My favorite things for NaNoWriMo

I am so excited for November and this upcoming NaNoWriMo season. If you don't know what it is, check out their website for more details.

For this post celebrating the FIRST day of NaNo, I thought I'd compile a post of things I find indispensable to make it through the month.

Favorite Things For NaNoWriMo

COFFEE

This may be a given...I mean, I think by now you all know how much I love my coffee, but I couldn't start my NaNo list without it. And, the best news? There is coffee made specifically for book lovers! My friend Shelly over at Book Lovers Coffee makes some of the most incredible blends. I'm telling you...this coffee is delicious and bookish. There isn't anything better in my opinion.

Go check out her website: www.bookloverscoffee.com

Pssst! This Pumpkin Spice autumn blend is AMAZING!

A good mug

Maybe it goes without saying, but what is coffee without a great mug? For me, I find a few things to be majorly important about mugs.
1) They must feel great in my hand. None of these miniature little handles that only allow two fingers in there. Nope!
2) They must hold an immense amount of coffee (or tea) and do so well.
3) They must inspire me. This last one is a personal thing and every person will find certain things inspiring over others. For me, I enjoy bookish mugs which is why I've made fun designs in my Society6 shop to reflect my love of books, reading, and writing.

Check out my shop mug designs here:
www.society6.com/emiliehendryx/mugs

Um....just incase you weren't sure, YES the 11oz is worth it. We're talking the perfect hand-hold for the mug 😉

White board

Now were getting into the nitty-gritty of NaNo. The writing! I love to plot things out on a white board because it's visual as well as easy to erase and/or add to as you go. Keep track of the scenes you're on, see your story arc, and jot down new ideas as you go.

Fuzzy Socks

This may not seem crucial, but it is! Those toes of yours will certainly get cold sitting around writing all day. Especially as the weather starts to take a turn for winter, you'll find these fuzzy socks as a necessity, not just a want.

A place

Whether it's your favorite coffee shop, couch, chair by the window, your bed, or your best friends porch, make sure you have a place (or more than one). It may seem like a silly thing, but if you think of going to a coffee shop as "your place" for writing, you're mind will become accustomed to writing there. It's not to say you can't write in other places, but have one spot that's your "special writing spot". Then use that after NaNo is over to keep the magic alive!

Friends 

This last one is probably the most important (and my favorite, favorite). PEOPLE! You need your people, whether that's locally or globally, you need to have friends who are struggling along in the writing trenches with you as well as those who may not understand this whole crazy writing thing but are willing to support you in it. There are lots of options for this - those in a writers group near you, those online in a writers group or support group (like mine linked below), and those on the NaNo website.

Then, for those non-writing friends, just take a few minutes to tell people in your life why you're doing this crazy 50k words in a month thing. Chances are they will be super proud of you AND will help to keep you motivated by asking you how you're doing.

So, go and write fearlessly!

Join my NaNoWriMo Support & Encouragement group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nanowrimoencouragement/

Join the NaNoWriMo website and community: 
https://nanowrimo.org