Hey writers, welcome to the NaNo Prep Daily Exercises course. We hope you're excited to spend the month preparing for NaNoWriMo or any writing project. Here's what to expect once we get started in October:

Every day a new writing exercise will go live

The exercises are designed to help you get to know your characters and your world/setting better and also flex or build your craft skills. Many of the exercises build on one another and are separated into parts. Each part is no longer than 20 minutes (if you use a timer). This means you'll be able to take just a small part of your day to do them.

You'll get an email every 3 - 4 days reminding you to check the class page for new exercises. New ones go live very early in the morning Eastern time and are available even if you don't get an email.

You don't have to use a timer (or do anything you don't want to do)

Some writers are better able to keep their fingers moving and write without their internal editor getting in the way if they have a timer on. Most exercises have a timer element, though you do not have to use it. If timers stress you out, there are word count goals included as well.

You can also set your own goals! Or keep writing beyond the goal or the time set. You can do whatever you want. We give you permission.

You don't have to do an exercise every day

Daily writing is something many people aspire to do (usually based on advice from pros that say it's necessary), yet it's not something that works for every person. If you want to use the daily-ness of this course to get you in the habit ahead of NaNo, that's awesome. If you want to do the exercises every few days or wait until the weekend or whenever you have the time and energy, that's just as awesome. Do what works best for you and your life and your brain.

These exercises will be beneficial even if you're not writing "the Other"

Many of these are exercises we offer in our classes that help students with characters with very different identities to their own or cultures outside of their experience. All of them also work if you're writing within your experience.

Weekly open threads for chatting with others

Every week there will be a lesson with the comments turned on called Open Chat where you can engage with others doing the course this month. You can post anything here from your experience of doing the exercises and what they opened up for you to your writing in general to the very cute thing your cat did that morning and everything in-between. This is your community space.

We hope the month is very fruitful for you!

Writing the Other