... and anyone else who could use some ideas to on how to use October to get ready for National Novel Writing Month in November
by Jodie Renner, editor & author
November is National Novel Writing Month.
Many writers use this as an impetus to start a new novel or make significant
headway on their writing, or even do a first draft of 50,000 words. If
that seems daunting, you can make your goal for NaNoWriMo 30,000 words.
That’s 1000 new words per day, rough draft. Or, if you have a busy slate, maybe
you just plan to write a short story or two for NaNoWriMo.
October is a great time to do some
essential planning for the story you’ll be writing in November, so you can take off from the starting gate with a lot of planning already done.
If you've never written a novel or maybe just a short story or two, here are some tips to plan out and create a compelling story readers will love. Experienced fiction writers may also find these checklists useful as reminders for your next WIP.
As with most of my advice, these tips are for writing popular fiction, rather than literary fiction.
First, the Essential Ingredients of a Captivating Story
To engage and captivate readers, you’ll
need to:
~ Imagine a unique story world.
~ Choose or invent a believable,
interesting setting.
~ Create a fascinating, complicated, vulnerable main character.
~ Give your protagonist a driving goal or desire.
~ Add an antagonist or hindrance of some sort.
~ Create an intriguing plot that revolves around the driving goal and a major dilemma, conflict, threat, or challenge the protagonist faces.
~ As the story goes along, add some more challenges and problems for your protagonist.
~ Try to add a surprise twist or two. Don't make it too predictable.
~ Create a riveting climax where your protagonist is challenged to the max (physically or emotionally or both).
~ Devise a satisfying ending with some resolution.
Planning Your Story:
First, you'll need to create an interesting main character that readers will care about and worry about, and a significant conflict, challenge, dilemma, or obstacle that character encounters.
Every scene should have some kind of challenge or problem that the protagonist (or viewpoint character for that scene) must deal with.
In planning your story, whether it’s a
short story or longer fiction, use this as a rough guide. Make some jot notes under each of these headings.
1. Who’s your target readership (audience)?
(rough age group, gender, interests)
2. What kind of story (genre) would you
like to write that would interest your target readers? (fantasy, action, chick
lit, suspense, romance, mystery, etc.)
3. Who is your main character, and why will
readers care about him or her? How is he or she vulnerable? What’s especially interesting about your
protagonist?
4. Where and when does this story take
place? What’s going on?
5. Who are your character’s sidekicks? (A
few close friends or family members)
6. Who is your character’s worst enemy, and
why? Invent a rival or antagonist of some kind.
7. What is your main character’s deepest
secret, regret, fear, or phobia?
8. What is their biggest hope, their main
wish or desire? Their driving goal? Or, as Alan Watt says in The
90 Day Novel, “What do they want?
What do they need?”
9. Who or what thwarts that desire? Who or
what causes them some major problems? Perhaps related to their secret, regret,
or fear.
10. How does the protagonist confront the challenges? What do they do to try to resolve the issues and get (back) to how they want things to be?
Then, if you have time, you can continue making rough notes on:
11. How do things get worse for them? What
will happen if they don’t succeed?
12. What’s their lowest point, their
bleakest moment, when all seems lost?
13. How do they finally manage to resolve
(most of) the issue or defeat the enemy?
14. How is their life different now?
15. How have they changed by what they’ve
been through? (Character arc)
If you answer all of the above questions, you’ll have a compelling story readers won’t want to put down.
Create a Potential Back-Cover Blurb:
Here’s a premise in a nutshell for a gripping, entertaining story your readers will love:
Use this as a general guideline for mapping out your story, novel, or novella:
(Hero or heroine’s name) wants ... (what will complete their life, make them happy, fulfill their main goal, satisfy their biggest hope or desire?). But he/she is hampered by ... (describe the misfortune, conflict, dilemma, problem, villain), and s/he has ... (time limit or other hindrance) to ... (describe the almost impossible task) or ... (describe a negative consequence that will happen). He/she has to choose between... and .... (Continue from there.)
Good luck with your October planning for November's NaNoWriMo!
For more fiction-writing tips, explore this blog and check out my award-winning, reader-friendly writing guides, which all have lots of bolded subheadings, bulleted points, and before-and-after examples. Click on the links below:
