Hey there! It’s the Now What? Months of NaNoWriMo, and by now you’re probably eyeball-deep into your revision of your current WIP, right? 

Every writer, even those currently revising, should have a toolkit of essentials for getting those words on paper. Here’s mine!

– Pen and paper, or a computer with a word processing program. I use Scrivener, check it out if you haven’t yet!

– A journal, or really any other spot for notes and keeping things straight that’s not the actual WIP, I’ve been known to use my phone’s note program from time to time as well!

– A good playlist. I use Spotify pretty exclusively, and I make a different playlist for each WIP I’m working on to help get me in the headspace for that particular story. You can check out my current playlist for Usurper here!

– Pinterest, or a real life bulletin board for ideas, inspiration, and sorting out those messy timelines. 

– A timer for word sprints. (Don’t know what a word sprint is? Check out this blog post by NaNoWriMo!)

– Snacks and beverages. (Tea is my go-to. You can visit my tea shop here!) If you already have fuel to get you through a writing session, you’re less likely to let yourself be distracted halway through.

– Writing prompts. As a last ditch effort to get those creative juices flowing, I always have a collection of writing prompts to turn to in case of emergency.

– And lastly, a writing buddy. For me, as pictured, it’s usually one of my cats. If you don’t (or can’t) have pets, I’d recommend checking out nanowrimo.org to connect with other write-minded individuals.

Is there anything that you keep in your toolkit that I missed? Let me know in a comment!

Thanks for reading, and happy revision!

– Ember