Belatedly Posting Links from our Preptober Workshop Event 2019

Okay, I know, the graphic is old, but it is the one I used to announce the Preptober Workshop in the first place, so it seemed like the logical choice to start the post with.  There were 13 people present, many of them faces I hadn't seen at NaNo events in the past (and some who mentioned it was their first time participating in NaNoWriMo).  It was also great to see some writers who are regulars at regional events.

The Welcome PowerPoint Slide

Polly Esther Socks & Pierson at the Welcome Table

Prior to the event, I had put out a survey asking people what they might like covered at a workshop like this one.  I also asked if any other writers might be willing to present a small part of the workshop on a topic of interest to them.  While we couldn't cover everything that was requested in the survey, we touched on a number of topics and many in the room shared their own tips or resources with us as the workshop proceeded.

If you're at all interested in seeing the slides from the overall presentation, you can view them on our Sockmonkey Google Drive by clicking this link.   To read my stream of consciousness explanations of each of the sections I presented (though I went off script many times), you can click here and read them - be aware they're raw and unedited (and a bit rambly).

Thank you to XwordslingerX for presenting some information on Worldbuilding and on Character Creation!  The Character sheet she shared last year (and again this year) can be viewed on our Google Drive if you click here.

Some of the tips given by other writers at the workshop when it comes to Character creation included: An Established Character Mash-up; Fancasting; Asking "What is the change that will happen to the character?" and, as a way of avoiding unnecessary characters or getting bogged down creating too many details for minor characters, "Don't give a minor character a name until they have a motivation/reason for being in the story."

(I apologize, I guess my photo of this section turned out blurry.)  Some of the ideas people shared during our worldbuilding discussion were: "Write so people can see the world without a map" (especially if you don't draw maps...); Use Seasons; Storyboard; Create Promo videos for the lands and remember "Land isn't stagnant, things do change" (so they likely will during the course of your story).

Our discussion of Plot happened in two phases.  The first part was lead by Optimouse (who, I guess I did not get any pictures of during her presentation... sorry!) and was accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation that included humor (and memes).  If you'd like to look through those slides, you can find them on our Google Drive by clicking here.  Also shared was a half sheet sized Plot Mountain worksheet, which you can find on our Google Drive (or if you can't view that or get it to load, a search for Plot Mountain worksheet will likely pull up many options). 

An Example of How to Fill out the Plot Mountain by NurseAngela of Canada

The other part of the discussion dealt with some special types of plotting that were asked about in the survey and covered a bit in my slides and notes (linked above).  And the suggestion given by one of our writers about plot (shown on the picture of the white board) was to ask "Where is the Knife?".  Which is just a way of saying "I put said plot item in, where is it now?" to help you keep track of important plot details as you move through the story.

In discussing making sure your writing and notes are backed up so you don't lose anything during NaNo, especially if you use a typewriter or hand write, the two programs/apps shown above (Scannable and Camscanner) were mentioned.  I don't know if anyone else has any they prefer, but if you do, please share them in the comments for others to try!

Finally, one of the many handouts that was ready at the workshop is one that listed links and resources, some which were mentioned during the presentation and others that were added for additional clarification.  If you'd like to check those links out, you can find them in this document on our Google Drive.

Thank you to everyone who attended!  Your input and participation made this a fun event.  Polly Esther and Pierson were also happy when they were allowed to become temporary members of the typewriter brigade at the end of the Workshop.

Did you enjoy the workshop, if you attended?  Would you like us to hold more Preptober workshops in the future?  Please, let us know in the comments.