I felt very burnt out at the beginning of Novel November so I quickly gave myself permission not to aim to write 50,000 words. Instead, I have other creative commitments that should be taking my precious energy. And that’s okay! If you, like me, have limited energy right now or other projects in progress this Novel November, here are some ideas of how you can still feel like you’re taking part in the energy of the month.
My aims:
- Write the new novel when I can (even just one paragraph)
- Edit or query my completed manuscripts everyday
- Get publishing ready
- Read comparative titles (for my query letter)
- Post on socials about my writing as much as I can (at least 2-3x a week)
Write everyday (just not the 1667 words)
It’s a great and fun goal to write every day, we just often see a certain amount of words as “enough”. There is no word count that fulfils the “write every day”. Writing every day is writing every day! Whether that’s 1 word or 5,000.
Lower the bar if you need to, and be proud of yourself for showing up every day.
Refill the creative cup actively
Do things for yourself that will inspire and nourish your creativity.
- Creativity Solo Date
- Day dedicated to reading
- Day dedicated to gentle crafts
- Day reading your old work
- Watch TV show or film that is similar to your story
Read novels specifically similar to yours (comp titles)
This is key to me because I’m ready to query to literary agents, thus I am prioritising reading comparative titles to my novel. If you aren’t at the querying stage, you can still read books you think will be similar (in genre, vibe, themes, voice, style etc) to your novel. This helps you be prepared for when you do query but also helps you figure out how yours works or fits the market.
You can google books that feature XYZ and get reading them!
Bingo tracker
Hop onto Canva and create your own Novel November Bingo Tracker! That way, you are tracking your creative progress your way.
World-building and character work everyday
Writing isn’t just getting words onto your manuscript. It’s all the ideas, the exploration, the workings of the elements that come together to make the manuscript work. So, if you can’t draft right now because of other things going on (physically or mentally) then work on your story in other ways instead.
- Create character profiles
- Create a mind-map of themes, ideas, plot threads
- Vision board for the novel on Milanote
- Pinterest board for the novel
- Work on the rules of the magic system
- Study story structure
- Study character arcs
- Outline the novel
Take a daring step with your work
Use Novel November as your push to finally take that next big step in your writing journey. Whether that’s simply starting a story you have postponed; editing a novel for the first time; researching literary agents; looking into self-publishing options; attending an author event; attending a networking event; sending your query to agents; posting online about your work – whatever!
This is your sign, your moment, to take that brave step!
If you are doing NovNov and want someone to write with, here is my 28 minute writing session for you!
Sincerely,
S. xx
