Activity Preptober and NaNoWriMo 2024

Yes, it's that time of year again! For those unaware, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) occurs during the month of November and is a month dedicated to trying to write 50,000 words of a novel idea or story you've been meaning to write. Since Hogwarts.io is a writing site, we encourage people to participate in NaNoWriMo and support each other in the process. To support those taking part, we offer Preptober (during October) as a way to think about the ideas you might have and begin to plan in preparation.

Preptober Tasks:
There are 3 tasks that can be completed to help with forming and planning your idea for NaNoWriMo, or any idea you've had for a novel you've been meaning to start writing. Tasks should be completed in one thread posted in the Prep Room with the tag [Preptober 2024], with a different post for each task completed. You are not required to complete all the tasks, however if you do, you can earn an additional 1 house point and 10 sickles. For clarity, the rewards will be distributed at the beginning of November for the completion of Preptober tasks.

Task 1: Generating an idea
What is your general idea/concept for your story? What is it about? This task is looking for you to write a synopsis or create some sort of plan for your story. It can be difficult to get over the first hurdle of simply starting, so it can help to even just start by writing out the ideas you have and forming them into a coherent storyline. Some examples of writing structures include Freytag's Pyramid and The Hero's Journey, which can be useful for helping to plan your story, but you don't have to follow if you have your own ideas. This task has a word count minimum of 200, and for completing it, you can earn 1 house point.

Task 2: World Building and Character Creation
This task is split into two parts: A and B. You are not required to complete both parts, but if you do, you can earn an extra 10 sickles alongside the rewards for each task individually.

Part A: World Building
Where is your story set? This task is looking for you to describe the setting of your story. Even if your setting is the world we live in today, it can really help to have a solid understanding of where your story is set and how that influences the choices your character may have to make. You can zoom in onto a city/town/village where your story takes place, or if you're feeling ambitious, explore creating your own world and describe how life works there. This task has a word count minimum of 200, and for completing it, you can earn 1 house point.

Part B: Character Creation
Who is the character(s) of significance in your story? This task is looking for you to describe the character(s) in your story. Well-developed characters can help to engage readers and make them invested in the story you are telling. Good things to focus on are appearance and why (for example, if they have constantly messy hair, why is it always messy?), interests, character strengths and flaws, and motivations for why they make the choices they make in your story. This task has a word count minimum of 200, and for completing it, you can earn 1 house point.

Task 3: Finding Time
When will you work on your story? This task is looking for you to create a schedule for when you will allocate time to write your story. Don't worry if you are unable to stick to it in the end - even creating a schedule is a great start! It can be difficult to find the time to sit down and write, especially when you lack the motivation and have such a large target to reach. However, I find that breaking your target down into smaller, more manageable goals on a more regular basis can be helpful in keeping up the motivation and not burning out too quickly (to reach 50,000 words in NaNoWriMo, that is roughly 1670 words per day, or 12,500 per week). This task has no word count minimum or individual completion reward, but if you complete it along with all of the other tasks, you can earn the additional rewards (1 house point and 10 sickles).

Reminders & Restrictions:

• This is only a first draft, so don't feel too much pressure to make it absolutely perfect. Make sure to have fun with it, and enjoy the process!
• Make sure to pace yourself so you don't burn out too quickly. If you have a lot of inspiration to write one day, feel free to write as much as you like, but don't put too much pressure on yourself to write if you're struggling to find motivation.
• You do not need to finish an entire novel, as the aim of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words. But if you do manage to write a novel at the end of the month, congrats and well done!
• The Preptober tasks can be done in any order, whichever you have inspiration for.
• Because the Preptober tasks, prompts and the story will be written on the site, they all must adhere to the site rating. Information on the site rating can be found here [LINK].
• Since your work will be published IC and onsite, you cannot write a Harry Potter fanfic. That will require too much time and effort for those moderating to ensure everything written is in line with canon. Furthermore, this must be your original work, you cannot write an AU story of this community using characters from the site as they belong to their writers.

Once you have completed these tasks, please post in this thread so rewards can be given out at the end of the month. For October, please post your Prep Tasks by November 1st. When you complete your first task, please post, and then edit your post if more tasks are completed.

Format:

Code: Select all

[b]Profile Name:[/b] 
[b]Link to thread:[/b]
[b]Tasks completed:[/b]

We also have Preptober Prompts to help inspire creativity and help to flesh out the setting and characters more. These are released as a separate errand, so you do not need to complete them to complete this errand. The link to these is here: [LINK]

Information on NaNoWriMo will be released at the beginning of November.