In 1999, 21 people in the San Francisco Bay area decided, for reasons known only to themselves (and those of us who followed them later), to embark on a month of creative excess. They locked themselves in rooms, closed blinds, drank huge amounts of coffee and ate who knows how much sugar. All in the pursuit of a dream. 50 000 words in 30 days. 1667 words per day for the month of November to produce a NaNo Novel.
Those in the know are aware that NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has wrapped up. At its height, it was a not-for-profit that spanned the globe and got who knows how many aspiring authors scribbling. The particulars of its downfall are a topic for another day; suffice to say, there is no one left for profit in any way from a NaNo attempt except, of course, the writer.
As someone who is trying to find my way back to a writing practice after a decade of lapsed scribbling, this November is a launching pad of sorts. Some people continue to write under the banner of NaNoWriMo, remembering that in the beginning it was just the writers, alone with themselves and each other, fighting their greatest nemesis, the blank page. Others have re-branded but continue the fight under other banners. However you might want to do it, I’d love you to join me for Preptober (another long-standing tradition) while I get ready to lose my mind as in the days of old!
Preptober
1. The act of writing
I’m out of shape when it comes to writing. Sitting in place with myself and my pen or my keyboard and making words happen. So, part one of preptober is the act of writing. Starting with 10 minutes a day and working my way up to an hour every single day by the end of the month.
You’ve spent a lot of time not writing… this can be rougher than you think.
2. The procrasti-cleaning
Sometimes, when I want to write, I will do literally any other dang thing to avoid it! So part of preptober is trying to identify the things that will pull me from the zone and putting them in a state where either they’re lovely, or I can’t see them! Doesn’t really matter which.
There’s nothing wrong with cleaning. But it’s not writing.
3. The research, which is not writing
It is well known among writers that research, as much as it might feel like progress, is not progress. It is not writing. So in the run-up to November, I’m pulling together all the resources I think I might need, so I’m not using writing time to research. I have a big folder of stuff!
There’s nothing wrong with research. But it’s not writing.
4. The fiddly bits
There’s all kinds of things that can go here. Character profiles, songs that they like, even mind maps and Venn diagrams of how everything will come together.
For plotters in particular, there can be lots of fiddly bits necessary to make the story work.
There’s nothing wrong with the fiddly bits. But it’s not writing.
Come fly with me
If you’d like to prep and or NaNo with me, or you’d like to watch my slow descent into madness over the next two months, please follow me on BlueSky @cjwunsch.bsky.social