Preparing for National Novel Writing Month

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National Novel Writing Month begins November 1. Here are some links that provide useful tools and tips as you’re getting ready to go. Happy writing!

Names

  1. Don’t worry too much about making names sound evil or menacing. If your bad guy is names somthing like Dirk Beastly, you’ve got problems.
  2. Don’t make names too similar. Jen and Jan will be tough for readers to keep track of. Use global search and replace if you need to.
  3. Make names pronouncable, even if you’re writing fantasy. It’s distracting to read about someone named Xytrlnsqr.

Character Name Generator

Seventh Sanctum Name Generators


Characters

  1. No one is all good or all bad. Good guys to bad things; bad guys do good things. Keep it realistic.
  2. Real characters have entire lives. That means family, friends, jobs, hobbies, money problems, baggage, etc.
  3. Don’t give me minute descriptions of what the charcter looks like.

My Character Creation Worksheets

Holly Lisle: How to Create a Character

Plotting

I don’t pre-plot, but I won’t tell you not to if that’s your thing.

The snowflake model is the only one I’ve had any success with.

Editing

Don’t.

If you’re tempted to re-read a small section and rework it. Don’t.

The whole idea is to free yourself from your internal editor. Force yourself to keep moving; you’ll be glad you did.

Word Count

Write as much as you can as early as you can. You’ll likely have plenty of steam during the first week, so take advantage of it and exceed your daily goals if you can. Over time, the daily goal will be harder to reach. You’ll appreciate having a bit of a cushion.

Time Management

This is just as important in getting through NaNo as all the writing advice anyone can give you.

See my post on Getting Through NaNo

  1. If you plan on getting up early to write, start that now. You don’t want to try writing foggy-headed from too little sleep.
  2. Delegate as much as you can now. Ask your family to help out more.
  3. Find a quiet place you can go to write. Make sure it has a door, and don’t be afraid to shut it.

keywords: writing, novel, fiction, national novel writing month

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Further Reading

Comments (2) | October 12, 2008

2 Responses to “Preparing for National Novel Writing Month”

  1. Character Name Generator Says:
    October 13th, 2008 at 9:52 am

    We have a pretty nifty character name generator at Generator Land as well. Includes name, personality, occupation, and location. Check it out:

    http://www.generatorland.com/generators/character_name_generator_gl.php

  2. netta Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 8:21 am

    I won’t be participating this year (the last year I did, I had no computer so I did it with yellow legal pads and a pen — got to 20k and called it quits) but you look like you have a great handle on getting it on with NaNo. Good luck!

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