NaNoWriMo Prep Kit · Free

Your NaNoWriMo 2026 prep plan:
plot a novel before November 1.

A free kit for NaNoWriMo participants: a printable plot-planning worksheet and novel outline template, a 50-day writing schedule, and a three-email prep series to keep you on track through September, October, and into week one.

Your NaNoWriMo prep toolkit

Three pieces to help you plan a novel before November 1 — a writing-schedule template, an outline worksheet, and a three-email prep series.

Worksheet

Plot-planning worksheet

A printable A4 novel outline template. Fill in premise, two-sentence hook, core characters, world rules, and a 50k-structure beat list — opening, rising action, midpoint, climax, resolution.

Download PDF
Calendar

50-day plotting calendar

A 50-day writing schedule template for the September–October pre-NaNo window — one daily plot task from Day 1 to Day 50, so you're not writing plot on November 20.

Download SVG
Email Series

3-email prep series

Three short emails — one now (welcome + intro), one at day three (the calendar unpacked), one at day seven (the worksheet paired with Conscriva's tools).

Download HTML

Look inside the kit

Preview the worksheet and calendar right here. Sign up above if you'd also like the email series delivered to your inbox.

50-day plotting calendar

SVG
CON SCRIVA · NaNoWriMo PREP KIT 50-Day Plotting Calendar SEPTEMBER · OCTOBER before November 1 DAYS 1–25 · PRE-WRITE PLOTTING 1 WEEK 1 Premise in 2 sentences. Genre + voice one-liner. Notes: 2 WEEK 1 Protagonist: want & need. 3-line backstory. Notes: 3 WEEK 1 Antagonist: motivation. 2-line backstory. Notes: 4 WEEK 1 Side characters (3): name + one role line. Notes: 5 WEEK 1 World rules (3): one paragraph each. Notes: 6 WEEK 2 Opening scene (where, when, who's present). Notes: 7 WEEK 2 Inciting incident: the day everything shifts. Notes: 8 WEEK 2 First plot point: point of no return. Notes: 9 WEEK 2 Rising action beat 1. What changes here? Notes: 10 WEEK 2 Subplot A: introduce. Who carries it? Notes: 11 WEEK 3 Midpoint: reversal. Stakes double here. Notes: 12 WEEK 3 Rising action beat 2. Allies fall away. Notes: 13 WEEK 3 Subplot A: pin to main plot (or kill it). Notes: 14 WEEK 3 Bad guys close in. Why can't MC win yet? Notes: 15 WEEK 3 Second plot point: the "all is lost" moment. Notes: 16 WEEK 4 Climax setup. What tool does MC gain? Notes: 17 WEEK 4 Final confrontation. One-sentence summary. Notes: 18 WEEK 4 Resolution: new normal. What changes for MC? Notes: 19 WEEK 4 Subplot B: pay it off. Mirror of subplot A. Notes: 20 WEEK 4 Last line of book. Write it down now. Notes: 21 WEEK 5 Chapter-list pass. One sentence per chapter. Notes: 22 WEEK 5 Word-count target per chapter (≈1,667/day). Notes: 23 WEEK 5 Character memo: reread protagonist want/need. Notes: 24 WEEK 5 Schedule writing blocks for November. Notes: 25 WEEK 5 Plot-friend review. Trade beats for sanity. Notes: DAYS 26–50 · SCENE-LEVEL PLOTTING 26 WEEK 6 Open Ch 1: what must reader learn? Notes: 27 WEEK 6 Ch 2–3: link opening to the incident. Notes: 28 WEEK 6 Ch 4–6: tighten inciting ripple. Notes: 29 WEEK 6 Ch 7–9: first plot point scene outline. Notes: 30 WEEK 6 Halfway check: do beats still hold? Notes: 31 WEEK 7 Midpoint scene: who flips, how, why. Notes: 32 WEEK 7 Ch 16–19 reverse- outline (post-flip). Notes: 33 WEEK 7 Subplot A's second beat scene. Notes: 34 WEEK 7 "All is lost" beat: write the emotion. Notes: 35 WEEK 7 Resolve subplot B before climax. Notes: 36 WEEK 8 Climax scene: 3-beat structure. Notes: 37 WEEK 8 Resolution scene: aftermath + coda. Notes: 38 WEEK 8 Theme-check pass: does the ending earn it? Notes: 39 WEEK 8 Timeline pass: dates, ages, seasons match? Notes: 40 WEEK 8 Cast pass: who needs a last scene? Notes: 41 WEEK 9 STOP PLANNING. Move post-its to wall. 42 WEEK 9 Backup outline. One-paragraph fallback. Notes: 43 WEEK 9 Snack stash + drinks. Stock the desk. Notes: 44 WEEK 9 Writing playlist. Test your timer. Notes: 45 WEEK 9 Plot-friend handshake. Daily check-in. Notes: 46 WK 10 Project setup in Conscriva (free). Notes: 47 WK 10 Build chapter shells (empty, titled). Notes: 48 WK 10 Pre-write Ch 1 prose opening paragraph. Notes: 49 WK 10 Pack the notebook. Pick the writing spot. Notes: 50 WK 10 November 1. Open Chapter 1. Go. Plot before you write. CON SCRIVA · conscriva.com HOW TO USE 1. Print this calendar to A3 or tabloid. Hang it where you write. 2. Each day, do the one plot task listed. Skip a day, do it the next. Catch up through day 25. 3. By day 41, your plot is done. Stop planning. Open Chapter 1 on November 1.

Plot-planning worksheet

PDF · A4
Download PDF

Why this NaNoWriMo prep checklist works

The single biggest reason NaNo participants fail is that they reach November 1 without a plot. They stare at chapter one, decide they need to think more, and by week two they've quietly dropped.

The kit won't write your novel for you. But it forces the plotting decisions upfront — premise in two sentences, characters in three lines, world rules in one paragraph, beats in order — so that when November hits you're typing, not planning. Think of it as a NaNoWriMo novel-structure checklist you fill in once.

Conscriva is where the actual tracking lives once you're past the kit: project, characters, world, storyboard, chapters, AI consistency checks. Start free. Upgrade to Pro if you outgrow one project.