My Preptober (So Far)
Ahhh, Preptober.
I say that as though I've done this before. Interpret that first line however you like.
As I've mentioned before, this year will be my first NaNoWriMo, thus, this is my first Preptober. The idea of Preptober is to use the whole month planning and plotting the novel you're going to write for NaNo. And like I'm sure most people do, I've only really just now started planning. But, I have a good reason.
The first couple weeks of October were taken over by my wedding, and I spent a lot of my time getting things ready for that. Then the wedding happened and I completely forgot that writing was a thing. Then right after we got back from out trip, I got really sick. And I've only now started getting better (hopefully I'll be all good by the time this post is up). So there's the first couple weeks of my Preptober gone.
And now here I sit, slowly getting over this cold...fever....thing (I honestly have no idea what this thing is, but right now it's not going away >.< ), and while I'm getting back into the swing of my schoolwork, I'm also trying to get back in the swing of my writing prep. Luckily for me, the NaNoWriMo website has offered many different resources to help me. They have a whole prep workshop that helps you get down to the nitty gritty of your story while also providing external resources for further reading, as well as tips and tricks for helping you figure out time management.
Of the resources, I'm going to talk about one that was by far the best writing prep system I've seen so far. It's called the 3 Act/9 Block/27 Chapter Outline Method by an authortuber and writer called Katytastic (here's the video if you're curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe3eodLF_Uo ).
This method looked intimidating at first because there was a lot of terminology I didn't recognize. Like I said in my "Pre-NaNoWriMo Thought" post, I am not as familiar with the world of novels as I am with screenplays. The terminology for these two is somewhat similar, such as the use of plot points and acts, but novels have a little more to them than a screenplay. What I liked about Katytastic's video is that she really takes the time to explain each part individually, which saved my hind end. Within an hour using this method, I had my whole story mapped out. I found my core characters, gave them longer arcs and more time devotion than I originally intended. It really got my thinking in terms of a novel as opposed to a screenplay.
For those of you who are participating in NaNoWriMo, or if you just want to write and need some help outlining if you're a plotter, I would definitely recommend giving this method a try. I know it's in the nature of books and characters to change as you write them, but to have it all laid out visually is a great starting point for me. For now, my plan for the rest of Preptober is to really get my characters down, find and establish the right time period, and research the historical context of that era in that territory (because Arizona was not a state yet). I may also give outlining each individual chapter a shot, although normally when I'm writing the story will tell me when it's time to end a chapter and go onto the next one, so we'll see how that goes.
Writing is all about experimentation. You quickly find what does and doesn't work for you or your story, but you don't know until you write it down and see it on paper. And the first draft will never be perfect (if it is, you're a wizard). But to have a solid idea how I at least want the first draft to go makes me extremely happy and even more excited to finally start writing.
I say that as though I've done this before. Interpret that first line however you like.
As I've mentioned before, this year will be my first NaNoWriMo, thus, this is my first Preptober. The idea of Preptober is to use the whole month planning and plotting the novel you're going to write for NaNo. And like I'm sure most people do, I've only really just now started planning. But, I have a good reason.
The first couple weeks of October were taken over by my wedding, and I spent a lot of my time getting things ready for that. Then the wedding happened and I completely forgot that writing was a thing. Then right after we got back from out trip, I got really sick. And I've only now started getting better (hopefully I'll be all good by the time this post is up). So there's the first couple weeks of my Preptober gone.
And now here I sit, slowly getting over this cold...fever....thing (I honestly have no idea what this thing is, but right now it's not going away >.< ), and while I'm getting back into the swing of my schoolwork, I'm also trying to get back in the swing of my writing prep. Luckily for me, the NaNoWriMo website has offered many different resources to help me. They have a whole prep workshop that helps you get down to the nitty gritty of your story while also providing external resources for further reading, as well as tips and tricks for helping you figure out time management.
Of the resources, I'm going to talk about one that was by far the best writing prep system I've seen so far. It's called the 3 Act/9 Block/27 Chapter Outline Method by an authortuber and writer called Katytastic (here's the video if you're curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe3eodLF_Uo ).
This method looked intimidating at first because there was a lot of terminology I didn't recognize. Like I said in my "Pre-NaNoWriMo Thought" post, I am not as familiar with the world of novels as I am with screenplays. The terminology for these two is somewhat similar, such as the use of plot points and acts, but novels have a little more to them than a screenplay. What I liked about Katytastic's video is that she really takes the time to explain each part individually, which saved my hind end. Within an hour using this method, I had my whole story mapped out. I found my core characters, gave them longer arcs and more time devotion than I originally intended. It really got my thinking in terms of a novel as opposed to a screenplay.
For those of you who are participating in NaNoWriMo, or if you just want to write and need some help outlining if you're a plotter, I would definitely recommend giving this method a try. I know it's in the nature of books and characters to change as you write them, but to have it all laid out visually is a great starting point for me. For now, my plan for the rest of Preptober is to really get my characters down, find and establish the right time period, and research the historical context of that era in that territory (because Arizona was not a state yet). I may also give outlining each individual chapter a shot, although normally when I'm writing the story will tell me when it's time to end a chapter and go onto the next one, so we'll see how that goes.
Writing is all about experimentation. You quickly find what does and doesn't work for you or your story, but you don't know until you write it down and see it on paper. And the first draft will never be perfect (if it is, you're a wizard). But to have a solid idea how I at least want the first draft to go makes me extremely happy and even more excited to finally start writing.
Comments
Post a Comment