With NaNoWriMo now officially just around the corner, I’m almost ready to start writing. With that said, I thought today’s final Preptober post would be a good place to talk through my goals, routine and the writing space that I’ve set out for myself for November. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
Writing Goals
Tied Together—5k words
Tied Together is what I often refer to either as TT or ‘my main novel’. I wrote 20k words off this back in March while on a writing retreat with a friend, but I haven’t really touched it since. This is a second draft but it had to be entirely rewritten and it’s just not been going well. It’s kind of a huge mess so I’d like to spend some of November cleaning it up. I’ve set 5k as my goal as it would make a great start.
Hit 5k On Any Of My Other WIPs
I’ve talked about the fact that I have quite a few other WIPs on the go right now. Quite a few are sitting around that 2-3k mark right now, so I’d love it if I could manage to make it to 5k on any of them. Of course, I want these words to all be ones that I can actually use so if I only write 500 words for the whole month but I’m proud of them, I’ll consider it a win.
Spend Some Time With My WIPs
I think one of the hardest times writing is when you have this story, but you don’t feel like you really know it. I’ve been trying to spend some time getting to know my stories and characters and I’d like to continue that through November. I’ve been doing this by writing a journal for one of my characters, making a playlist for another and putting together a list of favourite films for one of my characters who is obsessed with cinema. It’s a nice way to get to know them while still having some fun.
Setting a Routine
I’m notoriously bad at sticking to a writing routine. Honestly, routines are not made for those of us with chronic illnesses and disabilities. It’s especially hard this month as we’re just coming out of lockdown here in Melbourne again and I’ll be returning to work. We’re short-staffed and with it coming up to Christmas, it’s bound to get a little wild.
So I’m trying to make routines around other things during the month. Like working out some meal planning and chore schedule around work so that I’ll be able to spend more time writing rather than thinking about all that other stuff beforehand.
I’d love to be able to write something every day in November, so we’ll see how that goes.
My Writing Space
I really wanted to spend some time during lockdown turning my study space into a place to write as well. It’s definitely not perfect by any means but it is usable. This is just going to be an ongoing process, I think, but I’m glad I organised it enough that I will actually be able to write in there.
That’s it for today. I’d love to hear your plans for NaNoWriMo down below.
Earl Grey Books 