Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Resource Roundup – NaNoWriMo Edition

In case you've been living under a rock, November is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo or simply NaNo for short. 50,000 words in 30 days (1,667 words/day). Whether you are sailing along or have already found yourself in troubled waters, consider this your one-stop-shop for NaNoWriMo resources when the going gets tough.


As with previous Resource Roundups (Finding the Right Word, Conjuring Up Titles, and Crafting Dialogue), I focused on online resources. There were a ton of posts out there, which I’ve gone through and evaluated for their usefulness. But if you’ve come across other valuable resources, please tell me about them in the comments, and I’ll include them when I add this to my Resource Roundup page on the sidebar.


Post Series: 

Write Anything's NaNoWriMo Workshop by contributor Karen covers planning your NaNo project in addition to specific aspects of craft so crucial to storytelling. She pulls the best bits from numerous books on craft and technique to give NaNo participants a helping hand.

Find, and Flush Out, an Idea
Setting It Up
Character
Point of View
Plot
Constructing Scenes

NaNoWriMo Boot Camp courtesy of Agent Nathan Bransford is a must read, if only because Bransford condescended to write about NaNo in the first place. Besides, you should be reading his posts on craft and publishing anyway. He has 4,660 Goggle followers (and counting) for a reason.

Choosing the Right Idea
Goals and Obstacles
Editing As You Go

Countdown to NaNoWriMo by Paulo Campos at yingle yangle gives you tried and true advice from a NaNoWriMo veteran. When you hit the wall, Campos's posts provide options for moving forward.

Part 1: Winding Up Your Writing Clock
Part 2: Why Outlining Your Novel Is Essential
Part 3: Outlining A Novel Worth Reading
Part 4: Your Outline Will Fail
Part 5: Making the Most Out of A NaNoWriMo Crisis
Part 6: Making A Mess of A NaNoWriMo Crisis
Part 7: Why NaNoWriMo Naysayers Should Please Shut Up
Part 8: So Your NaNoWriMo Novel Sucked


Stand Alone Posts:

The Pros and Cons of NaNoWriMo - Gives a great overview of the benefits of participating and the trade-offs you'll make when you lock yourself away to reach the goal.

NaNoReaMo - Author Natalie Whipple decides she's going to spend November reading instead of writing.

Putting the NANO in NaNoWriMo - An alternative take on what "NaNo" really means.

NaNo Checklist - The title says it all. Make sure you haven't forgotten anything.

6 Golden Rules of NaNoWriMo -When you start questioning where your story's headed, read this for a reality check, courtesy of editor Victoria Mixon.

9 Ways to Prepare for National Novel Writing Month - Another post from Write Anything to make sure you're ready for NaNo.

Other NaNoWriMo resources from those who know:

***Please let me know in the comments if you've found a NaNoWriMo resource that should also be included. Thanks!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great round-up of links for NaNoWriMo. And thanks for mentioning my blog too.:)

Bluestocking said...

More to Explore

Storytelling in Chunks - A great discussion of story structure for Nano-ers

NaNoWhoKnow? NaNoWriMo Do’s and Don’ts - Ways to perceive your NaNo project and get the most out of your experience

Don’t Let Implausibility Derail Your Writing – If it works for your story in the short run, keep going. You can always fix it later.

NaNo: It’s OK to Fail – Practical take on how to view your experience

And finally, who doesn’t like controversy?

Laura Miller’s Salon article Better yet, Don’t write that novel

Carolyn Kellogg’s response 12 reasons to ignore the naysayers: Do NaNoWriMo from the LA Times Jacket Copy

And an opinion piece from Melville House Publishing on the whole quality/quantity thing.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Awesome post! I'm not doing NaNo this year, but this is full of great info for writers in general....Thanks for all of the work putting it together. :-)

Meagan Spooner said...

What a great roundup! I'm not able to do NaNo this year, but have decided to do NaNoReaMo instead, inspired by Natalie Whipple's post--and by the fact that the very travel that prevents me from doing NaNoWriMo gives me tons of time to read.

Bluestocking said...

ALSO:

NaNoWriMo-No - You aren't a real writer if you only write for one month out of the year (via Writer Unboxed).

Three Lessons from Nano - What a Nano virgin has learned (via Fiction Groupie).

Bluestocking said...

Check out The Graceful Doe's recap of NaNo Resources.

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