S. W. Raine

Every October, as the leaves blaze with color and a mug of hot chocolate becomes a permanent fixture at my writing space, it can only mean one thing: Preptober is here again. It’s that magical time of year when writers everywhere gear up for November’s writing marathon.

For me, it’s less “organized plotting” and more “organized chaos.” After all, I’ve been doing this for nearly two decades now (nineteen years and eighteen wins!). But Preptober 2025 feels extra exciting because I’m diving into something completely new: steampunk choose-your-own-adventure stories.

This Year’s Plan: Steampunk Chaos Awaits

Every year, I start with two projects in mind—a Plan A and a Plan B—just in case writer’s block decides to crash the party.

This year’s Plan A is to write five steampunk choose-your-own-adventure short stories, each around 10,000 words. Picture it: a ragtag airship crew of treasure hunters inspired by the teams from Leverage and Firefly. Expect gears, goggles, gadgets, and plenty of sky-high mischief.

Do I have a Plan B? …Nope. Not yet. Aaaa! But I’m sure inspiration (or panic) will strike before November 1st. It always does.

Pantser vs. Planner: The Eternal Struggle

Last year, I tried to reform. I gave structure a chance. I (very loosely) built a Five Act outline and, well… by Chapter Five, it had already gone off the rails. The plan didn’t just derail; it launched itself off a cliff in true Pantser fashion.

But choose-your-own-adventure stories are a different beast. If I want readers to survive all the branching paths without getting trapped in a logic loop, I need at least some kind of roadmap. So for Preptober 2025, I’m watching how-to videos and reading articles on CYOA structure, hoping to tame the chaos just enough to make it make sense.

My inner Pantser is already side-eyeing the word “structure,” but I’m determined to at least pretend I have one. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Rewards and Motivation

Normally, I bribe myself with Cadbury Crunchie bars (my favorite Canadian chocolate) every 10,000 words and the latest Assassin’s Creed video game at 50,000. But for the second year in a row, Ubisoft (the company behind the Assassin’s Creed series) has nothing new coming out, and I haven’t been to Canada since the summer, so my Canadian chocolate stash is tragically empty.

So now I’m taking suggestions: what’s a good bribe—er, reward—for hitting my milestones this year? Cake? Fancy tea? A new video game? Help a writer out.

Family Writing Time

As always, my son will be joining me for November’s writing chaos—though not through the official NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program this year (more on that in a second). He doesn’t quite know what he wants to write yet, but that’s half the fun. Watching his imagination take off every fall has become one of my favorite parts of the season.

We’ll both be writing side by side, snacks within reach, racing the clock to out-write bedtime. It’s quickly becoming our own little family tradition.

The NaNoWriMo Shift

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’ve had mixed feelings about NaNoWriMo over the last couple of years. Last year, I made the hard choice to skip the official challenge after everything that came to light about the organization. Instead, I joined the newly formed First Draft Detroit—an LLC created by the dedicated volunteers of NaNoWriMo’s Detroit region—for their First Draft Frenzy challenge.

It turned out to be wonderful: the same sense of community, motivation, and creative magic, just without the baggage. Sadly, NaNoWriMo officially shut down in March 2025 after ongoing financial struggles and loss of community trust. But by then, I’d realized something important: I don’t need NaNoWriMo the company to do the challenge. The real joy was always in the community itself.

This year, I’ll be joining First Draft Detroit’s First Draft Frenzy again—and possibly pairing it with ProWritingAid‘s Novel November (NovNov) challenge too. The names may be different, but the heart of it all—the wild, wonderful rush of November community writing—remains the same.

Looking Ahead

So here we are—Preptober 2025. My spreadsheets might still be empty, my chocolate stash is still missing, and my airship crew hasn’t even taken flight yet, but that’s half the fun. I’m ready to dive in, tinker with my branching storylines, and see where the chaos leads.

October always carries a spark of magic. It invites us to slow down, sip something warm, and lose ourselves in new adventures, whether on the page or in the imagination.

How are you spending your October? Are you planning the holidays, creating, or just soaking up the magic of the season? Let me know in the comments. I love hearing what everyone’s up to this time of year.

Raine