Ready, Set, Novel!: A Guide to Grow Your Novel’s World

It’s officially #NaNoPrep season! Inspired by the creativity and motivational prompts in Ready, Set, Novel!—written by our own Chris Baty, Lindsay Grant, and Tavia Stewart-Streit—we’re bringing some of our favorite writing exercises to you. Today, we’re asking “What if?”:
Sometimes, something as simple as a sock on the floor is enough to trigger a memory. Think of setting as that sock: it is there to help guide your characters in their journey through the pages of their life.
Setting tells a lot more about a story than you’d think, and can also aid and influence your characters in their decisions. (Some of those decisions may include:
whether or not they should surf during a hurricane,
what they need to do to bake that pie with a malfunctioning oven,
whether or not to put on an extra jacket because it is slated to snow and really, there is nothing fun about freezing to death.)
Knowing your setting will not only help your character figure out where they want to grab breakfast, but will also give you tools to help you tackle those awkward moments where you don’t know what to say.
Let this growing map inspire you as you prepare to tackle your novel this November:

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