NaNoWriMo Day 8
One week down, three more to go!
Hello, writers!
How was the first week of the challenge? If you’re tackling the full 50K word challenge, you should be over 13,000 words by now!
Are the creative gears turning, sending you ideas faster than you can write them down, or are you slogging away one word at a time, waiting for lightning to strike? Either way, the most important thing is to keep your personal motivation and goals in mind.
The external pressure of a challenge can be a great catalyst for our creative habits, but remember: This isn’t an all-or-nothing experience. If you miss a day or don’t hit your word count, all is not lost. Keep your focus on your personal goals and just keep going!
So, without any further ado, let’s get on to our next set of writing prompts.
Writing Prompts
Throughout my prompts, I am often going to suggest that you write a scene. By a scene, I mean a continuous sequence of events that occur in a limited timeframe. I intend each prompt to be a 15-minute word sprint. Set a timer for 15 minutes and just keep writing until the timer goes off. You’ll be amazed by what you can achieve in 15 minutes. These first few prompts are designed to help you know your main character more fully. You do them one after the other right now, pick and choose, do one a day—whatever works for you!
For the first four prompts in this NaNoWriMo series, click here.
For prompts six to eight, click here.
Write a scene in which your main character interacts with the antagonist. Even if your conflict is primarily internal, it’s still a good idea to include an antagonizing character who gets in the protagonist’s way. If you haven’t already introduced an antagonist, now’s a good time. Show us someone who actively thwarts the protagonist and let us see how the protagonist reacts. Over the course of the novel, the protagonist’s reaction will have to evolve if they are ever going to overcome the antagonist. As the protagonist overcomes their flaws, they’ll learn to do better.
Revisit your main character’s flaw. What are the origins of the flaw? Write a flashback to one of your character’s earliest memories to help us see where this trait came from and why it is so deeply rooted in the character.
Write a scene in which your main character is engaged in some sort of repetitive physical action. Describe the action with sensory details while also showing us what is on the character’s mind as they work. Can you elevate the repetitive action to the level of metaphor?
What is at stake in your story? Most of our prompts have focused on developing a well-rounded character and ensuring that the character wants something that will require sacrifice, change, and growth. Now is a good time to state or emphasize what exactly the character stands to gain or to lose through their action or inaction. Write a scene in which your main character gets a clear look at what is at stake. This vision can come in the form of someone or something the character observes that serves as an inspirational or cautionary tale, in the form of something someone says, or even in a dream.
Share your work!
I’d love to hear what you’re working on! Share a few sentences of your project in the comments and tell me how it’s going!
I’ll be back on Tuesday with some more prompts to help keep the creativity flowing.
Happy writing!