It’s that time of year again! Time for Novel Writing Month and Preptober. 

In case you don’t know, Preptober takes place in October every year that you choose to participate in any of the November writing challenges. And I do mean any of them because there are a lot and more popping up all the time. Why?

The original writing challenge came in 1999 with National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short. Unfortunately the organization that hosted NaNoWriMo and all of its spin-off programs came to an end due to various scandals and finally shut down in 2024. 

That’s twenty-five years and several hundred thousand writers joining in, and the idea of the Novel Writing Month was ingrained into many, many writers (myself included). One of the things that becomes clearer the more writing challenges you do is that you need to prepare beforehand. 

Hence, Preptober.

Although I won’t be hosting a big writing challenge this year, preparing for any writing challenge is an important step in getting to ‘The End’ during your chosen challenge. Throughout the month of October we’ll be returning with exercises to get ready for whatever writing you’ll be doing in November. 

Choosing Your Challenge

Before you do anything else, stop! What writing challenge are you doing? 

There are dozens of challenges, some of which are official with websites and even prizes, and others that are mostly self-lead. The first thing you need to do before anything else is to decide which writing challenge you want to undertake in November. 

Most challenges are novel-length undertakings or longer. I recommend choosing one and doing your research on whether that’s something you want to attempt. Do not just jump into several on November 1st. That’s a prime way to kill your story and your writing habit. 

A couple challenges to get you started: 

The Order of The Written Word. Offers options for novels, short stories and poems as well as revisions. 

Reedsy Novel Sprint. Requires use of the Reedsy Studio but also offers a cash prize. 

Nanaimo by Quill Loop. Quill Loop is still fairly new, but shows a lot of promise. 

There’s several others out there and a quick ‘NaNoWriMo alternatives’ search on your preferred engine will uncover dozens more. 

Your task: Pick one. Get ready for it. Check out the requirements for each challenge and make a decision about which one sounds feasible. 

No matter which writing challenge you choose for this November, you shouldn’t go in blindly. These are huge undertakings. Most of these will require 1,000+ words a day These are meant to be a challenge. Set yourself up for success and get yourself in order for the upcoming challenge. 

Does that mean checking your November schedule to see if you can even commit to a writing challenge? Yes it does. If you know you’re out of town visiting family for two weeks, probably best not to overload yourself by also cramming in hours of writing daily. The only one dishonesty will hurt here is you, so be honest and realistic.

If 30 Days Isn’t Right For You

There is no reason you have to participate in a writing challenge. They are challenges, but they don’t work for every writer. You may not have time. You may not have the story. You may just not like the idea of cramming all your writing into 30 days only. 

That’s fine. There’s actually alternatives that are longer too! Many of these work on 60 or even 90 day increments. 

You also aren’t required to participate. Ever. Every-challenge is an opt-in. And if you have a writing group or something else that requires you to opt-in for whatever reason the answer isn’t to jump into a challenge, the answer is to find a new writing group. 

Prep The Story

Almost every single challenge is going to tell you to get ready to write. A good chunk of those is going to suggest figuring out story beats, outlines, things that may not actually work for your personal process. 

While you probably can’t just start day 1 with your preferred word processor and a blank page, your writing process will dictate what you need to be able to make this a successful challenge. If you normally create beat sheets, outline character arcs or write summaries before you start writing, then get to it. The clock is ticking. 

If however, you normally jump into a story first and see what comes out the other side, you do not need to worry about outlines. You will however, want to prep your inspiration and make sure you have plenty of options to keep you going when you hit the Muddy Middle or write yourself into a corner. Try doing some flash fictions ahead of time, or create a playlist, moodboard or whatever you normally do to find inspiration. 

Above all else remember: this is meant to be fun. Embrace the energy of the challenge but don’t let it stress you out. 

Prep Yourself

The other part of getting ready for a writing challenge is getting yourself ready. I mentioned above to check your schedule. This is when you need to be really looking at what’s already coming up in November and actually putting time down on your calendar for writing. You don’t have to go overboard and meal prep for the month, but be honest: what days are you unlikely to get any words down? 

Another thing to do to get yourself ready is to find someone to support you! This could be your writing group, your partner or even just a friend. Tell someone and share what you’re going to try and do. 

And as above, if they try to shame you or guilt-trip you for doing or not doing a challenge the answer is to find a new supporter, not to hide your writing. 

Just as important as getting ready for writing is making sure your health is protected too. This includes updating your writing workspace if you’ve noticed it causes discomfort. Take a couple of days and sit at your workspace to check your ergonomics. You’re going to be spending a lot of time there in the upcoming month, so get it ready ahead of time! 

During the challenge you may want to set up timers to enforce stretching and water breaks. Again, this is a challenge but you should be able to enjoy the challenge, not stress or strain over it. 

What challenge are you doing this November? Let me know in the comments below!