NaNo Prep: Four Character Archetypes that Can Help You Crush NaNoWriMo

November is just around the corner, and as we gear up to hunker down and write, we’re sharing advice from guest writers on how you can best prepare for a month of writing. Today, editor, author, and life coach Kendra Levin shares her favorite tips on using the classic Hero’s Journey to your advantage:

If you’re embarking on NaNoWriMo, you probably already know your way around the storytelling model of the Hero’s Journey. (If not, you can find out more about it here.) It’s a useful craft tool that can help you build a skeleton of a plot, gauge your pacing, and create characters inspired by its building-block archetypes like Hero, Mentor, Shadow, and more.

But the Hero’s Journey is also an amazing resource for finding ways to cope with the emotional ups and downs a month of writing can bring. Here’s how four character archetypes from the Hero’s Journey can help you get through NaNoWriMo and feel like a Hero doing it:  

The Herald

A messenger who issues the Hero’s call to adventure.

Prescription: The Herald is the patron saint of beginnings. Beginning can be the hardest part of writing a novel. I remember once asking a writer how his NaNoWriMo was going. “I’ve almost started!” he said brightly. It was Nov. 20.

Do this: On Oct. 31, set aside 15 minutes to sit or walk by yourself. Think about the project you plan to start the next day. What is your vision for it? Imagine a winged messenger appearing and telling you, “Here’s the story I need you to write: _________.” What would go in that blank? Jot down this vision for the project. While you’re at it, write a couple sentences of Chapter One. That way, when you sit down to start in earnest the next day, you won’t be facing that intimidating blank page—you’ll already have begun, with the help of the Herald.

The Mentor

A wise older character who gives the Hero advice, wisdom, and gifts.

Prescription: Tap into the Mentor when you reach a crossroads or a difficult decision in your writing or your process. Torn between plugging away at your novel and going outside and interacting with other humans for an evening? Two weeks into NaNo and unsure whether you can make it through the whole month? Ask the Mentor.

Do this: Take a moment to sit quietly. Ask yourself, What would my 90-year-old self say about this situation? Connecting with the older, wiser version of you can help you be your own Dumbledore.

The Trickster

A trick-playing character who subverts expectations, often with humor.

Prescription: Tricksters are all about revealing the silliness and surreal nature of life when everybody is getting way too serious. Find your inner trickster when you catch yourself acting like the novel you’re writing is the bus from Speed and you’re Sandra Bullock.

Do this: Take a whole day off from your novel. You heard me. That day, write something totally different and silly—a comedy sketch about soup, a collection of satirical limericks inspired by the day’s headlines, the script for a webisode about anthropomorphized office supplies. Let yourself recapture the fun and sense of play in writing and, the next day, bring that spirit back to your novel. In the process, you just might come up with some new and surprising ideas for your main project.

Allies

Loyal friends and comrades who help and support the Hero.  

Prescription: Nobody writes a novel alone—and there’s no reason you need to. It’s vital to have a community of Allies around you, whether online or IRL, fellow writers or just your personal cheerleaders, to help you get through the month.

Do this: Before November, find others who are participating in NaNoWriMo and set up a system for checking in with one another. If you don’t know anybody else who’s doing it, check out NaNo’s forums. Let other people in your life know that you’re doing NaNo, and don’t be afraid to ask them for support, encouragement, free babysitting—whatever you might need. When one of your Allies asks for your help, you’ll discover that doing NaNoWriMo is about more than just finishing your novel—it’s about being a Hero, to yourself and to others. And that’s a feeling that will last long after November ends.

Kendra Levin helps writers and other creative artists meet their goals and connect more deeply with their work and themselves. She is a certified life coach, as well as an executive editor at Penguin, a teacher, and author of The Hero Is You. Visit her at kendracoaching.com and follow her @kendralevin. To win a coaching session with Kendra by supporting NaNoWriMo, check out the Night of Writing Dangerously!

Top image by Hyrax Attax on DeviantArt.