November is almost upon us, which means that NaNoWriMo is about to be in full swing. Whether you’ve decided to tackle a brand new novel or you’re aiming to rework and clean up an old one, it can be intimidating to jump feetfirst into a project of such epic proportions.

If you’re looking for some ways to get the creative juices flowing, here are some fun, silly, thought-provoking writing prompts to help you begin. Many won’t have any specific or obvious bearing on your particular story—these are simply meant to get you thinking about your novel from different angles and perhaps spark an idea or two on how to delve deeper and more meaningfully into your own work. Happy writing! 

Your protagonist:

• What Greek god or goddess would your protagonist embody and why? Consider their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their mental and emotional attributes.
• What does your protagonist fear above all else? What is the root of that fear? In other words, what event or experience caused the fear to grow, and how does it affect their everyday interactions with others?
• A hero’s quest typically consists of a call to adventure, leaving behind everything they have ever known, multiple tests and trials, a final confrontation, and the return home having learned valuable lessons about themselves and their world. If your protagonist went on a hero’s quest, what would they be doing, who would they be meeting, and why?
• What conversation topic would your protagonist want to avoid at all costs? Why? How would it make them feel if that topic were broached by someone else in the story?
• What kind of spiritual beliefs, if any, does your protagonist have? Consider whether they currently attend formal religious services, or whether they did as a child. What values or morals does your protagonist carry due to these spiritual beliefs or nonbeliefs?

Your supporting characters:

• If one of your supporting characters was stranded on an island, what are the three most essential items they would want to have? What significance do these items have to them and to the story?
• Imagine something funny happening to one of your supporting characters. What would that event or situation look like? Would it be verbal humor, physical humor, or something else entirely? How would your supporting character react?
• Which supporting character is most like your protagonist? How does that help their relationship grow throughout the story? Which supporting character is least like your protagonist? How do their differing personalities complement each other, and where does it cause conflict?
• If you were forced to cut out one supporting character from your novel, who would you choose and why? What would your story lose with their absence? What would it gain?
• Choose two or three supporting characters in your novel. Describe, in as much detail as you possibly can, the first five minutes of each of their days upon waking up.

Your antagonist:

• If your antagonist could have one superpower, what would it be? Why did you choose that particular power, and how exactly would your antagonist use it?
• Try to convince your audience that your antagonist is actually the good guy in your novel. Be sure to consider his or her backstory, motivations, actions, words, and ultimate goal.
• If your antagonist had only one day left to live, what would they do? Where would they spend it and with whom? What do those choices reveal about your antagonist?
• Imagine that your antagonist changed gender. What would that add to or take away from your novel? How would the antagonist’s interactions with other characters change? What would that do to their motivations and the central struggle of the story?
• Take a meaningful event from your own life and imagine that your antagonist experienced it instead. How would they have reacted? Felt? What would they have said? How would their handling of the situation have been received by the real people in your life?

Your setting:

• Imagine that your novel is taking place on another planet (or, if it already is, imagine that it’s taking place on present-day Earth). Write a scene in which your characters interact on this new planet. How would each of their unique personalities react to such a place?
• Choose one specific location that already exists in your novel (or a specific location that you’re considering using if you haven’t started yet), such as a particular street or house. Imagine you, the author, are walking through it or around it. What do you see? What do you hear? Smell? Taste? Now envision touching those surroundings and describe how it all feels.
• Think of a setting that is completely opposite in tone from your novel. For example, if you’re writing a serious domestic drama, you might choose a circus. If you’re writing a multi-universe space opera, you may choose a farm in Iowa. How would you make this setting work for your characters if you were forced to use it in your novel instead of your original setting?
• Choose one specific location from your own childhood and insert one or two of your novel’s characters in there. How do they interact with the setting? What do they do? What do they say to each other? What effect does that particular setting have on these characters from an emotional and physical perspective?

Andrea Moran lives outside of Nashville with her husband and two kids. She’s a professional copywriter and editor who loves all things books. Find her on LinkedIn.