Do you want to finally write a novel? Do you need resources and community support to finally make progress? Do you want to finally win NaNoWriMo this November?

Then, you’re in the right spot, my friend.

Welcome to the

Write Your Novel Workshop

Fall 2018

I’m sharing my best resources, tips, and inspiration to help you succeed in planning, preparing, and writing your novel this fall. This workshop is a masterclass in helping you plan to write with Preptober and get the writing done for NaNoWriMo in November. It’s time to write your novel!

tHIS workshop includes:

• Instructional lessons on how to plan your novel

• Worksheets to help you commit to telling this particular novel, create compelling characters, outline your story, and prep your life for an intense writing marathon

• Deadlines that get you prepped in time for NaNoWriMo

• Community discussion, support, and prep in our Real+Good Writer Facebook Group

• An inside look into my own novel writing process

How to Join:

Month 1: Preptober

A portmanteau of prepare and October, Preptober helps you plan to write your novel for NaNoWriMo in November. In the month before you begin writing, you prepare so the writing is easier during your marathon in November.

During Preptober, you plot out your novel’s arc, craft compelling characters, research what you need, commit to your story, discover inspiration, plan how to manage your marathon with the rest of your life, and create a story bible. All of these things are super helpful steps to ensure a successful writing month, a fully-formed story, and a (mostly) sane writer.

Each week for Preptober we have a different focus for our novel writing prep. We will come up with a story idea that will sustain a novel-length work and your sanity, craft compelling characters with character-driven plot arcs that accurately represent reality and evoke empathy from your readers, structure your story by creating a working outline that allows detail to get writing as well as flexibility for things to change, and prepare the rest of your life so you can have a happy and productive writing month.

The Real+Good Writer’s Plan Your Novel Workbook

You can download this workbook with a pay-what-you-can pricing system. Purchase starts at $12; the recommended price is $25.

Week 1: Define Intentions (and Find Story Idea)

Suggested deadline: October 10

How to choose an idea that will sustain 80,000+ words and your sanity

Week 1 CHECKLIST:

• Come up with a logical story idea that excites you

• Write a why statement that will motivate and inspire you to write

• Define your novel facts with a high-concept overview

Week 2: Craft Compelling Characters

Suggested Deadline: October 17

How to create characters with real traits and emotional arcs

Week 2 CHECKLIST:

• Create Character Sketches for all who appear in your novel to ensure complexity of all characters

• Create Character-Driven Plot Embryos for all major characters with detailed traits and emotional arcs to write characters that resonate with readers and evoke empathy

Week 3: Structure Your Scenes (with an Outline)

Suggested Deadline: October 24

How to write a working outline with detail and intentional flexibility

Week 3 CHECKLIST:

• Design a working outline to show scope, provide focus, and allow flexibility

Week 4: Prep Your Life

Suggested Deadline: October 31

How to stay inspired and efficient throughout your writing month

Week 4 CHECKLIST:

• Organize your writing desk so you can sit down and start

• Plan your Software/Hardware Setup to ensure security and efficiency

• Schedule writing and everything else on your calendar

• Create inspiration and a reward system to stay motivated, happy, and sane (such as pretty posters, an influential and inspirational reading list, and coffee/snacks stash)

• Plan to track your productivity in some way

Month 2: NaNoWriMo

Hosted each November by the Office of Letters and Light, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a month-long writing marathon from November 1-30 in which you write 50,000 words of your novel (1,667 words each day). It’s crazy and amazing.

NaNoWriMo was designed to help get butts in chairs and words on the page. It’s not about writing the best novel ever written, but silencing your inner editor so you can get words on the page to revise later. It’s for the writers who need messy first drafts, experimental plot twists, and lots and lots of coffee.

How much does all this cost?

This entire workshop comes as a labor of love to support you on your novel writing journey. I understand financial constraints can make finding quality resources difficult and I genuinely want to support you and this community. Therefore, the initial version of this workshop has minimal introductory prices and a pay-what-you-can system.

If you would like access to the articles and community, simply read the blog and join the Facebook group at no cost to you whatsoever.

If you would like to download the workbook that accompanies these lessons, you can purchase it with the pay-what-you-want price. Because I have devoted time and energy to the creation of this material, the minimum is $12 to receive instant access to the workbook; the recommended price is $25.