October is here, which means that NaNoWriMo is just around the corner! For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Every November, hundreds of thousands of writers world-wide take up the challenge to write a 50,000+ word novel in one month. If you’re considering taking up the challenge this year, there are some amazing resources you may want to look to for guidance as you prep—or compete.
NaNoWriMo’s YouTube Channel
Did you know that NaNoWriMo has a YouTube chock-full of advice for NaNo and writing in general? With topics covering everything character development to world-building to overcoming writer’s block, these short videos are sure to inspire you and get your creative juices flowing.
The NaNoWriMo Website
During NaNoWriMo, other participants are going to be your salvation while making this journey. Make friends, both locally and from all over the world. You can even join a region and attend events in your area.
You can follow NaNo veterans for guidance, fellow NaNo participants for commiseration, and a few more official NaNo accounts to keep you on-task. Word sprints are a great way to help you meet the day’s goals, and unless you’re at a write-in, the best way to participate in a word sprint is over Twitter.
Start with these accounts:
@NaNoWriMo
@NaNoWordSprints
Writing Apps
If you can identify your writing weaknesses, you can find an app to help you overcome them. Easily distracted? There’s an app for that. Writer’s block? There’s an app for that. Waste time playing with formatting? Yup, there’s an app for that too. You can find some suggestions for what app may be right for you, check out this list.
Write-Minded Podcast
Write-Minded is a pretty new podcast, but you can’t get much better access than this. Co-hosted by Grant Faulkner, the Executive Director of NaNoWriMo, and Brooke Warner, the publisher here at SparkPress as well as at She Writes Press, this podcast is designed as a weekly dose of inspiration for authors.
Here!
Many of our twice-weekly posts have all sorts of writing advice—and during October and November, some of them are NaNoWriMo-specific. Here is one about prepping for NaNoWrimo. Look here for a list of NaNoWriMo must-haves. We recommend checking out our writing tag for posts on topics like titling your book, writing dialogue, and writing feminist villians.
What are your favorite NaNoWriMo resources?
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