The Real+Good Writer's Guide to Preptober

Fall brings cozy sweaters and yummy coffee, the perfect combination to cuddle up with words. It also brings NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, where writers from all around the world compete with themselves to write 50,000 new words on their novel in 30 short days. It's a writing marathon that requires commitment, energy, and dedication to your story. To successfully prepare for NaNoWriMo, the writing community has also created Preptober. A portmanteau of prepare and October, this month-long retreat gives you the time to plan your story, create your characters, write an outline, and manage your obligations outside of writing so you can focus and succeed during your writing marathon. Learn all about Preptober and get the resources you need to successfully plan and prep your novel!

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6 Ways to Quit Pressuring Your Writing to Succeed

Do you feel the pressure to publish something NOW? To be validated as a writer? To have "accomplished" something? Don't let the "NOW" pressure your writing, or else you'll get overwhelmed, you'll paralyze your process, and your writing will suck. Learn how to retrain your thinking, fight back those insecurities, and feel confident with your writing. 

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8 Steps to Mentally Prepare to Write Your Novel

Let's assume for now that you've already got that hard stuff figured out. This isn't about planning the intricacies of your novel. This isn't a craft lecture. Rather, this is figuring out how to get your mind in the right place so that when it comes down to doing it, YOU ACTUALLY DO IT. This is about mental preparation to set your goals and achieve them in the time period you allowed. Learn how to get your mind ready so that when you're ready to write, you write.

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