It’s almost November 1st! The countdown to National Novel Writing Month is ticking away the seconds on the NaNoWriMo website. Type in a search for #NaNoWriMo on Twitter and you’ll find hundreds of writers and wrimos tweeting about their plots, outlines and word count goals. Everyone’s getting ready, but there are more than a few out there saying: “I want to do NaNoWriMo this year, but I can’t think of a plot!” If you’re in that boat, don’t be discouraged. I’ve been doing NaNoWriMo for four years, now, and I still don’t settle on plot until the week before. Last year, all I had on November 1st was a vague idea inspired by my dogs barking at a reflection in a window that budded into a 54k word manuscript that’s still growing! Don’t let a lack of pre-made plot outline and character bios discourage you. If you really want to take the NaNoWriMo challenge, do it! Don’t think you can spin a 50k word masterpiece from a single word that you like the sound of or an inspiring hook that pops out of your head at midnight on November 1st? Here are some strategies that might help you get a bit of an idea before the big day:
Open a fresh document in your word processor of choice (I’m a big fan of Google Documents, because you can access it from anywhere, even the University library on the day you accidentally leave your laptop on the kitchen table), and make a list of options. This works great if you have a few different plots you’ve been rolling around in your head for a while. Put those plots down, include that awesome first sentence you wrote a few weeks ago then put aside for another day and that story idea that you had a year or so ago but discarded because, as cool as it sounded, you were caught up in something else at the time. See something there you can work with? If not, or if now you have too many ideas, read on.
Look at your options and list the pros and cons of each. Yeah, maybe it’s over thinking things a little, but then again, maybe not. Perhaps you’ll find there’s one item on your list you keep going back to and adding “pros” while the only “con” is: “I’ve never written anything like this before.” Great! That could be the jump-off point for you 50,000 NaNoWriMo words!
If you’re still having difficulties, try writing down a list of the things you don’t want to write about. I had to do just that this year. As a fantasy writer, there are a lot of clichés I don’t want to live up to. I listed some of those plus a few things that I habitually write about and a thing or two I don’t like to write about, and came up with the following list:
Say No To:
- Damsels in distress
- Antagonists of pure evil who want to take over the world and/or destroy it
- Magical swords, axes, etc
- People who are just learning about magic/discovering they have it
- World hopping
- Future setting
- Modern day
- Medieval or Renaissance
- Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses
- Perfect Heroes and Heroines
From there, I made a list of what I had left (I won’t post the whole list, because that would ruin the surprise, but a few of those things include: A strong female character who doesn’t need anyone to save her; A world modeled after a time period I’m interested in but have never worked with before; A “good guy” who can also be seen as a “bad guy.”) and found that I had something to work with.
That’s where my own plotting problems came to an end this year. From there, I’ve developed the two main characters (leaving some wiggle room for changes, because I am not fan of outlines and plans set in stone) along with a few supporting characters and a basic plot idea. I’ve also settled on writing in third person (An important step that many new writers overlook: Pick a point of view and keep consistent from beginning to end. It doesn’t make sense if you start in one point of view, then she changes to another and then I changed my mind again! Same with past, present and future tense!) and thought over a hook to open the whole thing with. If you’re still stuck, however, here are a few more suggestions:
- Try a prompt. Sometimes that can get you rolling and grow into a longer work.
- Let your dreams inspire you. Literally. I always record my really awesome dreams, and have used them to write stories in the past.
- Pay attention to the world around you, and let your imagination feed off everything you see. Like I said earlier: Last year, my dogs went crazy barking at a reflection in a window and my imagination latched onto that and took over my NaNo plans.
- Develop a character. Sometimes all you need is a hero (or a villain).
- Just write. Take a bit of wisdom for the movie Finding Forrester: “No thinking – that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is… to write, not to think!” There are a lot of people who think what you have to think and plan and squeeze the plot until it bleeds before you can actually write it, but sometimes that kills it. If you don’t believe me, there are a lot of authors out there with bios that say that you have to let the story go where it will and sometimes trying to train it or force it will destroy it (Ray Bradbury and Stephen King are two of my favorite examples). So, just sit down in a comfortable place and a time you normally like to write (forget midnight unless you’re a nocturnal writer like me. There’s too much pressure, especially if you’re used to following a dot-to-dot outline from beginning to end) and type the first sentence that comes to your head, then keep on going until the words stop flowing.
I hope this helps and that you find yourself joining me and my thousands of fellow WriMos typing toward 50k on November 1st! Good luck and happy writing!
Ink on My Hands 