If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of writers committing to a novel draft this November through NaNoWriMo—or if you’re looking for help running any writing marathon, any time of year—you’ve come to the right place. Keep these top resources bookmarked to help you on your way.
-
Put Me In, Coach!
Part of what’s so special about NaNoWriMo is that nobody does it alone. In fact, NaNoWriMo has assembled a team of writing coaches to post motivation on Twitter and Instagram for you every day! And if you prefer to stay *off* social media when you’re trying to write, they’ve already prepared a training schedule for you for the whole month. Pick and choose from exercises, videos, and more—you can find it all here.
-
Yes, There’s an App for That
This year, the free Evernote app is offering a collection of (also free!) templates designed to help make your NaNoWriMo story-planning easier on the go, including a Story Premise Worksheet, Character Profile, and dedicated Dashboard for your story elements. Especially if you’re going to be doing a lot of your writing in smaller snippets throughout the day (and night), check out their guide to using Evernote for NaNoWriMo.
-
The Best NaNoWriMo Tips Are Evergreen
If you held your breath, signed up for the NaNoWriMo challenge, and then closed your laptop before you lost your nerve, you may have missed this one! The NaNoWriMo’s generous nonprofit staff offers the definitive free download, 53 glorious pages spanning everything from idea development to world building and time management, to help you prep and adjust as necessary week by week.
Beyond and latest and greatest tips, don’t be dissuaded by any how-to roundup on NaNoWriMo that isn’t brand new. When it comes to best practices, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel every year! A couple oldies-but-goodies:
- If a 53-page guide is just too much for you, our friends at Writer’s Digest have teamed up with the NaNoWriMo staff to offer a more concise, equally free downloadable toolkit including advice, motivation, and prompts to keep you going.
- Pssst…. Just want some quick tips right this minute, so you can get inspired and then back to work? Here are five from me.
-
An Infographic Is Worth 1,000 Words
Turn to our Career Authors Infographic Library for grab-and-go checklists full of concise advice on heroes, villains, settings, supporting characters and more.
-
Beat Procrastination Before It Starts
In case you missed it, our own Dana Isaacson recently offered some brilliant NaNoWriMo-focused advice for beating back the procrastination beast.
-
Have a Secret Weapon Ready Before You Run Out of Steam
Bookmark this one now, and you’ll thank us later: Help for the Home Stretch of NaNoWriMo.
Have a favorite NaNoWriMo survival tip of your own? Join our discussion on Facebook!
Good luck—we’ll be cheering for you.
