Outline a Novel: 5 Steps To Prep For NaNoWriMo

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

NaNoWriMo is shorthand for National Novel Writing Month, a self-serve writing challenge that takes place in November each year. There’s an official challenge run by the founding non-profit at their website nanowrimo.org, but anyone can participate because the goal is simple enough to be accessible to any writer.

Write 50,000 words on a novel draft in the month of November.

I was uncertain whether I would participate this year, because I’ve been trimming down my projects in order to focus my energies. Writing has always been something I enjoy, but I have other things that I value more (like my game development) and novel writing is hugely draining because it is so intense.

However, I’ve “won” NaNoWriMo for 6 years in a row starting in 2016 and it seems a shame to break the streak now. It’s a time of year where I get to let loose and go wild with playful creativity. Even though I don’t think novel writing is my true calling, I don’t think I can resist making that mad dash again this year.

That means I need to prepare. Some people can go into it with nothing but a dream and start writing immediately on November 1st, but that has never worked for me.

I need an outline before I can start writing, or I get too lost in my ideas to find my way to the end of a story. This…