NaNoWriMo Planning 2019

Obviously, I’m mad, but I am taking part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) again this year and I’m actually really excited. I have been playing with this idea of actually planning my novel before jumping into the story and have some idea of how I want things to end up going. It’s an odd concept for me because I usually just run with whatever half-brained idea I have had and hope for the best. It’s not surprising that I have failed many more times than I have won, I think it’s a method that works for some people but definitely not for me.

So I thought I would go ahead and write a post about how I have been planning for this NaNoWriMo. Although I won’t be sharing what my actual story idea – not because I’m worried about any of you stealing but because I’m still not (even with all this planning) sure of what it is yet. This was a new concept and a new type of world for me, I had planned extensively before for a NaNoWriMo but that was using a workbook that ended up running through everything for me. Now what I’ve done this time isn’t far off that but is a lot more flexible to what I needed help with. It meant that I wasn’t wasting time on planning stuff that I knew would come easily once I started writing.

Now a little disclaimer here and this is me giving myself a small break but I started the planning process on the plane to Florida, half exhausted and also uncomfortable. So I know that some of the stuff I’ve written may not actually make any sense but the way that I’m looking at it is that it will all end up being context or character development if not.

So onto the actual planning instead of rabbling. I started off with just a normal lined paper notebook and just noted down any ideas I had, any of the details that I wanted to get down, so this included any hierarchies I wanted to make sure that I kept right. I also did profiles for my two main characters and really got to know them through that, in all honesty, it was a great exercise for me. I loved fleshing out the world and working out where characters end up and how they react to things.

Well, that was the easy part, well I thought so on to the bit where I actually had to plot the whole story out which is always where I struggle! I have the idea but I’m not actually sure how it all fits together. I have to recommend the NaNoWriMo Prep section of their website, I took the quiz about which plotting method is best for you. It turned out to be Save the Cat! This was ironic because I learned about it at Uni and then never thought of it again. I downloaded the wonderful template and have started to fill out. That’s been a HUGE help because it has fleshed out where there were holes in my story and issues I hadn’t foreseen.

I’m going to be working through the other parts of the NaNoWriMo prep that I think are going to be relevant for me and any issues I can see going forward!

Are you taking part in this year’s NaNoWriMo? Let me know what your planning techniques have been!