The count down is on. Are you ready to pound out your novel?
If you're like me, then the answer is, well, not quite.
You see, I've been going through my story files and it's taken forever to narrow the choices down to THE ONE. But now that I have THE ONE, I'm looking at it and all I have is a blurb about the main character and a couple of scene ideas. Which means I'm so not ready for NaNoWriMo.
What to do? What to do?
The answer: PLOT & CONFLICT
To succeed at NaNoWriMo, you need to have at least a general outline of the book's plot. Just to know where the story is going. This outline is not set in stone. In fact, it will probably take some twists and turns you weren't expecting as you write and get to know your characters better. But believe me, that general outline is a life saver when you're getting ready for a word sprint, but you aren't sure where the next scene needs to lead you.
I did some Googling and found some excellent resources to develop plots for NaNoWriMo.
NaNoWriMo Prep: Plot Development and Profile Worksheets, Visualizing Collage and More by Iconclastic Writer
- This blog post has AWESOME worksheets you can download for free. Isn't free such a happy word?
- On this blog post, you'll find a bunch of different plotting techniques, including using index cards & the fabulous Larry Brooks Story Structure series.
Now, on to conflict - the wonderful device that drives your story. This is when you call up your writers group and host a brainstorming session. Write down gobs of conflict ideas - both internal and external. Josi Kilpack once said (and I'm totally paraphrasing & adding some of my own words - but it's her concept) that you need to put your character up in a tree. You start off by throwing rocks at him, then even bigger rocks, until you bring in a catapult and launch boulders at the poor sucker. Bring in the soldiers and shoot arrows at the dude. And just when you think he might surrender - set the tree on fire!
Conflict, Conflict, Conflict.
That is what you need to keep your story moving, flowing, and interesting.
So sit down and brainstorm, baby. Write down gobs of ideas to choose from, then you'll have the list to refer to when you get stuck.
Happy NaNoWriMo Prep!
