Hello, dear reader!
The leaves are changing, pumpkins are being sold, harvest time is approaching, the days are growing shorter, and the wind is growing cold (unless summer is being defiant and refusing to leave, as is my case).
It's fall! Beautiful, wonderful, long-due fall!
And that means October is coming. And that means November is coming. And that, dear reader, means NaNoWriMo is coming!
Last Saturday, I released a playful list of "helpful" things for Preptober. But now, with October just a day away, I'm sharing my real list. Well, part of it anyways. The other half will come out later.
So, let's get started!
(For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, and the challenge is to write 50k words (a novel's worth) in the thirty days of November. It's fun, stressful, terrifying, and rewarding. I highly recommend you try it sometime.)
#1. Clean the House
I know, it's cliche and over used, but it really is a good idea to get the whole house clean.
Whether you're a teen writer or a adult writer, a clean environment will help keep your head clear.
And if you deep clean the whole house now, you'll have much less to worry about and do during November.
So save your future self some time, stress, and energy that could be put towards writing, and get everything done now.
#2. Change out Everything
Batteries in the smoke detector, your desk light, light bulbs, batteries in your flashlight (so you can make a midnight tea/coffee run to the kitchen without disturbing the night), your clock batteries, everything.
Get these things done now, because (again) you don't want to interrupt the flow of writing to go but light bulbs when yours starts flickering like mad.
#3. Stock up now
Buy your tea (or coffee), spare pens, notebooks, flash cards, etc, now. Getting these early prevents the rush later and the risk of forgetting something.
Here are some items you might consider buying to aid you this November:
- A electric kettle
For my fellow tea-drinkers, this is a worthy substitute to a classic kettle. All you do is keep it plugged in and full of water. It's like a coffee pot, but it's all one piece and doesn't need filters.
These are generally small, can be kept at your writing station, and are far quieter then a kettle (or worse, the BRRRRRR and BEEPBEEPBEEEEEP of the microwave). - Instant coffee
Nasty though it is, instant coffee is fast, quiet, caffeinated, and goes a long way.
If you have a electric kettle, you could keep that and the instant coffee by your writing station and have a cup without the hassle of making a pot at a time. - A space heater + fan
Depending on where you live, you may want either a small heater or fan (or even both).
Writing with a blanket around your shoulders is hard. It gets in the way of typing and makes you more likely to get sleepy (if you're writing at night).
And if you're writing in hot temperatures, it really is torturous to sit there trying to come up with words. - Head phones
No, not earbuds, actual headphones. They block out more sound, and if you listen to a ambiance it's far more effective to get you "in the zone". - Fingerless gloves
These are meant for when your hands get stiff and cold while writing. Make sure they're tight, and comfortable, before settling on any pair for your writing purposes.
For mine, I just cut the fingers off a pair that fitted my hand weirdly. Cutting the fingers off actually helped them fit better, and so they're the perfect pair for writing.
#4. Get your writing space ready
Set up your candles, stack papers, organize your notes, have pens on hand, and all that stuff.
But also, if you don't have them already, get around three items that inspire you. I have a oil lamp, a pocket watch, and two small (very common and very cheap) amethysts that are dyed green and purple.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to make the item you chose be something relating to your story. For instance, if your character uses knives a lot, having a knife displayed where you can easily see it might help you think of them.
Or, you can just go into a cheap store and find something you like and use it as a prompt. Whatever sails your ship. The point of this is to have something to stare at while you space out and work through your story.
Thank you for reading! Part two to this post will be more writing related, about plotting and planning and prepping. But I really do believe that the first step in preparing for NaNo is making it so you won't have any of the above things to worry about while also brain storming and prepping.
I hope you enjoyed this post! If you have anything to add to this, I'd love to hear from you.
Yours,
~ Edna
