Your NaNoWriMo Story Prep Checklist
NaNoWriMo is AWESOME for motivating you to get your writing done. But it’s not so great for helping you to actually write a novel (or even a story that you can do something with after the fact). And the reason is because writing a cohesive story that hangs together requires you to think through a lot of stuff, prior to writing a single word of prose.
This checklist will help make sure you cover all the most important pieces of your story plan, so you can go into NaNoWriMo ready to write.
◻ Your Concept and Premise
◻ Who’s your Protagonist
◻ What does he want in the story?
◻ What is his inner demon?
◻ Who’s your Antagonist?
◻ What does he want in the story?
◻ Why does he want it?
◻ How does what the Antagonist wants oppose what your Protagonist wants?
◻ Why does the Antagonist want to oppose your Protagonist?
◻ What’s at stake for your Protagonist once the Antagonist gets introduced?
◻ What POV are you writing this story in?
◻ What’s your theme/message?
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◻ What are your subplots?
◻ Who are your secondary characters?
◻ How does your story open?
◻ How does your story end?
◻ What’s your Hook?
◻ What’s your First Plot Point?
◻ What’s your Midpoint?
◻ What’s your Second Plot Point?
◻ What are your Pinch Points (1, 2)?
◻ What needs to happen in Part 1 (Set Up)?
◻ What needs to happen in Part 2 (Reaction)?
◻ What needs to happen in Part 3 (Attack)?
◻ What needs to happen in Part 4 (Resolution)?
◻ Write up an ordered scene list
◻ Expand on each scene
If you want to dive deeper on all the stuff in this checklist, be sure to grab a copy of my NaNoPlanMo eBook: #NaNoWriMoPrep: A Story Planning Crash-Course to Get You Ready to Write (available only during NaNoPlanMo (aka: October))
NaNoPlanMo JenniferBlanchard.net