#prepping for nano

[nanowrimo]

Getting ready for NaNoWriMo?

Over the past six weeks, we've shared tons of resources, activities, and advice to help you get prepared to write a novel in our "NaNo Prep 101" course.

If you literally just decided "oh hey, writing a novel sounds cool, I think I might try that," no worries! Here's a round-up of some of our favorite NaNo Prep activities, or you can check out our full NaNo Prep 101 page and choose your own favorites.

Doing a bunch of prep work isn't necessary, of course—there are many NaNoWriMo writers who identify as "pantsers", a.k.a. people who "fly by the seat of their pants". But we hope these resources will help you find some fun and inspiration, too!

[omegalomania]

happy...falloween? hall out boy? hell if i know.

[nepthrene]

i'm trying to find an alternative writing community to do nanowrimo with this year, separate from the "official" website - but every post i'm seeing on here is by people who don't like the 30 day 50k challenge?

i'm specifically looking for writing buddies or a group to join

does anyone know a better way or place to try and find people?

please help

[alphacrone]

the only two ways i can be productive:

procrastinate until the 11th hour then go on a caffeine-fueled speedrun to complete days/weeks of work in like. three hours.

do the work to procrastinate on something else

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: October Wrap-Up.

Gr8 news: I am no longer very far behind on my NaNo prep reading!! I had to drop JUST LIKE HOME (reread) and HOUSE OF LEAVES, but I got through the rest of my Haunted House and/or Aliens and/or Parasite/Fungus TBR. Here they all are!

Photos and/or reviews linked:

SHRIEK - ★★★★ I think SHRIEK Is my favorite volume of the Ambergris trilogy, taken as a whole--the one-way conversation Duncan was having with Janice was a really neat narrative choice, and then the reveal in the Afterword's Afterword was, in true VanderMeer fashion, mind-blowing.

FINCH - ★★★★ I was actually surprised by how much I liked this one. It helped me figure out a LOT about what kinds of power dynamics I enjoy in borderline-dystopian fiction, and what intrigues me most about limited agency. It wrapped the story up almost too neatly, for a VanderMeer, but I did still have a good time and blitzed through it quickly. Given this one and SHRIEK, I'm counting the Whole Series as a Four-Star read--I'd like to reread it someday, now that I know what's going on.

LEECH - ★★★★★ (reread) STILL ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVES, OFFICIALLY!! It's very gothic and heavy and fucked up, but it does FASCINATING things with POV, and worldbuilding, and storytelling frameworks. PLEASE check the content warnings, but if none of those are hard no's for you, definitely pick this one up. I suspect anyone for whom Animorphs was a Formative Influence will adore this (but so far my sample size is really only 1)--please prove me right.

A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES - ★★★½ This was fun! Not my favorite Kingfisher (that award still goes to HOLLOW PLACES), but I had a good time--I laughed, I squealed over vultures, I blasted through pages to get to the end.

STARLING HOUSE - ★★★★ Alix E. Harrow always manages to write exactly my catnip, somehow. Maybe it's the ADHD, but I'm constantly finding connections to my own writing projects in her work, and STARLING HOUSE was no exception! I liked that this one was more modern, and the sibling dynamic was precious, and I love weird sentient houses where space is more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule. I'll probably reread this one for Driscoll purposes!

WOODWORM - ★★★½ So much rage in such a tiny volume, and I was Absolutely Here For It. I don't tend to read much lit fic, but I do try to read a lot in translation, and I thought this one did very cool stuff with Spanish--the prose felt natural in English, but I loved the linguistic details the translators left in Spanish and how much depth that added. I feel like this one might be a good fit for Carmen Maria Machado fans, too.

HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE - ★★★ Call this a low 3, from me. It was Fine, I guess. I liked what he did with the act structure (labeling parts as stages of grief was very cool), and I liked the family dynamics and history, but a lot of the humor didn't land for me (I got a few sensible chuckles, but a bunch of it wasn't funny), and the "oh this author is A Man, huh" moments made me roll my eyes (seriously: Who thinks about their ~breasts~ when an angry taxidermied squirrel is clawing down your shirt?? No One With Breasts, Mr. Dude). This book did at least teach me that I'm not really interested in gore (it's just boring, unlike body horror, my beloved). I might still pick up HORRORSTOR, but I probably won't look into most of his other stuff, if this one is indicative of his general style. Meh.

THE ART OF EXCESS - No rating (didn't read the whole thing). At the end of ALWAYS COMING HOME, Richard Powers mentioned this book as the reason he finally committed to ALWAYS, so I was curious what this Tom Leclair dude had to say about it back in 1989. I had a heck of a time tracking down a copy (it's very out of print, and my local library had to source it from the Library of Congress for me), but I didn't want to buy it to read just the preface/intro/epilogue, because I haven't read any of the other texts he analyzes. Leclair's style was very readable, and I was intrigued by his framework, but I found some of his conclusions eye-rolly, given his sample size. I posted this one because I think Library of Congress books are fun, but I didn't add it to my Goodreads.

BLACK TIDE - ★★★½ This one had me rolling my eyes in the first couple chapters, and I was afraid I wasn't going to like it, but once Fucked Up Shit Started Happening, the momentum really picked up and didn't stop--I blitzed through it way past my bedtime on a school night. It was fucked up and weird and tense and bloody pull-no-punches horror, but it ALSO made me laugh, and I loved our two fuck-ups surviving the apocalypse together. NOTE: Dogs (and Gulls) Are Not Safe, and the cast is small enough that it matters a lot :( if you can't stomach animal harm/death, skip this.

A HALF-BUILT GARDEN - 81/338 pages read; will report back. Enjoying it so far! Glad I put it on my NaNo prep reading list, though not quite for the reasons I planned--the reflections on motherhood as well as parenting outside the binary have been interesting, so far (and that's relevant for my own haunted house endeavors!). A much gentler ride than BLACK TIDE, and the immersive tech reminds me of Murderbot's world, just Earthbound.

Overall! Fabulous month for reading! Anytime I think "wow I need A Break™ from writing or life," this is the type of reading I mean--where I can spend a couple weeks annihilating books within a day to Refill the Words Reservoir.

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. I am refining this as I figure out my wrap up posts (epiphany of last month: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!

[blue-eyed-author]

If anyone is participating in NaNoWriMo and is looking for buddies, you can add me — GenuineRoseW

You’re welcome to also add your nano username to this post so others can find you if you want.

50’000 words. Let’s do this together.

[just-a-local-dreamer]

For the month of October, everything on my shop is 25% off!

If you've been looking for a writing template, now's the time to get one. Happy prepping for nano!

Here's some of the stuff I have:

Individual links: template 1, template 2, template 3

Visit my shop here

[nowrimomo]

Just popping in to say thank you! The daily emails have really helped me, and I'm grateful to have something that has turned out to be so nice, to begin filling the NaNo void

Sorry this took a hot minute to respond to! I'm really glad the newsletter's been good for you!

It's nice to look at the archive now at this point in the month and see a nice solid bank of resources. I hope to be a little more prepared next year so I won't miss any days, but I like to hope it's encouraged a lot of people to write more and avoid NaNo.

[arionaleilani]

(some of these are wips i’ve started but am planning to start from scratch due to not working on them and needing a new approach in order to actually make them work, so if any of these sound familar, that’s probably why)

[novlr]

Gearing Up for NaNoWriMo with Novlr

Hi everyone 👋 I’m Pamela, Writer Development and Community Lead at Novlr!

October is coming to an end, and so is the time to prepare for NaNoWriMo (a time we affectionately call Preptober).

I hit my head, what is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an annual event where writers from all over the world work toward the same goal - writing 50,000 words - while offering and receiving support from other writers.  

Throughout the year, NaNoWriMo also provides resources and support for writers, as well as events like Camp NaNoWrimo. 

Okay, and who are you?

We’re Novlr, and we’ve got a long history with NaNoWriMo. Our co-founders, Kim and Thomas, and myself are all NaNoWriMo vets, and Novlr has sponsored NaNoWriMo since 2019 because we share their aims of supporting writers and uplifting the writing community. 

Novlr is a writing workspace designed to get you from the spark of an idea to a completed first draft without any distractions.  We’re completely free to use for up to five projects, and we are the first creative writing platform to be writer-owned.* 

We put writers at the centre of everything we do, and we work with our community to build the tools that writers need. We care about allowing every writer to focus on what’s most important — your words. And we are all about empowering  writers to achieve their writing goals, no matter what they look like. 

Why use Novlr this NaNoWriMo?

With Novlr, you can fully integrate your project with NaNoWriMo without having to manually keep track of your word counts. 

We keep track of all your words automatically, from words written, deleted, to total word count. Our integration sends that data directly to NaNoWriMo, keeping your project updated on the NaNoWriMo site as you write. 

We’ve also put goals front and centre in your writing workspace, which will keep you on track to reach your NaNoWriMo goals, as well as let you keep up your writing practice even after NaNoWriMo has finished.

Lastly, we’ve got advanced writing analytics that will help you learn all about your writing habits, like when you’re most productive, and help you get the most out of your writing time.

In addition to the platform itself, I’m also going to be writing with you all this year! 

Novlr will be hosting a NaNoWriMo kickoff event on November 1st at at 23:00 - 01:00 GMT / 18:00 - 20:00 CT. 

Throughout the month, I’ll also be running regular writing sprints in our Discord and sharing lots of posts with inspiration, encouragement, and resources, as well as chat through our projects.

Join me and my writing buddy, Molly, for lots of creativity 😍

No matter where you write your words, NaNoWriMo is the perfect time to build a writing community. I’ve made lifelong friends through my participation, and have got so many words written. Whether you use Novlr or not, participation is the key. And our community, and the NaNo community at large, are here to support you as you reach for the lofty goal of 50,000 words in 30 days.

I can’t wait to read all the amazing things you write!

*P.S. While our Standard plan is completely free, we do offer some extras for those who want the extra push. As sponsors of NaNoWriMo, we’re offering all participants this year 40% off Novlr Pro for 12 months, and winners, 60%! Just visit the offers page in your NaNoWriMo dashboard.

Novlr Pro gets you unlimited projects, unlimited version history to restore older versions of your work, a ProWritingAid integrated proofreader for when you’re ready to edit, as well as access to our advanced analytics. Create your free account at Novlr.org.

[todayontumblr]

Wednesday, November 1.

NaNoWriMo.

As one door closes, another door opens. So if you are feeling a little glum, a little blue, a little crestfallen this morning, as you pack your coffins, drone-controlled ghouls, pumpkins, and Normal Human Man costumes into the attic for another year, fear not. Because the passing of October 31st can only mean the arrival of November 1st. And the arrival of this date will be exciting and daunting news for y'all in Tumblr's writing community—it's #nanowrimo. 

Keyboards, touchscreens, typewriters, pens, and quills at the ready, folks. You've got 30 days to do 50,000 words. They are not going to write themselves. 

Good luck x

[mitchell-nihil]

i very badly want to get my WIP intro for blue cataclysm done for november, but at this rate i'm thinking it's gonna mostly be text because I don't have art for a LOT of the main cast

[bereft-of-frogs]

god. I hate when writing suddenly involves math.

[notealotgoingon]

weekly spread | october 30 - november 5

Plus my November landing page and my NaNoWriMo tracker!

[alphacrone]

the carefully currated moodboard:

the writing: