It’s October, which means there’s just one month until National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and well, after I did it last year, I am doing things RIGHT and using my October to prep — that’s why they call it Preptober.
But, I’m taking it a step further and I actually created some printable tools for anyone else doing the same thing.
Introducing: my Complete Novel Writing Prep Kit available in my Etsy Shop!
I’ve created this kit as a way to guide planning and brainstorming for your next novel (it may work for a script or another project as well). The kit includes:
– 1 Time Finder to maximize your schedule for writing
– 1 Brainstorming Kit for characters, scenes, plot + conflict
– 1 Writing playlist brainstorming sheet
– 1 Novel Yes + No list
The Time Finder is a way to help you document how you spend every hour of every day for one week.
Then, highlight the items you cannot eliminate from your schedule, such as work or eating 🙂 Next, use a different color highlighter to highlight things you might be able to get rid of, but are important, such as hitting the gym (sorry, gym). Finally, use a third color to highlight items you can definitely get rid of… like scrolling social media.
This way, you can see pockets of time to use for writing.
But really, you could use it for anything, a new hobby, studying for an exam, or grabbing extra sleep! The Time Finder is technically 1 page, but you get 4 different designs to choose from.
The Brainstorming kit includes three pages of questions and words to hopefully help you build your next great story! The kit has:
– 1 Character Brainstorming sheet
– 1 Scene Brainstorming sheet
– 1 Conflict + Plot Brainstorming sheet
The Character Brainstorming exercise has questions and ideas for coming up with great, unique characters. The Scene Brainstorming exercise is similar, and will help you pull from experiences to create realistic scenes in your story. The Conflict + Plot Brainstorming sheet has words to spark situations for your characters.
The Writing Playlist worksheet is an exercise you can do to help come up with music for better writing.
And finally, the Novel Yes + No List is a way for you to document things you like in books and things you don’t… because you’re going to write a novel full of the good stuff!
Please note that all of this is digital, so it will be delivered directly to your email, and you can print as many as you want and use them however you wish!
The Bitter Lemon 