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Hey all! We’re now four days into NaNoWriMo 2014, and, if you’re anything like me, you’ve spent that initial burst of energy and things are starting to slow down. You’re maybe getting tripped up by problems with the voice or worrying about secondary characters or having trouble balancing scenes. Kudos to you if you’re not, by the way – keep charging ahead!
If you ARE like me, though, you’re also probably worried about whether or not any of your words will actually be usable at the end of November. Yeah, I know that’s not necessarily the point of NaNoWriMo, but I personally don’t like feeling like I wasted a month on 50000 words I’m going to trash, so I make an effort to keep myself on track by using outside resources and worksheets to make sure that none of my characters are flat and that I’m not writing what should be a 500 word scene in 3000 words, most of which will end up getting cut.
There are lots of places around the web to find these kinds of resources, but this week, I’m going to share three of the best I’ve found.
Browse around the site and you’ll find quite a few resources, but this particular post from 2011 provides a roundup of some of their best, aimed directly at those of us who are batty enough to try to write an entire novel (or at least 50k of one) in a month.
More worksheets. These aren’t aimed specifically at NaNo-ers, but they’re still great for keeping yourself on track and for making sure your characters aren’t faceless, personality-free blobs.
3. Elizabeth Spann Craig’s Blog
This post is a great round-up of worksheets and other resources from around the web. Similar to the other two, but more expansive.
I find having a lot of options in terms of types of character worksheets and scene spreadsheets to be helpful; sometimes what works for one book doesn’t work for another. Hopefully you’ll find something to help you keep yourself on track in amidst all these great resources!
How’s your NaNo going so far? Feel free share any resources you’ve found to be helpful!
–Sarah
Original Image Credit: Skrifmaskin, Blickensderfer-maskin, Nordisk familjebok, Wikimedia Commons
