Thursday, September 30, 2010

October Prep days 1-3

The time has come to get ready for NaNoWriMo.  I'm going to try and get them mostly one week at a time but figured it'd be nice to have the first few days up in time to prepare instead of rushing on day one. Also, thank you to Brandiwyn from Writing.com for letting me post the activities from her challenge on my blog. I really appreciate the opportunity and hope others find the information very useful. Remember: to see my attempts at the exercises don't forget to check out my other blog (itsinthebookde.blogspot.com).




(image source: www.ineedmotivation.com)


Most exercises are meant to be worked on for 15 minutes or so. Some may not take quite as long while others, like the outlines, can take a bit longer. Not every single assignment will apply but the goal is to try and do as many as possible in order to get to know the novel idea more before making the mad dash in November.

The Schedule:

Friday, Oct. 01
The general premise of the novel. Summarize the following: Who is the protagonist (or protagonists)? What will happen to him/her/it/them? Why? How will it turn out? What does that tell us? Is there a moral to the story? Resources to help: howtowriteanovel.wordpress.com/  -  creating_the_premise  and  Premise discussion on WDC.


Saturday, Oct. 02
Outline: first draft. Basic overview of main events. Check out the section on Outlining in this free ebook:
lazette.net/Free%20Stuff/NaNo.htm  -other sources:  WDC Blank Novel Outline  -  Snowflake Method  and  how-to-write-a-novel-outline 


Sunday, Oct. 03
Character sketch: The protagonist, (one of them if there are more than that). A couple of resources to help: Fantasy Character Background Information,  Character Profile Template , and http://www.engl.niu.edu/wac/char_sk.html

4 comments:

Denise Covey said...

Dawn, I caught your comment over at Justin's. Thank you for doing this schedule. I'll be checking in on a regular basis and checking your other blog as well.

I've just entered for the second time. Have no ideas at the mo, so your helps will be important.

All the best for the write-marathon!

Dawn Embers said...

L'Aussie - Glad to see it will be useful for someone. :-D Good luck to you with the write-marathon!

Mia Hayson said...

I might try this. I don't know. I really should.

I am a pantser though so I'm feeling very hostile towards attempts at outlining. Hmmm.

NO! We will try it and get back to you. I am determined to be ok in Nano.

Dawn Embers said...

Mia - I am a pantser in general. Even though I do the prep work, I rarely look at it during the actual writing of the novel. It just helps to get it down ahead of time and then I can pants it during nano.