Its almost 2 months until NaNoWriMo begins and I am already itching to start typing. This time for a change, I will be ready beforehand with everything I need so by October end, I would be saving up all my creativity just for the novel. Last year, even though it was my first try, I did win, but I wasn’t so happy with how the story progressed.
Now I shall use all my bubbling enthusiasm into creating the book cover,
synopsis and a basic skeleton structure. Fair, right? That way, I won’t go off track while typing the few thousand words every day. I will have a beginning and an end in mind, the rest should sort of play out with the flow. 6 things you can do if you want to start early and yet not cheat:
1. Think of a theme for your story. Once that has been decided, try to make it more specific by eliminating sub themes. You could always have more than one, which I think if you balance it out, will be really interesting to read.
2. Establish what happens initially and what you want to happen at the end. Sometimes if you have a pre decided ending, it becomes difficult to arrive there so throughout Nov, keep that ending in mind. You will be able to “make ends meet”.
3. Work on possible titles. It’s always good to keep a couple of titles ready in case one doesn’t work out later, you always have back ups (atleast ones that you like). The title apart from the cover is another thing that grabs attention so try to make it such that it tickles your readers’ curious bone.
4. Write down a short para of about 12-20 lines that perfectly sums up your entire novel. Since we aren’t deciding every detail in the novel before, the synopsis is likely to change towards the end, to accommodate more important events. Nevertheless, keep it ready so your last minute work is cut down for you. Also you want to touch upon the problem that your character is facing or the event that leads to the climax.
5. Cover page. Now the cover of the book isn’t that serious of an issue, mostly because if you are writing the novel as a hobby and don’t intend to publish it anywhere (print or online) then there’s no need to focus a lot on the cover in the prep phase. But if you’d like to have it ready, either start sketching the important elements in your story or have someone else do it. Cause whatever is displayed on the cover should have some symbolic meaning to what is inside.
6. Lastly, have an idea about the character personalities and a basic outline for the sections of your novel. And by sections I mean, how your plot and characters will be introduced in the first 5 chapters; how the problems or twists affect the protagonist and others; what events/development of the action will lead to the climax; and finally the results of the climax which gives you your ending. You could write it down, if you have a solid plan or just keep a vague idea in mind.
So there is tons to do before November. I have sort of started working on some of the above steps. And I plan to finish most, if not all. Can’t wait!
Happy Planning, you all!
Mia
The Life Stories 