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How I Prepared for NaNoWriMo 2020

Tuesday, October 13, 2020


Preptober is in full swing over here in Shelby writing land. This past Saturday, I took the time to do my own prep for NaNoWriMo. In order to prep though, I had to decide what project I was going to do for NaNo 2020.


*Drumroll Please*

Project Announcement


For NaNo this year, my goal is to finish The Midnight Huntress. I am so close to being done with the first draft, so I am determined to finish it this November. My idea is to finish drafting the story to the end. If I need more words after that, I will begin editing and adding in scenes I have already identified to be needed. I plan on having The Midnight Huntress drafted and my self edits done by the end of the year. I was on track for that, but got a little sidetracked with my wedding in September. Therefore, I am super pumped to get back to work on this project. It’s not the standard NaNo project, but it is what I need to get done in writing life.

Now that you know what my NaNo project is, let’s get into what I did to get prepared for NaNoWriMo 2020.

Got Inspired by Heart Breathings and Natalia Leigh


I started my NaNo prep by watching Heart Breathings (Sarra Cannon) and Natalia Leigh’s NaNo prep videos. I love watching videos like this because they give me ideas about how to prepare that I wouldn’t have thought about. While watching these videos, I chose to print out Sarra’s NaNo prep workbook that she released for FREE to do my prep. I also got inspired to clean my area, meal plan, and plan my writing time.

If you are stumped on how to get prepared from NaNo, I highly recommend checking out their videos. I also wrote a blog post called, “How to Have a Successful NaNoWriMo,” that you can also use to get some ideas.

Cleaned Up and Prepped My Writing Area


With all of the wedding prep and cleaning of the house, my desk had become a hot mess of clutter and paper. I wanted to make sure it was ready to write in since this where I like to get in the writing zone when working on my novel. This meant it needed a good wipe down and organization.

I took the time to wipe everything down with an all-purpose cleaner and put away papers that were cluttering my desk. I also took this time to freshen up the decor of my bulletin board with a graphic from the Heart Breathing’s NaNo workbook. Finally, I wiped down my laptop with some 70% rubbing alcohol. Now my desk is completely clean and ready for some early morning writing sprints.

Planned out My Writing Schedule and Rewards


After taking the time to clean my space, I began the hard work of figuring out my daily word count. First I started by marking my off days. This year I’ve decided to take off every Sunday, Thanksgiving, and the day after Thanksgiving. On my writing days to win NaNoWriMo, this means I will need to write 2,174 words. If you haven’t done this yet, I highly recommend it. It really gives you a good idea of the actual word counts you need rather than going by the usual 1,667 words.

I also took the time to come up with a few rewards for NaNo word milestones. I went with low-cost things and quality time rather than fancy purchases. I told my husband my rewards, so he can keep me accountable and help me get my rewards once I accomplish a milestone.

Began Meal Planning


This year I am trying monthly meal planning. This is something new I haven’t ever done for NaNo, but I think it’s going to be a big help. Figuring out meals is one of the most stressful things for me as far as NaNo goes because it takes so much of my writing time to try and prep meals. Right now I’m trying out a ton of freezer meals to see what I like. My idea is to do a ton of freezer meal prep at the end of October and be able to pull dinner out throughout the month.

I also plan on order Hello Fresh two weeks out of the month. Normally when ordering Hello Fresh I chose unique meals that I wouldn’t make on my own, but this time I will be looking for meals that are under 30 minutes. The idea is to make dinner as easy as possible during November, so I’ll be able to get a good meal in, but also have plenty of extra time at night to do my writing sprints.


I hope you enjoyed this blog post about my own NaNoWriMo prep and it gives you some inspiration for your own. Happy writing!

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