NaNoWriMo 2022 - Write Your Book In One Month! 25 Killer Tips! + UNDATED Free Binder Printables🗡️
Hi readers and writerly friends!
We didn’t just come here to win NaNoWriMo—no, we came to slay it. Okay, maybe that line is for the horror writers, but I’m serious when I say I am slaying NaNo this year. 2022 is not only a new year, but it’s a new beginning. In 2022, we start and finish our novels, we reach our goals, and we don’t stop for anyone!
I’ve prepared this guide months in advance so you can get prepared too! You should be prepping all of October—er, prep-tober for the biggest, baddest, bestest NaNoWriMo ever! And okay, maybe some of those aren’t real words, but we can pretend, and we can still get psyched! Hooray for reaching our goals and stuff!
This blog post covers everything from background information on NaNoWriMo, to how to prepare for the writing challenge, to emergency solutions for that nasty writer’s block, to FREE printables and more!
I discovered this concept from Shayla Raquel from Shaylaraquel.com I took inspiration from her guide which you can check out here!
The NaNoWriMo Crest. Image by NaNoWriMo.
What is NaNoWriMo?
In my opinion, there’s only two valid reasons for asking this question: 1) you’re a writer and you’ve been living under a rock or 2) you’re a non-writer. Either way, I am here to serve and inform. *Bows graciously* NaNoWriMo is an acronym that stands for National Novel Writing Month. It begins every year on November 1. Participants have 30 days to write a 50,000-word novel. It comes out to 1,667 words a day.
How do I participate?
To get started, simply head to NaNoWriMo.org, click the Sign Up button, and fill out your profile. Once you’ve set up your profile, you can announce your novel, add buddies, and start prepping your book.
Is it free?
It’s free. In fact, NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit. However, if you’d like to support them, you can always donate to their organization.
Are there any local events for NaNoWriMo?
Although people all over the world participate in NaNoWriMo, you can go to their Regions page, find your specific region, and see if there are any Come Write-Ins available.
NaNoWriMo’s Come Write In program connects libraries, bookstores, and other neighborhood spaces with their local NaNoWriMo participants to build vibrant writing communities.
For example, the Yukon Writers’ Society in Oklahoma has four official Come Write-Ins. NaNoWriMo sends out official swag and signs so people know where to go.
How do I win NaNoWriMo?
You must reach your goal of 50,000 words by November 30. To receive your official certificate and get the winner badge on your profile, you must update your word count daily and make sure the word count reaches 50,000 words by November 30, 2020. Here’s their how-to guide.
Download Free Novel Binder Printables
Got a binder handy? Fill it with these beautiful printables and add the necessary information.
Here's what you'll get when you download the free PDF:
Binder title page with name plate
At a Glance — overview of your novel
Character List
The Protagonist — three pages for character details
The Antagonist — three pages for character details
To-Do List—you can fill the list with my NaNoWriMo To-Do List (scroll down!) or make your own!
Story Outline — three pages detailing the parts of a novel as per the three-act story structure
Word Count Tracker—with NaNoWriMo daily word count goal and space for your daily word count reached
I suggest tossing these fantastic freebies into a lovely, matching blue binder! Scroll down to download!
NaNoWriMo To-Do List:
1. Grab some coffee—this is going to be so fun!
2. Set up your NaNoWriMo account
3. Fill out your author bio and add a profile photo.
4. Announce your novel.
5. Add your buddies. (Add me too!)
6. Find your region and see if there are any local Come Write-Ins.
7. Print my free novel binder templates and prepare your binder. (Scroll back up!)
8. Tell your social media friends about NaNoWriMo. Tag NaNoWriMo and use hashtags.
9. Tidy up your writing space and add some inspirational NaNo swag. Or make your own! You can also add a candle, some motivational quotes and pep talk books! (Scroll down!)
10. Put together a NaNo board. This is the fun part! Grab a corkboard or dry erase board and display your outline, character photos, book cover sketches, inspirational quotes—anything that has to do with your book. If you prefer digital vision boards, start a Pinterest board.
11. Download my emergency writer’s block kit for when the dreaded writer’s block inevitably strikes! Don’t let lack of motivation or inspiration slow you down or keep you from reaching your NaNoWriMo goals! (Scroll down!)
12. Create a reward sheet. When you hit 10,000 words, you should get a reward—like a weekly coffee stop for reaching your goals each week or bigger rewards for bigger milestones such as every ten thousand words! Write a list of rewards that go with each big milestone you hit. If all of this motivation fails you, your rewards will keep you on track, believe me.
13. Print the Word Count Calendar (scroll down!) and pin it to your NaNo board!
14. Add official Come Write-Ins to your schedule if you found any (#5).
15. Looks like your cup is empty…coffee break?
16. Create a NaNo playlist. Don’t forget game soundtracks and Ambient Mixer!
17. Set a certain time to write then tell your family/friends/neighbors/pets you are writing for X amount of minutes/hours each day. Be proactive in stopping distractions. Consider postponing plans with friends and family until you’ve met your goal each day.
18. Draw pictures of your characters or Google pictures of what you think they’d look like. I like to have a few photos for every character, including headshots, full-body shots, and photos that accentuate their style. You can add them to your NaNo board!
19. Look at book covers. Obviously don’t steal someone else’s book cover but find a few that you think would represent your book well. Keep them to refer to when NaNo hits. Add to your NaNo board!
20. You think we’re busy now, but wait ‘til we’re really in the trenches. Speaking of being busy, I think it’s time for more coffee—gotta keep the productivity levels up, right?
21. Prepare the manuscript. This is actually really fun and can make you feel like a bona fide novelist. Write your title, table of contents (if you have one), acknowledgments, prologue, and so on. Get the novel looking fancy!
22. Find your accountability buddy now. Get together with them and discuss both of your books! When NaNoWriMo is in full swing and you’re feeling stuck, you can hit up your NaNo buddy for instant support—or a kick in the pants, whichever.
23. At the end of NaNoWriMo grab a celebratory coffee—for winning or for simply participating!
24. Consider donating to NaNoWriMo.
25. If you finish your novel, then great! It’s now time to edit. If you still have some writing to do, stay on the writing train with 1,666 words a day until it’s finished. By participating in NaNoWriMo, you’re building the habit of writing every day and it’s much easier to maintain the habit than to pick it back up if you let it go. Keep writing and you’ll reach the ending before you know it!
Keeping up with word counts
Download my free NaNoWriMo word count calendar so you can keep track of your writing goals and work count all month long!
Cackling over calendars
Don’t like my calendar? That’s okay! Try this one on for size! Humor helps pass the time! @hermiejr157 on DeviantArt designed this hilarious, quirky, and painfully true calendar that accurately describes NaNoWriMo for most writers!
“NaNoWriMo Desktop.” by @hermiejr157.
Worried about writer’s block?
Download my free NaNoWriMo writer’s block emergency kit!
Need more inspiration? Check out these NaNo-inspired articles!
Grab these books and get reading before NaNoWriMo!
Books shown above are:
Ready, Set, Novel!: A Workbook by Lindsey Grant and Chris Baty
You can find all of these and more on my Payton’s Picks Page
Get involved with the writing community to build connections and find buddies before NaNoWriMo!
Social Media
Facebook Groups
Use NaNo hashtags to find NaNoWriMo related content
Most social media out there allows you to post hashtags, and often up to at least 30 per post! You can comment even more hashtags on the post to increase visibility! Here are 50 different NaNoWriMo hashtags for you to use with your content!
#1667wordsaday
#amediting
#amwriting
#authorlife
#book
#bookish
#bookishthings
#booklove
#booklover
#booklovers
#bookstagram
#bookwormforlife
#bookworms
#characters
#creativewriting
#fantasy
#fiction
#fictionbooks
#iamawriter
#igbooks
#ilovewriting
#inktober
#inspiration
#instawrimo
#nanoprep
#nanowrimo
#nonfiction
#poetry
#preptober
#procrastination
#scrivener
#stylewriting
#wip
#write
#writer
#writerscommunity
#writerscorner
#writerslife
#writersofig
#writersofinsta
#writersofinstagram
#writing
#writingchallenge
#writingcommunity
#writingeveryday
#writinglife
#writingofig
#writingprompt
#yabooks
#yacontemporary
#yalit
Bibliography:
hermiejr157. “NaNoWriMo Desktop” Deviantart post, November 4, 2008.
NaNoWriMo. “NaNo Prep 101.” NaNoWriMo website, accessed October 18, 2022.
NaNoWriMo. "NaNoWriMo Logo.” Image. Accessed October 18, 2022.
Raquel, Shayla. “100 Plot Ideas. “ Shaylaraquel.com blog post, October 16, 2022.
Reedsy. “What is NaNoWriMo? And How to Win in 2022.” Reedsy blog post, October 5, 2020.
Steve. “Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo.” Storyist blog post, accessed October 18, 2022.
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
5 MORE Ways to Stay Organized as a Writer or Freelancer
It’s hard enough keeping organized as a person in general, but add being a freelancer and/or business owner into the mix—of course we’re going to feel a little in over our heads sometimes. Not to worry, though—I’ve put together a list of five ways to stay organized as a freelancer! Not a freelancer just yet? You can still use all of these tips to your advantage and hopefully they will help you move closer to your goal of being your own boss!
If you haven’t read the first blog post I wrote on this topic, click here!
Get organized digitally
You may have heard the words “spring cleaning” at some point in your life, but as an online content creator and freelance editor, I am here to tell you that this phrase doesn’t just refer to de-cluttering objects in your real life—it also means keeping organized virtually. As a Virgo (I think Jenna Marbles can relate!) there is nothing worse than a chaotic, cluttered room when I sit down to work. This is no different in my digital spaces. I try to keep everything just as organized on my computer as I do in my home.
Folders are labeled and sometimes colored, projects are divided up into parts, and everything has a place. I even have a method for planning and preparing my blog posts that go out every Friday. Monday mornings, I will start brainstorming, outlining, and designing my blog posts. I typically get them completed way ahead of time, but it’s nice to know that if I get stumped, I have until Friday at 12 PM CST to finish everything up.
I like to color-code my folders according to the four following categories: not ready, some parts completed, time-sensitive, and ready to post. I typically schedule three blog posts to go out at a time, but this system allows me to write posts ahead of time (or when I am feeling particularly inspired) and save them for later. I do this by using the free windows app, Folder Colorizer. To further organize, I break each project down into three parts: photos, thumbnail image/cover image, and the blog post text. It takes time to complete each of these tasks so by breaking them down, I can effectively time-batch similar tasks. (Keep reading!)
Calendar blocking
Calendar block like there’s no tomorrow.
This may look different for each person—Amy Landino practically blocks out every waking (and sleeping) second on her calendar. I personally, prefer to only block out things that aren’t part of my current routine or items that have changed in the routine, and once they become part of my everyday life, they get taken off the calendar. No matter how intense you go with your own calendar blocking, make sure that it is sustainable for you. You don’t want to just start throwing events and appointments up on the calendar without rhyme or reason! You might consider only blocking a few things to start with so you don’t get overwhelmed.
I prefer to use Google calendar. I have never enjoyed physically writing events out on a paper calendar or planner—maybe that’s just my inner perfectionist talking, but I truly do live for flexibility a digital calendar offers me. In addition to that, I can pretty much connect anything to my Google calendar—yoga classes, dentist appointments, and even bills! Also, Google calendar works seamlessly among your other Google accounts and can be connected to Trello if you use that, but it’s definitely not the only calendar to go with! You can even try out a few different calendars to see which works best for you. Like I said before, Google calendar is my go-to and that’s what you’ll see in the pictures below!
As you can see above, this is what my calendar looks like on a month-by-month basis. Of course some events change, I end up with different editing clients, and the occasional dentist appointment will arise. I like to block out only the items that are not routine/temporary routines such as an event that may be a week or month long. However, it doesn’t hurt to get into the details. You can always include your morning routine, nightly pre-sleep rituals, and gym days as well.
Of course, the next two pictures show you what my weekly and daily views for my calendar look like. You can see the different calendars I am subscribed to on Google calendar (with exception to a few for my own privacy/editing client’s privacy.) I like to include Out of Office appointments, so when several of them pop up in the same day/week I can save time by time-batching similar tasks! (I promise, it’s the next item in this list!) I further filter my tasks into calendars such as bills, writing/prep for this blog, designing merchandise and preparing for my next two poetry books, and work for my freelance editing business, to name a few.
Pro tip: Ditch the to-do list! Yes, they can help you get an idea of what you need to do in a day, week, month, or even a year. However, to-do lists are more of a brain-dump instead of color-coded, sorted tasks. When you start looking at a calendar more like a timed to-do list, it helps you prioritized the events in your life. Instead of just looking at an arbitrary list of wants and needs, filter tasks out into events and appointments in your calendar. If you have a hard time separating tasks that you need to get done versus tasks you would like to get done, then consider using a prioritization matrix.
Time-batch similar tasks
Time-batching is the art of grouping similar activities together to save time. For instance, if you are a YouTuber and you need to film a talking-head video, use the opportunity to film several in one day! (Just make sure to change your clothes and accessories so your subscribers don’t catch on!) If you know you have an interview or business meeting, why not take this opportunity (when you have made yourself presentable) to schedule a coffee date with an old friend to catch up? This not only makes great use of your time (and finely styled hair and makeup) but it allows you to build connections with the people in your life—whether they’re your lifelong friends or just a newly made acquaintance.
In addition to time-batching out of office appointments, you can time-batch project tasks as well! Like I mentioned above, I like to break down my projects into three smaller parts: photos, thumbnails, and text. However, instead of trying to crank out all three parts of the project in one sitting, I know I can more effectively complete projects by time-batching their similar tasks. If I am editing photos for one project, and I know I will need to edit photos for another, it just makes sense that I get all of my editing out of the way in one session. When I get on a role with writing, it is much easier to start working out the details of the next blog post after I’ve been typing for a bit and already have my writer-brain warmed up. If you’re a creative, you know how hard it is to break away from what you’re doing and is much easier to simply push on until the project is complete. I pair this almost unhealthy ability to stubbornly get things done with time-batching so that I can both achieve the highest level of productivity whilst maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
Only check your email once a day
I’ll be honest, I don’t always follow this tip, but when I do, I notice that I am so much more productive and less distracted. Sometimes, it just makes sense to answer all your emails at a set time instead of compulsively checking your inboxes to ensure they’re at 0. Set an alarm just after lunch or whenever you feel is best for answering email and only respond at that set time. This way, you can be in touch without having others think you have nothing better to do with you time.
Turn off your notifications
On a very similar note to the one mentioned above, turning off your notifications can be a huge boost to your productivity. Even if you’re not looking to increase your productivity, perhaps you want to be more focused or more mindful in the moment—and turning off your notifications will help you do just that! I personally only have notifications on for text and Snapchat and even then, my phone is typically on do-not-disturb. There is nothing groundbreaking that I absolutely must see the moment a piece of content goes live. I don’t NEED to be notified every time this influencer tweets that or a YouTuber posts a new video. It’s just another distraction that I don’t need while I am working. Additionally, if someone really needs to get my attention—my loved ones specifically—can break through my do-not-disturb.
As you can see, I don’t have many notifications turned on. Also, don’t be worried for me—that’s the most screen time I’ve had all week and I was editing photos today. 😉
So what do you think about these tips for staying organized as a freelancer? Do you think they’ll help you stay organized? Did I forget any tips that you love? Sound off in the comments below!
Thumbnail photos by Karolina Grabowska.
—Payton
Romantic Spa Day for Writers - For Couples and Singles Alike!
Hi writerly friends!
One more week of romance posts for February and then we’re back to our regularly scheduled postings. This week in Reader Life, I’m giving you guys a guide to planning your perfect writerly spa get away! Couple it with your Romantic writing retreat for an amazing writer vacation! Next week, I’ll give you guys my list of the top 10 mushy romance songs so be sure to check that out!
Of course, you can make sue of these tips alone or have a partner participate!
Take a bubble bath
I mean it. Take a bath. While you may not be used to taking baths opposed to showers, they have been proven to be stress-relieving and relaxing. Pop in a bath bomb or some flower petals, light some candles, and grab the bubbles because you’re getting ready to have you-time!
Get and give massages
Sitting at a desk, typing for hours on end leaves the back, shoulders, and neck feeling strained. Book yourself a professional massage, couple’s massages or get with your partner and trade massages. Listen to relaxing music and put on some candles to set the mood.
Wind down with wine
Make sure to drink responsibly of course, but once in a while, it’s nice to take a break from writing and sit down with your favorite glass of red or rosé. Grab your current read or pop in ear buds to enjoy an audiobook while you wind down with your wine.
Yoga for writers
Like I said about the massages, writing can be strenuous work when you’re doing it for hours on end. Hop up from your desk every couple of hours and do some yoga! Kaitlin from Ink and Quills has come up with an amazing, yet simple 30-minute yoga routine for writers and I am obsessed with it! Click here to check it out!
Aromatherapy
If you’ve paid attention to the previous items on this list, then you know what I am going to say. Using candles and diffusers are a great way to keep your writing space smelling fresh and aromatherapy has been said to improve focus and productivity. Plus, the smell of lavender is just the best, so why not?
And that’s it for my 5 romantic spa tips for writers! What did you think of this list? Have you treated yourself lately? If not, try out some of these ideas and let me know what you think! Comment below and as always, thanks for reading!
Further Reading:
Thumbnail photo by Breakingpic.
—Payton
Spring Cleaning For Writers: 10 Things Every Writer Should Do Before 2020!
Spring cleaning isn’t always fun but it’s something we have to do if we want to start the year off on the right foot. This is also true for our digital lives and as writers we have a lot of important files to keep track of so maintenance and organization are imperative. I’ve prepared a list of 10 things you can do to spring clean as a writer! This list includes everything from organization to automation to social media and more!
Clean up your digital work space
Of course, you want to make sure your physical desk is tidy and neat before you get to writing—I mean, outer order is inner calm, am I right? (Gretchen Rubin fans, comment below!) But you also want to make sure your digital work space is organized as well to avoid loss and distractions.
Four things you can do to tidy up your digital work space are:
Sorting through old files, organizing the documents to be kept, and emptying the recycle bin
Using apps like Folder Colorizer to help better sort files and make certain folders easily recognizable
Defragmenting your hard drive and updating your computer (only defrag if you have a Hard Disk Drive since Solid State Drives automatically do this progress regularly)
Uninstalling old and unused/unnecessary programs
Back up all the important things
There’s nothing worse than spending weeks, months, or years on a project and losing it to bad back-up practices—trust me, I know—I lost 37 chapters of an early edition of my novel to file corruption. It’s discouraging, painful, and easily avoidable. Use the cloud or get an external hard drive to store important files so loss doesn’t set you back in your writing.
Update all your passwords and keep your accounts secure!
Pink rubber-gloved hand holding a red and yellow cleaning spray bottle against an aqua background. Photo by Jeshoots.com.
This is often given and often overlooked advice but it’s important to maintain at least the bare minimum when it comes to passwords and account security. As an author with a brand to protect, you should regularly be updating passwords, so malicious users don’t get access to your accounts and content. Also, make sure your passwords aren’t the same across multiple platforms! Most security breaches that make it past bank-level encryption usually happen because members use the same passwords for several accounts and spyware on the other sites gain access to sensitive information when they log in. Don’t be this person. Keep passwords separate and secure.
Update your social media and website!
This includes about sections and bios, photos, job history, and any other content that might have changed and should be updated. Surely a few things have changed since the beginning of 2019, so make sure you’re starting the New Year with up-to-date socials. Have made any accomplishments? What projects are you working on that you can share? Include fun little snippets of your life in your about and bio sections. Also, ensure your profile pictures are current. If you haven’t had a professional head shot taken in a while, consider hiring a photographer to get new photos for your social media.
Update pinned posts on Twitter and Facebook
Another part of updating your socials is ensuring your pinned posts/tweets are up-to-date as well. Check any Facebook groups that you manage, your Facebook author/business page, your Twitter profile, and anything else that allows you to pin content. When was the last time you pinned that post? Whoa—my pinned tweet was from 2017! There’s nothing that screams inactivity like an out-of-date pinned tweet or Facebook post! Keep pinned content updated just like you would your profile picture or bio!
Unsubscribe from others’ emails.
It’s 2020 and there is no reason you should be stuck on someone’s email newsletter list if you don’t genuinely enjoy the content, you’re having delivered to you email inbox. Unsubscribe from all the stores you don’t want to get promotional emails from and all the people you don’t even know. Look at your email inbox with your editorial glasses on and unsubscribe from any emails that don’t offer you any value as a writer. If you signed up for a newsletter once and all that influencer is doing is sending you emails about products, then unsubscribe!
Pro Tip: If the unsubscribe button is not located on the email or you have to take a long, convoluted path to unsubscribing from the newsletter, then mark the email as spam. Influencers or brands that don’t have the decency to comply with the CAN-SPAM act don’t even deserve your email on their list to begin with. Unsubscribe, sister.
Update your own emails!
Update all of your automated emails from newsletter confirmations to deliverables and any other kind of emails so that your automated emails are up-to-date. Make sure your email signatures are updated and displaying accurate contact information and socials.
Aqua and yellow notebooks with green pen. Photo by Chimene Gaspar.
Check your newsletter open rates to see exactly how many of your subscribers actually open your emails. How are people responding to your emails? Do subscribers like the freebies and other content you’ve given them? Do they download said content?
Consider updating the media in your emails so that graphics, photos, illustrations, fonts, and other decorative elements are not only new and refreshing but they are consistent and uniform with other social media.
Pro Tip: Canva is an excellent tool for crafting high-quality vector graphics that can be used in a wide array of projects. I use Canva for thumbnails in my YouTube videos, blog post thumbnails, and site buttons! Click here to check out Canva.
Update your website’s contact form and email links!
You can save so much time by making your contact form work for you! Avoid tons of unnecessary emails by requiring answers to detailed, specific questions. This allows you to gain as much information about the person trying to contact you, all in the first email. It will give you a better understanding of his/her needs and how to address the situation.
Here are a few fields to include in your contact form to help you get the most information in one go:
Ask specific questions about the project in question (if applicable)
Offer options for the reason they chose to reach out
Get a referral name—who sent them your way? How did they find you?
Get their website URL
Depending on your work—either writing or editing or something else, you might want to have different options for different guests who might reach out. You can include a check box for guest bloggers, literary agents, or fans, or you can set up links to separate forms for these different types of visitors.
Check out my contact form here to get an idea of what else you can include!
Keep track of your stats and watch the numbers grow!
From your email newsletter stats to Facebook groups to Twitter to your website, you should know your stats. Create a spreadsheet or write them down and keep track of them each month. Don’t take the numbers personally, they’re just a metric. Increases and decreases in subscribers or followers tell you all kinds of useful information—what’s working and what’s not, where you should back off, and where your content is thriving. Use these numbers to help you grow as a content creator. When the numbers start going up, you’ll find it’s quite fun keeping track of the steady increase!
Here’s where I keep track of my stats:
Facebook Business Page
Twitter
LinkedIn Analytics
Instagram
MailChimp subscribers
MailChimp campaign open rate
Squarespace Analytics
YouTube Analytics
Go over your goals for 2020 and make sure they’re specific, realistic, actionable, and sustainable. What did you do right in 2019? What big and small wins did you have in your creative field? What strengths and weaknesses do you have as a content creator and what did you learn from them? How can you improve in 2020?
Plan your attack for 2020
Have a serious conversation with yourself about what you’ve accomplished in 2019 and how you can use that momentum to do even more in 2020. Come up with an action plan based on your goals and needs. Take into account all of the resources you’re going to need to execute your action plan such as finances, education, support, time, preparation. Consider what you want your year to look like as a whole, from month to month, and over a week’s time and what you will need to make that vision a reality.
Spring cleaning is equally important digitally as it is physically and mentally. As a writer you should start the year off the right way by making sure your workspaces are organized, all of your online social media platforms, emails are up-to-date, all important content is backed up in the cloud or on an external device, your workstation is updated and passwords are changed regularly. These things will prepare you for 2020 and all the awesomeness the new decade has to offer your creative career.
That’s it for the 8 things all writers need to do before 2020 hits! What did you think about my Spring Cleaning for Writers list? Is there anything you’d add? Do you already practice these items? I’d love to hear your thoughts
Further Reading
Read my 5 Actionable New Year’s Resolutions For Writers In 2020 blog post here.
Read my 8 Questions Writers Should Ask Themselves in 2020 blog post here.
Read my 20 Bookish New Year’s Resolutions for 2020 blog Post here.
—Payton
Bucket List For Writers (Things Writers Should Do WAY Before They Kick The Bucket)
I’m a writer! I love lists! I love buckets! Okay, that third one might not be quite so true—I mean who loves buckets? Apparently, Shayla Raquel, the editorial blogger I borrowed inspiration—and this list—from. Shayla says Catherine Smith of Sooner Not Later first came up with this idea and she even completed 52 bucket list items in 2015. Low whistle. 😏 Impressive.
A lot of the goals on Shayla’s list are actual goals I have on my own bucket list so I thought it would be fun to put my own spin on it by scratching out what I’ve completed and adding my own items as well. Check out Shayla’s list here. I’m going to have to get creative to cross off green eggs and ham as a vegan!
Make sure to read until the end to get your free PDF version so you can start crossing off items right away!
Travel
- Go on a writing retreat
- Visit Stratford-upon-Avon to see where Shakespeare lived
- Take a weekend getaway to Walden Pond and live simply for a while—no cell phones!
- Set off on a literary pilgrimage to a site where your favorite author lived or spent his/her time writing
- Visit a printing plant to see how books are made
- Go to a book signing and show support for a local author
- Visit a famous bookstore in another state
Go to a writer’s convention
- Visit a bookstore or library in another country (like Dublin, Ireland’s “The Long Room”)
- Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
- Spend a day in the Library of Congress
Experience
- Do something weird just to write about it
- Start a book club or writing workshop
Write an in-depth book review
Start a personal library
- Go to the late show at the circus
Create art out of books that are falling apart
Read at least one book from every genre
- Cosplay as a book character and see if friends can guess it
Read a ridiculously difficult book, like Ulysses(Not my line, but OMG! I’ve never read anything truer in my life.)
Take a character quiz for your favorite story
- Start a savings fund for self-publishing
Try editing a book
Bookish Buys
Collect a series
Buy old books at garage sales—and barter!
- Get an autographed book
- Purchase a real inkwell and quill
- Go to a book signing and get a selfie with the author
Visit a library
Buy a beautiful leather (or vegan leather) journal
- Pick up a vintage polaroid camera
Have a movie marathon based on the books you love
- Buy a first edition copy of a bestseller
- Purchase a handmade book
Buy a typewriter
Write On
Get an article published
- Write under a pen name
Write a poem
- Submit to Writer's Digest
Write fan fiction
- Send fan mail to your favorite authors
- Write a comic strip or graphic novel
- Write 100,000 words for one project
- Guest blog for someone famous
- Write in a genre that you hate
Write a letter to your future self
Self-publish a book
- Send your ready-for-publication book to at least three traditional publishing houses
Personal Development
Find a mentor
Write an affirmation statement that expresses all your strengths as a writer
Buy a book for a child
- Read The Elements of Style
Donate any unused or forgotten books to a local library
- Donate copies of your book to a worthy cause
- Join at least three writing associations
- Mentor a teen who is interested in writing
Create a productive writing space
Trade manuscripts with a close writer friend and critique each other
Subscribe to a "word of the day" email
- Tutor students in English
- Write a private self-help blog for yourself
Literary Eats
Host an Alice in Wonderland tea party
- Eat a cake that’s designed like a book
- Make green eggs and ham
Visit a coffee shop you’ve never been to
- Have a midnight dinner like in the Night Circus
Have second breakfast
Throw a Great Gatsby-themed party
Does a Great Gatsby-themed/Roaring 20's themed prom count?😂
My friend Hailey and I at our 1920’s/ Great Gatsby themed senior prom. Photo by Hailey Donaldson.
It looks like I’ve still got some things to check off my own list! Have you done any of the items above?Comment below and let me know what you think of the list! Don’t forget, the concept goes to Catherine Smith and Shayla Raquel for originally doing this bucket list for writers! Check out Shayla’s list here and Catherine’s Facebook page for Sooner NOT Later here.
If you love this writerly bucket list as much as we do, click here to download the printable PDF version so you can start crossing off items right away!
And that’s it for my writerly bucket list! Have you crossed any of these off of your own bucket list? What did you think? Did I forget anything! Let me know in the comments below!
Thumbnail photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters.