The NaNoWriMo 20 Questions Tag

This year, I am planning on making an honest effort in participating in NaNoWriMo. In case you don’t know what that is, it’s National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50k words in the month of November – that’s it! It’s a lot harder than it sounds because that comes out to writing 1,667 words per day, eeeeeek. Anyways, this year means a little more to me because I want to be able to say I finished the first draft before my son arrives in December (granted, he may show up early and there ain’t nothin’ I can do about that 😆 )

So, I found this tag on Sophie’s Corner and thought it was the perfect thing to introduce what I’m working on in November! It’s just 20 questions about my novel and my NaNoWriMo plans, so if you’re interested – enjoy! (if you’re more of a visual person, there is one of those aesthetic boards at the end of this post)

A little disclaimer: this isn’t a book I’m really ever planning on letting people read – it’s more of a personal project to say that I’ve finished this story – one that has been in my head for many many years. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea and that’s ok 🙂

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NANO PROJECT – GIVE A BLURB!

So, I don’t have an official blurb done yet but the general premise is:

Mysterious disease wipes out half of all life on Earth → Wealthy take refuge on temporary space stations, poor are left behind to fend for themselves → Many years later, they want to come back and begin the process of “reclaiming” Earth → Enter MC, a girl who’s grown up in this new world that finds herself in the middle of a battle between the people on Earth and those on the space stations.

I’m purposely being very vague here because 1. I’m always nervous to share my story ideas and 2. I’m still fleshing out some of the details 😆 I’m a NaNoWriMo procrastinator. However, some words/phrases that I associate with it are conspiracy, love, family, fighting for the little guy, dual POV (yep, a character I didn’t mention earlier that I’m planning on having their own POV).

WHAT IS THE GENRE

I would say dystopian/post-apocalyptic sci-fi. I think that covers all the bases.

DESCRIBE YOUR MC IN THREE WORDS

Independent, distrusting, relaxed.

WITHOUT SPOILERS, DESCRIBE YOUR VILLAIN
IN THREE WORDS

Not going to lie, I haven’t really gotten this far in my planning because my plot kind of goes two different directions. So, depending on which direction I want to take it, these are the options:

Option 1: Calm, calculated, misguided
Option 2: Wicked, rogue, wild

Totally different 😆 They both will appear at some point in the overall story, it just depends which I want to do first 😉

WHAT IS YOUR GOAL?

Honestly, just finish the draft. No matter how long that is.

IS THIS YOUR FIRST DRAFT?

Yep! Well, sort of. Technically I started this novel during NaNoWriMo several years ago and got 20k written – then lost the file. Yikes. However, I would say this is my first draft because the last time I totally pantsed it but this time I’m planning it and it’s becoming a totally different book than the 20k I wrote before. Sure, the same premise is there, but the events are drastically different.

ARE YOU STARTING A NEW PROJECT OR CONTINUING AN EXISTING ONE?

Oops, I answered this above!

FAVORITE TIME TO WRITE IN THE DAY

The morning. I need to write completely alone. So, after my husband goes to work and I pour a cup of coffee. That’s when I can write.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE

Probably my couch and dining table. Sitting near my bookshelves oddly inspires me and all of my books are in the dining room.

COMPUTER OR PAPER

I’m writing with Scrivener but I do have a notebook for notes and a NaNoWriMo physical planner (It’s now offered in PDF format).

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE TIME TO WRITE

Honestly, I don’t know. November is going to be such a busy month for me with preparing for my son to arrive that I may not actually accomplish this goal. However, I’m going to try to get my lazy butt out of bed at 4 am (when my husband goes to work) and use those early morning hours before the rest of the world is awake to just write (and read, because I really don’t want to fall behind on that either).

ARE YOU GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN LOCAL
NANOWRIMO EVENTS

In case you didn’t know, when you join the NaNoWriMo website, you get put into a group based on your geographical location. There are always events taking place like local write-ins. There are also virtual things going on that you can join. Personally, I’ve never done one of the local write-ins but I might consider it this year as they are usually held at my local library which is just down the street! Also, I do have a group chat on Instagram of girls that are also participating – we’re planning on using the chat to motivate each other!

DO YOU WRITE FROM BEGINNING TO END OR SKIP AROUND

I typically do beginning to end but this time I’m going to be more open-minded about how I write. If I get stuck, I may try writing out a scene that I know already just to get something going. We’ll see how it goes!

PLANNER OR PANTSER?

Planner, this time. Full-on planner. I’m plotting out the entire thing. Although I know myself, I could deviate at any time.

GO TO NANOWRIMO SNACK

Oh gosh, breakfast probably 😆 Since I’ll be writing so early in the morning, I’ll probably have coffee and cereal every morning.

CHOICE OF CAFFEINE

COFFEE

ANY REWARDS FOR MILESTONES? FOR FINISHING?

I ended up purchasing the goodie box from Second Star Books. The premise of it is that each item in the box is individually wrapped and you open the one with the corresponding milestone – so 5k, 10k, 20k, etc. That will be my reward for milestones. As for finishing? I have no idea! I need to think of something fun because I’ve never finished before!

SHARE A TIP FOR OTHER NANO-ERS

Have fun with it. I know its stressful to try to get the words in every day, but focus on just getting what you can write and find a group to chat with! It’s supposed to be a month of community (at least to me) while writing as much as possible. If you can’t write every day, that’s ok! You’ve got the rest of your life to work on it so don’t put that much pressure on yourself.

HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT NANOWRIMO

Pretty excited! I don’t have a lot of faith I’ll actually finish my first draft but I’ll at least make some friends in the writing community!

SHARE AN AESTHETIC FOR YOUR NOVEL

I’ve never made an aesthetic so here’s my first attempt:

Are you participating? Have you ever tried it before? Any tips or tricks you’d like to share?