{"id":22314,"date":"2019-10-25T03:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T10:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=22314"},"modified":"2019-10-23T13:03:45","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T20:03:45","slug":"getting-ready-for-nanowrimo-2019-by-tinthia-clemant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/25\/getting-ready-for-nanowrimo-2019-by-tinthia-clemant\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo 2019 by Tinthia Clemant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Getting<\/a>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist Tinthia Clemant<\/a> as she shares with us: \u201cGetting Ready for NaNoWriMo 2019.\u201d Enjoy!<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

NaNoWriMo 2019
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\"NaNoWriMo\"<\/a>NaNoWriMo 2019 is right around the corner. Are you going to participate this year?<\/p>\n

For those of you who don\u2019t know about NaNoWriMo<\/a>, I\u2019ll let the official description do the talking:<\/p>\n

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NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides tools, structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds \u2014 on and off the page. (Taken from the NaNoWriMo website homepage.)<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In other words, NaNoWriMo is a writing support community. By joining the gang, your first draft, finished story, whatever, will become a reality. And participation is free, although they do ask for donations which isn\u2019t a lot to ask for the tools they provide.<\/p>\n

Join NaNoWriMo 2019 here: <\/b>https:\/\/www.nanowrimo.org\/sign-up<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Hold<\/a>If you\u2019re a seasoned NaNo Writer or just someone who\u2019s jumping into the foray for the first time, prep is key to a successful outcome. What do I mean by prep?<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need an outline!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Outlines and How They Save Our Stories
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What? No outline? Good for you. Let me know how things are going around day 11 when your story is meandering all over the place and you\u2019re spending more time \u201cresearching\u201d than writing.<\/p>\n

\"Shopping<\/a>Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not a plotter by any stretch of the imagination.<\/strong> Even grocery lists feel too constraining. Oh, I\u2019ll jot down a few items but then I\u2019ll usually leave the list at home and wing it in the store.<\/p>\n

If you walk by a woman in your local store who\u2019s staring blankly at the selections it could be me.<\/p>\n

You see, when it comes to writing,<\/strong> I\u2019m a pantser; someone who writes with abandon, allowing the story to flow where it wants.<\/p>\n

I have an idea, maybe a few scenes, perhaps a killer opening sequence, and bam, like a racehorse, I\u2019m out of the gate and speeding ahead to what I think is the finish line.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, after a few chapters I find myself wandering in a field, munching on tall grass.<\/p>\n

Okay, I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019ll stop with the racehorse analogy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The whole point is when I lose direction I typically lose interest in the story.<\/p>\n

Around this time I\u2019ll decide to give up writing and get a job making lattes at my local Starbucks. My editor calls moments such as this \u201cJesus moments\u201d: times when a pantser see the light and recognizes a simple outline would have made the entire writing process a whole lot simpler.<\/p>\n

Creating an Outline
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Don\u2019t start hyperventilating. An outline isn\u2019t the scary monster us pantsers imagine.<\/p>\n

Even a simple, one-page list of where our story begins, what\u2019s in the middle, and where it ends will help keep us in the race. (Yes, the racehorse analogy had returned.)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I\u2019ll be using for this year\u2019s NaNoWriMo.<\/strong><\/p>\n