While pinning around on pinterest, I came across an interesting concept that I'd seen before, but never connected to NaNoWriMo (which we all know is National Novel Writing Month and occurs in November.) Basically, the idea is to draw a picture every day for a month. So I thought to myself, "why not make this a precursor to NaNo?" And then we did. For every day in October, a few of us have decided to draw every day based off a list that we've created. Feel free to tag along as we scribble our way toward inspiration.
Day 1: a plant
Day 2: a main character
Day 3: some weather
Day 4: a room
Day 5: something beautiful
Day 6: something ugly
Day 7: a weapon
Day 8: a constellation
Day 9: an npc (non-main character) or a vendor
Day 10: an animal
Day 11: a piece of technology
Day 12: a piece of furniture
Day 13: a gift
Day 14: a map
Day 15: the contents of a bag or pocket
Day 16: an accessory
Day 17: a villain
Day 18: a mode of transport
Day 19: something of monetary value
Day 20: a piece of clothing or an outfit
Day 21: a tool
Day 22: a sidekick
Day 23: a meal
Day 24: a toy
Day 25: a religious item or relic
Day 26: a temporary shelter
Day 27: a trap
Day 28: the view out a window
Day 29: a tattoo or a scar
Day 30: a building
Day 31: the front cover!
Remember that this is intended to inspire your upcoming story, and that we simply tried to think of things that would fit many stories, but not all. If you really want to draw something that's not on this list, go for it! You may not even end up using a single picture out of this project either, but if you do, just think about how many words you can use by describing any one of your pieces. I for one could probably fill up at least a chapter describing just one villain.
A sketchbook is one of the most obvious portable ideas for this draw-a-thon, but creativity knows no bounds. A pad of jumbo sticky notes, a keyring of flash cards, a collage out of magazines, anything goes.
Lastly, I will be posting these a day in advance with a daily reminder of the current topic on twitter. Click here to follow me.
P.S. APiaDaMo stands for A Picture a Day Month. Aren't I just clever.
