I'm Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo 2020!

The next book in the series Charlie, the Mystery-Solving Great Dane & His Quick Traveling Partners is in planning stage.

I received an email from NaNoWriMo today and it got me thinking.

What will I write in November?

I thrive in an environment with multiple projects and multiple deadlines. As a writer and author, this is a blessing and a curse.

I'm almost done the final edit of my first book in the series, 1st to Find, with 2nd to Search waiting to be edited. It doesn't stop me from prepping another book, getting ready to write 4th to Forget in November.

Because I love Charlie and the Quail Buddies so much, this is a fun project. It's not a chore, although editing feels like it sometimes.

I enjoy the idea creation stage. Adding new characters, changing the setting, deleting characters no longer useful.

I guess that's why I like being an author, I can manipulate the story which ever way I want like a puppeteer moving the strings. I make my characters dance to my beat and I love it!

It's something that comes natural to me, putting my friends on the page, bringing them to life as I see them, not as they are in real life. Aspects of them I find special, I amplify so everyone can see them. When I say friends, my current work is about animals so my real-life human friends aren't worried (yet!).

It's hard to say goodbye to a character or even at the end of a story. I miss Charlie so much at the end of book 1, I quickly started planning an outline for book 2, then book 3, and now I'm working on the outline for book 4.

Middle grade books weren't my first genre, but they quickly became my favorite. My first genre was romance. I haven't published those stories yet, but I have a few favorite ones and will eventually get to publishing those as well.

But first, I work with my favorite characters and bring them to life so others can enjoy them. Mainly those aged 8-10, however, I've heard other age groups like them as well. I don't judge! I like the stories myself and I'm way past 10 years old!

And that's the reason I love NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) so much.

For those of you on the fence about trying to encapsulate 50,000 words into a story, here's my advice:

Just try it!

There's no pressure to achieve the 50,000 words, we're all friends here. I know it's difficult, seems like a huge amount, but what you're trying to accomplish will amaze you.

Let me tell you how much I love this challenge. This is the 3rd time I've done it, and I loved each and every journey to the 50,000 word mark.

Because I've written 100,000 word romance books before I heard about NaNoWriMo, I knew I could write 50,000 words.

What I didn't know was how to properly prep, outline, and arc my stories. I learned those things as I researched my story journey for the first NaNo I did.

I wanted to test myself to see if I could prep a story with scenes and character arcs and the like, since I'd never done it before.

Here's what I learned.

It's easier to be a puppeteer if you know how to move the strings. So, my advice, if you want to try NaNoWriMo for the first time, use their Prep 101 workbook and answer each question as you go. Here's a link if you want to learn more.

I look forward to seeing my characters jump off the page in November, see where my creativeness will take them as I plan, modify the plan, and eventually force them on the journey with me.

If you're struggling to get to The End, email me, I'd be happy to help with useful blog posts, great websites, and even a workbook or two to get you started.

And if you join NaNoWriMo.org, add me as a "buddy" and we can write together in November.

Until then, happy prepping, and happy writing!