Preptober: How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo 2022

Whether you’re a planner or a pantser, here are 10 ways Preptober (prep in October) can set you up for a successful November National Novel Writing Month in 2022!

Are you one of the 400,000 writers about to dedicate the month of November to writing a novel? Let’s get excited! As a seasoned NaNo veteran, I wanted to bring you some Preptober tips and tricks to help you prepare for this novel-writing marathon. Disclaimer: this is not your run-of-the-mill “plan your characters, develop your theme” sort of list (though I do list some of my favorite resources near the end of the article).

Instead, this Preptober list is all about getting excited for November and preparing things other than the writing (well, mostly). 🎃

Let’s start by addressing some commonly asked questions about Preptober.

What is Preptober, anyway?

“Preptober” is a fun word created out of the combination of “prepping” or “preparing” and “October.” Many writers who participate in NaNoWriMo use the month of October to prepare for the November challenge. Preparing looks different for everyone, though. Some people use Preptober get hyped up about NaNo, while others start laying the groundwork for beginning their novels so they can hit the ground running in November.

Is Preptober cheating?

While NaNo is called a competition, it’s really a personal challenge. That means it’s up to you to decide what rules to play by. Some people challenge themselves to complete the entire “idea to novel” process in exactly 30 days, while others interpret the challenge as “the writing begins in November” but the planning (such as plotting, worldbuilding, and character creation) can happen beforehand. You decide what the rules are!

Do you have other questions about Preptober or NaNoWriMo that I didn’t cover here? Send me a message!

The idea of Preptober is to get all the distracting details out of the way in October so you can focus every single drop of writerly energy into your novel in November.

Makes sense, right? Let’s count down 10 ways you can prepare for NaNoWriMo this year.

Tip #10: Sign up for a NaNoWriMo Account

Let’s get this show on the road! The first step of Preptober is to declare your intention to participate in NaNoWriMo 2022 by logging in (or signing up, if this is your first time) to the official NaNoWriMo website. If you already have an idea for your novel, this is a great time to announce your NaNo novel, give it a name and description, and maybe even upload a cute cover. (Nothing gets me more hyped up to write than a cute cover. I like to create novel covers using Canva — more on that later!)

But if you don’t have a clue yet, don’t panic. You have until November 1 to figure out those details.

Tip #9: Join your local NaNo group

One of my favorite parts of NaNoWriMo is the people. Normally, writing is a solitary activity, but during NaNo, writing groups are more active than any other time of the year. I love it! Having people to commiserate with when I get stuck on a plot point or decide to change a major character detail that results in tons of revisions really helps my mental health.

You can find your local NaNo group by joining your Region. Simply go to nanowrimo.org, log in, and click on the Community tab dropdown menu — if it’s your first time, you’ll have to Find a Region, but if you’re returning, you can select Home Region to find your local group’s information. Most NaNo regions list some sort of social media page, like Facebook or Discord, that you can join right away. You can also post a friendly message on the NaNo region page itself.

Why sign up in October? A lot of groups host a NaNoWriMo kick-off party or write-in on October 31 at midnight. You’ll want to join your region group to get all the details!

Throughout November, region groups host write-ins at local libraries or coffee shops, or virtual write-ins using Discord or Zoom. Even if you’re an introvert (like me), I strongly recommend joining a group, as I think it helps enormously with motivation. Writing a novel is hard work! Having a support group to help you through the tough moments can make all the difference.

If your region isn’t very active, don’t despair. Anyone can submit event suggestions to their region, so why not organize a meetup yourself?

Tip #8: Start brainstorming novel ideas

Now we’re getting to the fun stuff. What story would you love to write? A big part of Preptober is solidifying your novel idea so you can hit the ground running in November. What kind of book are you interested in writing?

If you’re drawing a blank, start by picking a genre: Literary Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction, Romance, Western, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian, Contemporary, etc. I personally like using Story Grid’s Five-Leaf Genre Clover to get a good idea of the type of book I’m writing.

Tip #7: Make a mood board

Once I have some idea of the kind of novel I’d like to write, I like to create a mood board. I am obsessed with mood boards. No, really — I have a mood board for every single one of my novels in progress.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a mood board is a collection of images, text, and other materials that evokes a project, style, or concept.

I create mine using Pinterest, although I have made a few physical mood boards in the past using good old-fashioned cork board and printouts. You can find a lot of incredible art on Pinterest to inspire your novel’s settings, characters, and events.

If you’re a fantasy writer, my board Fantasy Writers Guild is a great place to start. Featuring hundreds of images of fantasy landscapes, fantastical creatures, and character concepts, this board is always my first stop when I’m starting a new fantasy novel. Then, when I start writing, I open the mood board on one screen (or print out my favorite images) to inspire more descriptive writing.

Tip #6: Create writing playlists

I used to write in complete silence, but now that I have a noisy family, music helps me tune out the chaos and focus. It’s too easy to spend hours browsing music instead of writing, though, so I like to make my writing playlists before November.

Since I can’t help singing along to lyrics, I only listen to instrumental music when I’m writing. Here are a few great YouTube channels to find instrumental ambience music for writing:

• The Sherry Formula is great if you want low-key ambience music. I particularly like the Pomodoro technique videos, which have built-in timers for breaks.
• Ambient Worlds has an excellent collection of movie music playlists so you can write to the emotional highs of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
• The Vault of Ambience is another one of my favorites. They have 2-hour soundtracks like “Victorian London” and “Magic Bookstore in the Woods” to inspire your writing.

Tip #5: Read books in the genre

Writers read, but you probably won’t have time for reading in November (you’re trying to write 50,000 words in 30 days, after all!), so it’s best to do your reading in October. I personally like to immerse myself in some of my favorite books from the genre I’ll be writing in. This does two things: it helps get my brain into genre gear, and it reminds me that reading is magical and amazing. Reading great books always gets me excited to tell my own stories.

You can take this to the next level by not just reading these exemplar books, but also studying them. This helps you transition from “reader brain” to “writer brain.” Some of the most helpful elements to study are characters and plot. I’ve done the work of outlining the plots of two of my favorite novels (Ender’s Game and Sabriel) using the Save the Cat beat sheet to figure out what makes them work so well, and I have to say that the process illuminated plot for me more than any webinar or textbook ever did. I highly recommend it!

Tip #4: Prepare your tools

Do you write best on a computer or on paper? Preptober is the perfect time to make sure you have the tools for the job at hand. That might mean buying a gorgeous new journal you’ll love to open every day or beginning the work of clearing a messy desk to create the perfect writing environment.

Tip #3: Consider a word count tracker

Hitting your daily word count is one of the most satisfying parts of NaNoWriMo. It’s important to channel that feeling of accomplishment into the next day, so I recommend using some sort of word count tracker. Some writers buy a calendar and place check mark on each day that they hit their word count. Some even write the amount of words on the day, which is a great way of celebrating your dedication!

Last year, I used the Google Doc extension Writing Habit to track my daily words. The extension, which creates a sidebar in Google Docs that allows you to set daily goals as well as overall manuscript goals, also tracks your “writing streak” — the amount of days in a row that you’ve added words to the page. I get super competitive about keeping streaks going (Wordle and Snap can testify), so Writing Habit totally worked for me.

Tip #2: Start a daily writing routine

One of the biggest challenges of NaNoWriMo is getting used to writing every day. Scientists say that it takes at least 21 days to form a habit. So if you start building that habit in October, by the time November rolls around, you’ll be a pro!

Start your daily writing routine with something lighthearted and easy, like keeping a dream journal, writing sensory poetry, or journaling about your day. You want to save your stamina for November, when the real marathon begins. Plus, you never know what will inspire parts of your plot now that it’s marinating in the back of your mind!

Tip #1: Outline your novel

Okay, I know I said this was not that kind of list, but probably the #1 most helpful thing writers can do in Preptober is outline their novel. Figuring out what will happen in your novel is often the most time-consuming part of the process, so giving yourself an entire month to brainstorm your plot can remove a lot of the stress from November.

How much planning you do is entirely up to you. Some writers are planners and some are pantsers, but it’s usually helpful to have at least a rough plan of where your novel is going before November 1.

If you’ve never outlined a novel before (or even if you have, but you’d like to learn about different ways to structure a plot) I highly recommend this article from Reedsy on 7 narrative structures all writers should know. Their infographics for each story structure are super helpful.

And if you’d like a step-by-step prep guide to planning a novel, I recommend Savannah Gilbo’s ultimate guide to planning for NaNoWriMo, where she talks about how to find your story idea, choose your genre, uncovering your theme, POV and tense, and basically all the “technical” details you’ll want to iron out before writing.

🎃 Final thoughts

There you have it — my 10 favorite ways to spend Preptober getting excited for NaNoWriMo.

If you enjoyed this article, don’t forget to sign up for notifications because I’ll be publishing a whole series about NaNoWriMo this year, including NaNoWriMo advice for beginners, a fillable plot outline worksheet to help you structure your novel, a NaNoWriMo calendar with writing prompts that work with any story, and more.

Wishing you the best of luck! And if you ever need a writing break, please stop by and let me know how your novel is going. I’d love to hear from you!

Are you excited for NaNoWriMo 2022? Tell me how you’re planning to spend your Preptober in the comments below.

Keep writing,