5 Non-writing Preparations to Include on Your Preptober To-Do List
Some things to consider adding to your Preptober to-do list beyond your upcoming NaNoWriMo project.
October is for falling leaves, spooky things, too many pumpkin scented and flavored things, and is affectionally adorned Preptober by the writing community.
Preptober is the cherry on top of spooky season for writers.
It’s the thirty-one day count down to National Novel Writing Month where writers all over the world at various points in their writing journeys collectively attempt to write 50,000 words within the month.
Over the last couple of years, Preptober has also has come with the added bonus of the World Wide Write-a-thon, created by Jessica Williamson and Writing Mom Samantha L Nasset. This weekend long writing marathon is held exclusively through YouTube livestreams by numerous writers of all genres just two weeks before NaNoWriMo Kicks off.
It’s basically holiday season for writers right now as we prep ourselves to settle in for completing 50,000 words — or whatever your rebellious goal is — over the course of thirty days.
Which, if you’re done the math, means we’re preparing ourselves to write at least 1667 words a day.
For some of us that may be nothing but a day’s work you’ve been training for your whole life, for others, it may be an entirely new undertaking and for some of us it’s a place we’ve been before and keep trying to defeat again.
Almost like Mt. Everest for writers.
(Too dramatic? Let me know. But it feels right from where I’m at.)
A big part of Preptober is setting up for this thirty day undertaking — that either burns us out or shows us what our writing routine is made of — in the form of preparing the ground work for our project.
The planners are using the month to create character sheets, chapter outlines, book synopsis, pre-writing a back blurb, going over story structure and expectations for their genre, re-outlining and attempting to dodge plot holes, and world building the hell out of their projects.
Pantsers are milling through their ideas, discovering the story they want to tell, pre-writing without commitment, and making sure they have enough writing supplies to last thirty days, and making note of just enough to keep them on track and moving through the story from start to finish.
Both of these writing groups, however, may be overlooking a few small preparations that can take their Preptober to the next level and help them sail through November even on the tougher writing days.
Let’s face it, no matter how much you prep, there’s nothing easy about calling on your creative writing energy every single day.
So while you’re setting yourself up, in whichever way suits you, here are some things to consider adding to your to-do list for Preptober to make November a tiny bit smoother.
Buy a new journal
As if you need any encouragement to buy a new notebook or stock up on your favorite pens, I’m 10/10 recommending you treat yourself to a little stationary haul and include a new journal.
Having a new journal to dedicate to your feels throughout NaNoWriMo can help you ward off that thing we call writer’s block.
It’s no secret that journaling is a great practice for hundreds of reasons, but even if you already journal every day, it’s unlikely you want to fill your usual journaling routine with all of your writing woes on top of everything else.
Having a journal that’s specifically for reflecting on your feels around your writing and your NaNoWriMo project can help you clear your mind and better approach the project.
Something I like to recommend to my writer friends is to include journaling about their writing projects as part of their writing routines, either before or after a writing session.
First, think about how cool it would be to have a journal of your feelings around your project, that book is then published and out in the world, and you can reflect on every hard and beautiful moment that got it there.
Secondly, a lot of creative blocks can be avoided if we stop avoiding the negative feelings we have around our writing. Because let’s be real, you’re not blocked because you’re having the good feels for how things are going.
It can help to write out that imposter syndrome that kicks in around weeks two and and three. It can help you solve problems within your story if you have no one to bounce it off of, I mean no one’s going to really know what you’re talking about but you, so you may as well write it down and get it out.
Journaling is like sweeping the floor board of the mind, cleaning up all the dusty thoughts that make it hard to see the shiny stuff you really want to get to underneath.
Creative play
Writing is a lot of work and takes a lot of creative energy.
Even if you’re a pro at setting yourself up for November’s writing challenge, and always manage to pull through no matter how rough it gets out there, you may benefit from some creative play to replenish your creative juices to keep you going.
Refilling the creative well is something all artist types tend to do in one way or another, even if they don’t have a name for it. Usually it’s something that allows them to still be creative but in a pressure free sort of way.
Being a writer means you’re an artist. Artist rarely ever stick to one form of artistic expression. I think we just pick our favorite and play around in the rest.
Which exactly what can help carry you through November.
For example, I use creative hobbies like paining, sewing, and sculpting as creative outlets that allow me use my hands instead of my head. I’m not terrible at these things, but I’m also not aiming to be Picasso, Vera Wang, or Michelangelo.
I’m never going to study any of these artistic forms deeply and as earnestly as I do with writing.
So I get to be creative and have fun and instead of expelling my creative energy the way I do with writing, I’m refilling my creative energy with something fun that lets me check my need for perfection at the door.
One way to add in creative play can be to take the advice of Julia Cameron, author if The Artist Way, and plan weekly artist dates for yourself in November.
The idea of the artist date is to take yourself (the artist) on a creative date that doesn’t involve writing and is intended to help you refill your creative juices.
Some ideas you can start with are:
Painting
Spending a day with a great book
Watching your favorite movie
Sculpting some clay
Learn a new creative thing with Skillshare
Sew something
Knit something
Have your version of a spa day
Binge a new show
Create a collage
There are no rules for an artist date as long as you feel creatively full-filled by the end of the date.
Creative play can be the thing that keeps your creative cogs well oiled when you find yourself slowing down or feeling in a creative rut.
Deep clean your writing space
If there’s one notion I hate, it’s that you can’t be a creative and keep a clean space.
I call bullshit.
Preptober is the perfect time to deep clean your writing work space and put in place a small routine to maintain it throughout November.
While you may be able to get through a writing session with your desk in some state of disarray, it always feels better to your inner creative to approach a clean, clutter free space when you’re about to ask it to deliver some good creative flow.
A cluttered space is a cluttered mind and a cluttered mind won’t always let the words run smooth.
Reorganizing, refreshing, or redecorating the writing space you’re about to spend time in everyday for 30 days, both counts as an artist date if you want to get started early, and helps you generate that excited and inspired momentum just before diving into NaNoWriMo.
This is something I love to do the weekend before NaNoWriMo starts.
Reorganizing and refreshing my space means that all the work I’ve done throughout Preptober is within reach and I can’t use a messy work space as an excuse to delay getting down to the actual writing.
Taking some time to deep clean your space allows you to minimize the things you can be distracted by while writing and means everything you’ll need for your first writing session into NaNoWriMo will be on hand to help things kick off as smoothly as possible.
Which usually makes it easier and more exciting to come back and do it again.
Automate the small distractions
I admit this may be a bit of my privilege talking but automating things like grocery delivery via Instacart, a coffee subscription, and having all of my social media content scheduled out for the month ahead of time really helps me make more time for my writing.
While I know this is not something everyone can easily do, it can do well to take some time to explore different things you can stream line in your life, even if that simply means asking your partner or a friend or family member to step in and help you with some things for the month.
Some things you can maybe* automate, or delegate to make more wiggle room in your schedule —
Meal planning once a week
Schedule for grocery delivery through a service like Instacart or Amazon fresh. Or ask your partner to take on the chore for a few weeks.
Use a social media scheduler and spend a few hours during Preptober setting up November content to happen without you, using apps like Planoly, Tailwind, or Later.
Schedule your Do not disturb feature on your distraction filled devices so you can’t be distracted during your writing times.
Buy your favorite drinks and snacks in bulk ahead of time — also make sure the pets are covered, too.
Adjust your schedule as much as realistic to make room for your writing time, instead of fighting to find it where you can.
The idea of automating as much of your life as possible is so that you can free up bits of extra time in your schedule you can dedicate to writing, or even your artist dates.
Make room for flexibility and grace
Remember that no matter how much you prepare for anything, you can’t prepare for everything. Even when it comes to NaNoWriMo and especially when it comes to creating anything on a consistent basis.
Life is going to happen.
Adult obligations are going to tap you on the shoulder at the worst times possible.
You may even lose motivation and stop writing for a few days despite taking my advice prior to this, or anyone else’s.
All of it is normal and 100% okay.
What’s important is giving yourself room to do what you can with what you have, and grant yourself grace when you need it. You’re a writer and mentally disconnecting from a project for a few days is sometimes part of the process.
So if you’re participating in the writerly holiday events, let me know in the comments if you have something you do during Preptober season to help you get through NaNoWriMo. Do you do anything that’s not writing related but helps you be a better writer?
S. M. Ryan uses her degree in creative writing and every EFA course she’s ever taken to lend her experience to other writers in the form of advice, tips, and resources in her blog posts and Medium articles as it surrounds writing, lifestyle, wellness, and more.
Author of the Morning Mocha Newsletter, dog-mom to a 7 year-old pitbull, plant mom to 14 green babies and counting, she spends most of her time caffeinated, writing, or playing the Sims 4.
You can keep up with her on Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, her website, and support her by buying her a cup of coffee.
