nanowrimo – Alyssa Lost in Space

Story Prompts & Plot Generators for Struggling Writers and Newbie Wrimos

March 13, 2020March 13, 2020Alyssa Flynn

It’s a new year and we have a whole new round of NaNoWriMo sessions ready to help us write all the words! The first of which, Camp NaNoWriMo, starts in only a few weeks on April 1st.

For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is technically in November, but there are two slightly more casual ‘Camp NaNoWriMo’ sessions that run in April and July. Anyway, as you might be able to tell from the name, it’s a whole month dedicated to writing a novel – specifically fifty thousand words of one. That works out to about 1,667 words every day for thirty days, which is also a lot harder than it sounds.

Anyway, more than once I have found turning to writing prompts and story generators really helpful for triggering new ideas and getting myself unstuck when I’m writing a story. It can bring some much-needed randomness (and I mean that quite literally), to a story that feels predictable, or one that you’ve just grown tired with.

With that in mind, I did a little digging all over the internet to pull up what I think are some of the best plot generators for writers. Whether you jump into Camp NaNo with no story at all or you find yourself stuck in the middle of April, July or November, hopefully some of these story prompts will get you back in the groove.

NaNoWriMo Tip: It’s Not About Winning

November 29, 2019March 22, 2020Alyssa Flynn

It’s the final countdown. The end of the month is upon us, and unless you happen to be a couple thousand words away, this might be where your NaNo journey ends. It’s also the last Friday of the month, so it’s time for my final NaNoWriMo tip.

This ‘tip’ is really more of a nugget of advice, and a lot of it was pulled from a post on my old Tumblog, but it still holds true, and I think it bears repeating at the end of NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo Tip: Beat the Word Count Trap

November 22, 2019December 8, 2019Alyssa Flynn

This tip is a weird one, and it’s the result of a recent discovery. Not long ago I purchased an Alphasmart after seeing other writers rave about it online. I’d always wanted to try one, but it wasn’t until this year that I decided to give it a go. I found a cheap one on Amazon, and when it arrived two days later I immediately headed to a local coffee shop to give my new toy a spin.

NaNoWriMo 2019: Week Three Update

November 21, 2019December 9, 2019Alyssa Flynn

Now, I’m not the type to do this, and I don’t suggest that anyone else who is doing NaNoWriMo do the same, especially if this is your first time, but I’m going to officially throw in the towel for NaNoWriMo 2019, and I have a couple of reasons why.

NaNoWriMo Tip: Keep Up Your Momentum!

November 15, 2019December 9, 2019Alyssa Flynn

It’s the third Friday of November, which means it’s time for yet another NaNo tip! This one comes after a very rough couple of weeks for me, so you can bet that I’ll be employing some of these suggestions in the second half of the month!

Every time I’ve lost NaNoWriMo, it’s because I stopped writing for a couple of days, lost the momentum I had built up, and struggled to build it up again. You let yourself get carried away by other responsibilities, and you don’t make time for writing. And the longer you spend away from the writing, the easier it becomes to ignore and the harder it becomes to get back into it. Don’t let this happen to you. It is very hard to bounce back if you’ve let yourself slack off for the better part of the month.

NaNoWriMo 2019: Week Two Update

November 14, 2019December 9, 2019Alyssa Flynn

It has not gone well at all.

I’ve written a grand total of zero words, and I don’t really have a reason for it. The second-week slump is something I’ve always had to deal with. That’s why my goal was to hit 25k in the first week – to give myself that word count cushion and some breathing room when the slump hits.