We’re a few weeks away from November, which can only mean it’s time to get prepare for NaNoWriMo! If you’re not sure what NaNoWriMo is, I talked about it a little more in this post. Essentially, it’s a writing challenge where you aim to write 50,000 words in the month of November. This will be my seventh year participating, so I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way! Because my excitement for NaNo cannot be contained, this month I want to share a few posts on prep for the big event. Starting with this one: how to test drive your story idea, and make sure you’re ready to go!
To be clear, we’re not going to be looking at outlining, although you can check out this post for some quick outlining tips. This is more about working through the ideas you might have whirling around your head at the moment, and working out what you want to focus your attention on for NaNoWriMo. I’m going to recommend a few exercises and questions you can ask yourself, to help you narrow down an idea you’re excited about for November!
Come up with some concrete plot points
I promise, I’m not just trying to trick you into outlining here! This isn’t about trying to plan something start to finish. The aim here is to come up with a handful of things, three to five maybe, that you would want to happen in the story. They might be big moments, like a final battle or a showdown between two opposing characters. Or they might be small ones, like a bit of flirty banter or a tense car ride.
If you can identify some moments in the story that you know you’re interested in writing, that bodes well for kicking off the month. If nothing else, it gives you somewhere to hop to in the story if you’re feeling stuck! And if you can’t think of any solid plot points that you want to write, that might be a sign that your overall idea needs some more thought.
Try to explain your story idea to somebody else
Honestly, I hate doing this, but it’s proven to be a great way of working out whether I’m ready to start writing an idea. When your story is just in your head, it’s easy to let your brain gloss over the gaps. But talking about your story idea, out loud, has a similar effect to starting to write it. You can’t help but confront those gaps in story and worldbuilding.
Just because you can’t confidently narrate your story, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write it, obviously! But it does indicate that you might have more of an uphill struggle, at least unless you put some time into bridging those gaps before you get started.
Have a think about your characters
You probably already have a sense of your protagonist, and any major characters. It can also be fun though to think about some of the supporting characters. Thinking about the broader network of characters in your story can help you to come up with fun plot moments, and also make the writing process smoother.
This gives you a different angle to approach the plot from, and a way to stress-test your idea. If you’re having a hard time working out what other characters would fit into your world, that may be a sign that you haven’t got a strong sense of your concept. Or it might just mean you’ve got a deliberately empty world – what do I know about your plot?
Do you know how you want to end the story?
Once again, I’m not over here asking you to plot your ending. I mean, if you’re into that, then obviously go for it! I’m a big fan of plotting. But this is more about having a sense of the general area you want to end up in at the end of the story.
Will you aim for a happy ending? A cliff-hanger? An ending where all is lost? Even knowing the tone you want your ending to strike can be really helpful when it comes to writing your story, since it allows you to lay the groundwork for that. Also, having a sense of where you want to end up can be really helpful in getting you through the rough patches of trying to write 1667 words a day.
Are you excited for NaNoWriMo?
If you’re participating this year, let me know what you’re planning to write! Share your ideas or favourite tips in the comments.
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