Important Announcement: October Prep is Moving! Welcome to a new era of writing on Writing.com! Starting in 2026, the site is launching its first official "WdC Writing Season 2026" - a three-month site-sponsored event featuring:
"September: Fun Run" "October: Base Camp" new Prep home "November: Marathon"
Because of this new site-wide initiative, the traditional October Prep event has officially moved from this user-hosted forum to the new site-sponsored "October: Base Camp" event. Be sure to head over to the official Writing Season discussion forum at "The Water Station" with your questions, comments, and ideas, and to connect with fellow Preppers, NaNoWriMo's, and other Marathoners.
October Prep Challenge aka: The Prep / PrepMo / OctoPrep
What is October Prep?
A month-long, community-oriented challenge
designed to help you plan your novel or nonfiction manuscript before writing it.
The Prep was originally created in 2008 to coincide with the annual "National Novel Writing Month" (NaNoWriMo) event* in November, during which novelists turn off their inner editors and commit to writing 50,000 words in 30 days. Prep participants are given daily fiction or nonfiction tasks throughout October, such as writing character profiles or drafting outlines. The exercises help you develop a novel-length story or nonfiction manuscript before writing it and prepare for the marathon writing of a full-length book in November.
The 501(3)c organization known as "National Novel Writing Month" (NaNoWriMo, or just NaNo) was heavily staffed with volunteer moderators who coordinated write-ins and other local events. The NaNo board received complaints regarding the interactions of one or more of those moderators with minor writers, but the organization failed to adequately address the complaints. As a result of that scandal, plus their controversial public statements about AI (artificial intelligence), the organization lost significant sponsorships. Due to poor financial management (mostly insufficient fundraising) even before the scandal and AI comments, NaNoWriMo was already in the red. Ultimately, the organization ran out of money and could no longer operate the website.
Rules: Each day in October, complete the assigned fiction or nonfiction task▶︎
The exercises will help you develop your novel-length story or nonfiction manuscript before writing it and prepare for the marathon writing of a full-length book in November.
in "October: Base Camp" . Spend at least 15 minutes working on a task each day (no max.) You're never required to share your writing. Just tell us you finished the task by marking it complete. You're on the honor system. To compete in one of the weekly "Contest Rounds", submit your entry here: "October Prep (Base Camp) Contest Rounds" [E]. Contest Round deadlines are based on WDC time (New York City time). All content ratings accepted. AI-generated text is forbidden in the Prep Contest Rounds.
Prizes: Complete all the daily exercises by Oct. 31 and score the "Trained and Ready" Merit Badge at "October: Base Camp" . Complete exactly one task per day, and you'll also win the "Perfect Pace" Merit Badge at Base Camp. 1st Place Contest Round winner gets a blue ribbon item awardicon and 20,000 Gift Points. 2nd Place Contest Round winner gets a red ribbon item awardicon and 10,000 Gift Points. 3rd Place Contest Round winner gets a yellow ribbon item awardicon and 5,000 Gift Points.
Countdown to November 1st Tokyo:[Refresh to load countdown.] Mumbai:[Refresh to load countdown.] Moscow:[Refresh to load countdown.] London:[Refresh to load countdown.] New York:[Refresh to load countdown.] Chicago:[Refresh to load countdown.] Los Angeles:[Refresh to load countdown.] Honolulu:[Refresh to load countdown.] South Pole: Depends where you're standing North Pole: Only Santa Knows
This group houses both your fellow participants and Prep funds. When you sign up, we'll add you to the group to receive status updates. Meet Your Admin Team▶︎
Your Admin Team consists of executive leaders, technical support, and administrative support. Your leaders are here to help you, answer your questions, fix technical problems and keep you informed. Throughout October, we will send out a daily email announcing which participants are still in the running for Merit Badges.
Your writing coaches are here to answer your questions, explain assignments, and coach you in your writing. They are also happy to serve as your brainstorming buddies.
Head Cheerleader:
Cheerleader:
Cheerleader:
Cheerleader:
Your Cheerleaders are here to motivate you and reward you for motivating one another. Our Cheerleaders will award "Cheerleading" Merit Badges, GPs and other goodies to anyone needing or offering encouragement.
Your judges are here to select the winners of the Contest Rounds. Prep participants may serve as judges but are not eligible to compete in the Contest Round(s) that they judge. They are still eligible for the Grand Prizes and to compete in the other Contest Rounds.
"Even if you don't plan on participating in November you need to check out October Prep. By the end of it, you will have a great idea of where your next novel is going to go. Thank you Brandiwyn for coming up with such a wonderful idea." - Mousethyme - Anita Blake
"Thank you so much for the trinket and most of all for your OctPrep challenge. This was my first year actually participating and completing it! I found it extremely helpful and hope to apply your method as sort of a template to follow each and every time I want to start a new writing project. It is really helpful to sort out all those questions BEFORE I start writing! This is the farthest I've ever gotten with a novel length story idea. I have YOU to thank for that! So...thank you! I'm already looking forward to next year." - Shadow Prowler-Spreading Love
"I can't recommend taking the leap highly enough. I was nervous before I jumped in, but this community was amazing and brought the encouragement, and I'm so glad I'm neck-deep in this idea now. The prompts for this challenge are extraordinary and have influenced my planning/outlining process in a huge way. You'll absolutely end up with a thoroughly developed idea ready to be put to the page (whether you choose to do so in November or at some future date). I'm on deadline for the first book I planned here in OctoPrep, gearing up to receive an edit letter on the second, and fresh off a rough month where I lost my car in an accident after a drunk driver plowed into three cars, including mine, and I still couldn't resist the lure of participation. Wishing everyone freely flowing ideas and plenty of productive freestyle brainstorming if they get stopped up." - Roseille ♥
"...make sure you're prepping. It really does help! I've finished NaNo 0 times WITHOUT prepping and I've finished NaNo EVERY time WITH prepping." - Schnujo
"I cannot see how anyone could complete this project and not feel they gained from it. That's not saying anyone does feel this way; I'm saying it is well worth the effort. What started as a good idea in my head has evolved into a viable story that now has a solid outline and fleshed out characters and world where they reside. I am going to take this and use it on past projects that I've set aside because I've never known how to move my ideas to a working storyline." - Cupadraig~The Remote Country
"I have never done a novel prep before, but most of what you are having us do is looking to be seriously helpful. Whether or not it makes any difference to NaNo, it is helping me understand what exactly I want to write." - JaceCar
"I had a pleasure to participate in this challenge back in 2015 and I had so much fun with it. I think this is one of the best writing competitions on the entire site. I love how well it is planned and how helpful people in the forum can be. When I took a part in 2015 I had no idea how would I manage to write those 50k words, I have never written anything longer than 1k words before that, but thanks to great organization of NaNo prep challenge and all people involved in it, I did it. " - ~Claire Fraser~
"I love the OctoPrep! It's the only time ideas come out of nowhere and stay." - Gaby
"Everytime I see [the Prep jumping up on my favorites list] my brain jumps into brainstorming mode." - Sarah Rae
"I have a countdown to NaNo on my phone. How can it be only 50 days away? I'm not nearly ready! Thank goodness for the Prep Challenge." - Outasync
"I am a lifetime fan of NaNoPrep! It has helped me progress more in a week than I have in the last year or more... I am loving the method I chose for the outline! It sums up what I want the novel to include, but isn't restricting my creative juices from flowing freely. With each days assignment, my muse is stirring more and more!" - Patrece ~
"As a person who has struggled in the past with 'assignments' or with outlining my writing, I have found this experience to actually be very helpful. I already had an idea of what I wanted to write for NaNo, but these exercises are helping me to flesh out my idea some more - without restricting my writing." - Sara - back on WDC
"I am really liking how broken down the steps are. Usually when I write I don't take the time to flesh out my story this much and then I end up not finishing my longer stories because they get so off track. This process is really helping me see the little pieces that have derailed me in the past." - Zombeeluv
"Well, as always, I'm struggling to define the exact story I'm trying to tell. What's the main point of my story? Why does anyone care? Who am I writing for? What's going to happen in the story and how will I create an actual ending? These exercises are incredibly helpful to me as I attempt to answer all of these questions. Even assignments that I've stalled on in past preps are finding me inspired and helping me to create that novel that I've wanted to write for years. So, THANK YOU to everyone involved in making the prep work, from the creators to my fellow participants: you're all amazing!!! This is going to be the best NaNoWriMo ever!!!!" - Robin
"I have to say that this Prep challenge has helped me tremendously. This is my first Nano and my first novel attempt. I really like that the prep takes us step by step on preparing for such a challenge. I believe that this prep challenge is going to be foundation of my success in Nano. The characters backstory helped me understand my plot better and brainstorming exercise allowed me to come up with good ideas." - soulwriter9546
"This is a splendid exercise ~ the focus on specifics rather than meandering - I still meander during free write, but I have my sketches at hand to lure back my characters. I'm not sure I'll have a fully detailed plan, as so far I've found my protagonist to be flawed enough to maybe become the antagonist. This is so helpful to learn and work with this now, and if during November they again trade places, I'll have my character sketches, background information, and plot lines to help them find their focus. Great Exercises." - Kate - Writing & Reading
"Seriously, I was thinking of November novel month for two years. I did not know what to expect. Nano Prep is helping me understand my characters. They are about to have interesting lives that I did not know were there. This is a very helpful way to organize a story. I'm learning more with every assignment. WDC writes on." - Apondia
"My first Nano was five years ago and I did it by the seat of my pants, got over 100k, and then dropped the story after November was over. Then, for the next four years I ended up in a sad cycle of signing up, then chickening out. This year I'm going to make it. With all the Prep I'm getting done through October NaNoPrep, I know that I'll be able to sit down and write like the wind." - Noyoki
"...my recent book was the one I started at your Pre-Nano sessions in October on WDC. See how valuable nano is in getting the bones of that novel down on paper. Tell your writers all they need is a good story and a fierce determination to get it onto the page." - Ann Carter
new Prep home
Each day in October, complete the assigned fiction or nonfiction task ▶︎ in "October: Base Camp" . 
Contest Round deadlines are based on WDC time (New York City time).
Complete all the daily exercises by Oct. 31 and score the "Trained and Ready" Merit Badge at "October: Base Camp" . 
Complete exactly one task per day, and you'll also win the "Perfect Pace" Merit Badge at Base Camp.
1st Place Contest Round winner gets a blue ribbon item awardicon and 20,000 Gift Points.
2nd Place Contest Round winner gets a red ribbon item awardicon and 10,000 Gift Points.
3rd Place Contest Round winner gets a yellow ribbon item awardicon and 5,000 Gift Points.
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Compete in the "October Prep (Base Camp) Contest Rounds" 
un: 
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3 Weeks 'til Prep! Seeking Contest Round Judges
