Are you ready for NaNoWriMo?
Build your book and get ready to write on 1 November
If you’re planning on writing your novel in a month for NaNoWriMo, this week is a brilliant time to start seriously prepping. We have events to help you build characters and find their voices, and a new video course with a blossoming peer support community to help you hone your idea. We also have opportunities aplenty to get further feedback on your work, for those a little further down the line.
VIDEO COURSE: Write a Novel in Six Weeks (Member exclusive)
NEW! This video course has just landed in your membership, featuring modules on the essentials of novel writing from editor and author, Becky Hunter. This special video course also includes downloadable worksheets, so you can put your learning into action, and its own Community group, for that all-important peer feedback.
This week at Jericho Writers:
BURSARY: Win a free place on the Self-Edit Your Novel tutored course
This life-changing tutored course is sold out into 2023, but applications are now open for under-represented writers to receive a fully-funded place on January’s course. I really urge you to apply for this one! Deadline 20 December 2021.
ONE-TO-ONES: Chat with a literary agent about your work (10% discount for members)
Warning: these always sell out fast! Book a fifteen-minute phone call with literary agents from across the globe at a time that suits you. They’ll look at your work and give you crucial feedback before you start submitting – you may even find that your work is just what they’ve been looking for!
BLOG: Membership walkthrough week 5: Expert member Advice
In the final blog in this series, Kaile from our brilliant Writer Support Team reveals how you can make the most of the help available from our expert team as part of your membership – including free feedback on your query letter!
SPOTLIGHT ON: Jen Nadol
This week’s literary agent interview is with the brilliant Jen Nadol from The Unter Agency – check out the highlights below. Members can read the full interview on Jen’s AgentMatch profile.
MEMBERS – READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
SUCCESS STORY – Steffanie Edward
If you need another reason to apply for our bursary, look no further. Steffanie was our first bursary recipient in 2018, and went on to land a two-book deal with Bookouture. Our interview with her was a total delight.
Five things you need to do before 1 November
I firmly believe that everyone should give NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) a try at least once in their life. It’s a brilliant way to push yourself to write 50,000 words quickly, and to join a community of writers all attempting to do the same.
Ahead of our special open NaNoWriMo prep event on 25 October (do invite your non-member friends to this one, too!) I thought I’d share five things we should be doing right now to ensure we’re ready to start writing come 1 November.
1) Plan your novel in more detail than you think is necessary. I’ve always been a lazy pre-plotter. Unfortunately, during NaNoWriMo, you don’t have time to stop and think about where your novel is going. You just WRITE. This is brilliant for getting words down, but I do recommend having a clear idea of where you are going before you start.
2) Be clear on your theme. Whenever I hit a wall in my draft, I find I can always find the way through it by coming back to the theme. What am I trying to say? What could happen now that will bring it back to that? Be clear on it now (and there might be more than one!) and keep it ready.
3) Get to know your characters inside-out. You’re about to spend a lot of time with them, so spend the next couple of weeks completing character exercises and understanding why they do the things they do. You might find they write the novel for you.
4) Choose your fonts NOW. I don’t know about you, but I spend an inordinate amount of time carefully setting up my document with the right font, headings and title page before I start writing. If you do this too – get it out the way now, so you can begin the actual writing part on 1 November.
5) Say hello to your new community. You’ll be writing 1,667 words a day, so you can pretty much say goodbye to your social life. With that though, comes a whole new community of writers who are also embarking on the same immense challenge. There will be ups; there will be downs. Find the right people to do it with, and it’ll make all of it at least quite fun.
Want to know more about NaNoWriMo? Drop into our event with NaNo veterans Elizabeth Haynes and Rachael Herron on 25 October – guaranteed to be a blast!
Sarah J
Plus, don’t miss:
Manuscript Assessment Service (10% discount available)
Give your manuscript that extra sparkle by having it professionally assessed by an editor. They’ll give you a full report – a detailed roadmap to success. Prices vary based on word count.
Mentoring (10% discount available)
Get expert one-to-one help as you write and edit your manuscript with your choice of award-winning mentors.
Developmental editing (10% discount available)
If you want all the rigour offered by a Big-Five publishing house, but without the contracts and confusion, we’ve got you covered. A developmental edit offers you in-text comments throughout your manuscript offering in-depth feedback on your work, and a sixty-minute conversation with your editor to get that manuscript in perfect shape before you start submitting.
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