Write a Novel in 30 Days
Have you ever heard of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short? NaNoWriMo participants aim to write novels in 30 days, with a coherent plot! Here are some tips for putting your story on paper. Exactly- the one that's been lurking in the back of your head just waiting for you to write it down in all its glory!
Contents
Steps
- Sign up for a writing program. If you are starting any time between July and November, try NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org), but you could also search for some other ones.
- Find some friends! Get them interested as early as possible, so they don't have any excuses for you. A challenge is always more fun when you can talk to someone about it.
- Procure a computer that you can take over for a month at a time. A laptop is ideal for this, because you can write wherever you go, but a desktop is fine also.
- Start planning your novel. If you have no idea what to write about, see the websites at the bottom of this page for ideas. Once you have your plot established, create characters. Again, see websites below for character-creating advice and help.
- Another, equally effective way to begin your novel would be to create a single element of your story (ie. character, setting, time, or even one event) and run with it.
- Set a word-count goal. An average goal on NaNoWriMo is 50,000 words (not as hard as it looks), but for younger kids, anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 is a good idea. Over the days/weeks, you can check your word count from the menu in the writing software.
- On the first day of the Month, begin writing! Don't worry about how good the writing is. Just write for the sake of writing, and hopefully have a little fun along the way! The only thing that matters at this point is getting that word count up.
- Make checkpoints with rewards for yourself. Maybe at your first thousand words, you'll get up and get a piece of chocolate. At 5,000, you'll play a game on your computer. At 10,000 you'll take the dog for a walk where YOU want to go, not him. When you finally reach your goal, throw a party!
- At the end of the month, take a break. Don't look at, talk about, or even think about your novel for at least a month. That way, when you go back to edit it, you can have a clear conscience.
- Try swapping with a friend for an Editing Month! This can be very helpful to your story and it's also so much fun to read what your friends have written!
- It doesn’t matter what kind of book you decide to write. There are no rules other than that the story has to be very, very interesting. It can be exciting, scary, fun, funny or sad — but it must not bore the reader.
- Analyze and learn. Take your favorite novel of the type that you want to write and read it again, as if it were a how-to manual for becoming a millionaire. Then read it again, breaking the book down into sections. Outline the action on large sheets of paper that you pin to your office wall.
Sample Writing Schedule and Examples
Doc:Writing Schedule,NaNoWriMo Brainstorm,NaNoWriMo Excerpt
Tips
- Do not expect to have a good first draft. Most likely, your first draft will be terrible. That's ok! It's quantity over quality, a way of getting the words out on the paper. Plus, you can't edit until you actually have something to edit.
- Remember, you can always edit your novel later. But during your writing time, what matters is telling your story.
- Create a playlist or soundtrack for your writing time. Put your favorite (preferably lyric-less) music in a random order and play it quietly in the background while you work.
- Enjoy yourself! It's about having fun.
- Writer's block is a part of the process. Allow it to unfurl, relax and do something different for a bit. Then return when you feel like you've had enough of a break.
- Tell as many people as possible what you plan to do so that you have your own personal support group! This will also keep you from pitching out at the last minute.
- Since you want to make sure you write in only 30 days, don't write any coherent sentences down until you are ready to begin.
- If you couldn't convince your friends to join you, meet some new ones! Many sites have forums for you to join, and chances are you will find someone who is willing to help you edit their novel! (But be wary of scams... people who will want to steal all your hard work!!)
- Write as much as you possibly can on the first day so that you have a head start in case you get behind later in the month. Take whole Saturdays just to write!
- Set up a website for your book so that your avid readers (aka your friends) can come and check up on you!
Warnings
- Don't forget to save periodically!
- Make sure you have a copy of your saved novel on an external hard drive, like a disc or a flash drive. This way, if you computer crashes you'll still have a way to access the novel!
- Remember to prioritize your life. The quality of your schoolwork and/or your work at a day job might start to slip from all the intense writing.
Things You'll Need
- A computer you can take over for a full month.
- Friends to join you.
- Story idea(s).
- Time and perseverance!
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Sources and Citations
- www.impishidea.com
- www.nanowrimo.org
- ywp.nanowrimo.org (the young writers program, for kids still in school)
