You can always make the changes later when you edit.
Get involved in a Preptober event. If you join Nanowrimo you should have liaison for your city and they’ll more than likely schedule a preptober – which is when they’ll talk you through things like world building, sprint writing, character development and more.
I have a preptober event that I do every year with my fellow Nanowrimo friends – we’re all novel writers so we get what it takes.
You can find all the links to everything I talked about in the show notes for this episode.
And, most importantly, clear your schedule and be comfortable saying no to people. On November 1st I let all my friends know that I won’t be out much.
Show Notes:
The 5 Minute Author: How to Write a Novel Book