NaNoWriMo is right around the corner. Come November 1st, I will be writing rampantly, until my eyes bleed and my head aches from being unable to think any more. For the rest of the month of October, every Friday will have a NaNoWriMo related prep post. Thankfully, that means that it’s only about some ways that you can prep before you write a novel. So While, this is NaNoWriMo timed that doesn’t mean it isn’t effective any other time you write.
Getting Ideas
Sometimes the hardest part of writing is deciding what to write. It can be difficult to determine if a story is really worth it. Everyone gets floods of ideas every day and with all those ideas it can be hard to sort out which ideas are really worth it. There’s nothing worse than having an idea you think is brilliant, jumping into it, and finding that the idea really just didn’t hold up. That’s why I always sit on ideas. I think of something and I don’t even write it down. I tell myself to remember, and then I forget. I move on with my life. And if I think of it again, then the idea at least has my interest.
If an idea does catch my interest properly then I write it down. Once again, I forget about it. When I come back to it again, I’m not looking to see if I’m still interested, it’s already passed that test. Next I’m looking for all the ways I can make the story fall apart. This is a lot easier to do than you think. When you deal with a story that you haven’t yet fully thought through, you can create solutions for problems that don’t even exist. Often those unnecessary solutions prove to create interesting problems and thus a story begins to be formed simply by working with the void.
By also putting all ideas down, I get a wide array of possible events and worldbuilding pieces. It all works together and slowly I see my story come to life. That is what I’ve been doing for the past 2 almost 3 weeks.
Where I’m At
Currently I am creating the beginning of my chapter outlines. I am working on chapter 3 today. Every night I’m still jotting down now ideas. This is becoming particularly helpful now that I’m beginning to shape more story and the sequence of events. Knowing when something is going to come into play is very helpful.
Are you doing NaNoWriMo?
So, I pondered... 
I’m so excited it’s NaNo season again! I have no idea what I’ll be writing about this time. I have too many ideas, and I’m afraid they’re all a little too flimsy. I like your idea of creating solutions for problems before they exist–I’m going to have to give it a try. 🙂
I told myself I wouldn’t do NaNo this year. With one book to edit and 2 more being written, I sure as heck didn’t need one more. But what do you know? There’s 28 more days to go till official NaNo starts but already I have the book cover and the plot for that darn Nano book! It’s an obsession, I tell you! Good luck, though I hope your eyes don’t bleed 🙂
Sometimes the call of the Nano comes and you just can’t say no. It’s like a siren call. I always love keeping track of nano friends, so I’ll keep a look out if you decide you’re in. Encouragement always helps.
Definitely! I’m morrighansmuse on there. We can be writing buddies 🙂