Welcome to Day Three of Preptober 2026! 🎃
On Day One, we got ready for the month ahead.
Yesterday, we figured out why we’re writing our books—the reason we’re going to keep coming back to these stories even when writing gets hard.
And today?
We’re making a mess.
Seriously.
No outlining. No organizing. No worrying about whether an idea makes sense yet.
Today we’re taking every random thought, scene, character, trope, setting, line of dialogue, and wouldn’t it be cool if… currently floating around in our brains and getting it onto the page.
It’s time for a Big Picture Brain Dump.
Before We Organize, We Need to Know What We Have
When I first start thinking about a new book, my ideas are rarely organized.
I might know exactly how two characters meet but have absolutely no idea what happens afterward. I might have a random line of dialogue I love. Maybe there’s a specific setting I can picture perfectly.
There might be a trope I desperately want to include, a plot twist that came to me in the shower, or an entire scene playing like a movie in my head.
And then there are approximately 7,000 question marks connecting everything.
That’s completely normal.
At this stage of Preptober, we don’t need to make sense of any of it yet.
We just need to get it out of our heads.
What Goes Into a Novel Brain Dump?
Anything.
And I mean anything.
Your brain dump might include characters you’ve already imagined, scenes you want to write, snippets of dialogue, possible plot twists, worldbuilding ideas, settings, tropes, aesthetics, vibes, relationships, questions you need to answer, or things you simply think would be cool.
You might write: Enemies to lovers.
And then underneath it: There NEEDS to be a ballroom scene.
Followed immediately by: Wait…why are they enemies???
Perfect.
That’s exactly the kind of energy we’re bringing to Day Three. 😂
Your ideas don’t have to be complete. They don’t even have to be good.
They just have to exist.
Don’t Start Editing Your Ideas Yet
This is probably the most important rule for today’s exercise:
Don’t judge anything.
The second you start asking whether an idea is good enough, realistic enough, original enough, or important enough, you’re no longer brainstorming.
You’re editing.
And we’re not there yet.
Today is about giving yourself permission to explore.
That weird idea you’ve been debating?
Write it down.
The scene you desperately want to include even though you have absolutely no idea where it belongs?
Write it down.
Two completely contradictory ideas for your protagonist?
Write down both.
You don’t have to decide today.
There are no bad ideas on the brain dump page.
Set a Timer and GO
If you’re staring at your blank brain dump page wondering where to begin, try setting a timer for 10 minutes.
Then write.
Don’t stop to organize anything.
Don’t erase something because you changed your mind halfway through.
Don’t worry about handwriting neatly or making the page aesthetically pleasing.
Just keep asking yourself:
What do I already know about this story?
When something pops into your head, write it down.
One idea will probably lead to another. And another. And suddenly that intimidating blank page won’t look quite so blank anymore.
And if you fill the first page?
Keep going.
Grab your notebook, open a blank document, flip the page over—whatever works.
This is one day where I actively encourage you to take up as much space as you need.
You Don’t Need to Fill Every Gap
You might finish today’s exercise and realize there are some pretty significant things you don’t know yet.
Maybe you know your protagonist but not your antagonist.
Maybe you know the beginning and ending but have absolutely no clue what happens for the 70,000 words in between.
Maybe you have an incredible fantasy world and zero plot.
That’s okay.
We’re only on Day Three.
We have the rest of October to answer those questions.
In fact, discovering the gaps now is useful because we’ll know exactly what we need to explore as we work through our characters, worldbuilding, story beats, and outline later this month.
Your Day 3 Preptober Assignment 🎃
Open your Preptober 2026 E-Guide to the Big Picture Brain Dump section.
Set a timer for 10 minutes.
And then dump everything you currently know about your novel onto the page.
Don’t organize it.
Don’t judge it.
Don’t worry about whether everything will actually make it into the book.
Just get it out of your head.
And when you finish, I want you to look at that messy page and remember:
There is a story hiding in there.
We’re going to find it.
Tomorrow, We Start Connecting the Dots
Once we’ve dumped all of our ideas onto the page, we can start figuring out which ones actually belong together.
So on Day Four of Preptober 2026, we’re going to take this beautiful, chaotic mess and start looking for the story inside it.
We’ll look for connections, identify the ideas we’re most excited about, find our must-have moments, and start noticing the gaps we still need to fill.
But that’s tomorrow’s problem.
Today?
Make a mess. 🧠✨
And when you’re finished, come over to today’s video and tell me:
What’s ONE thing you already know absolutely has to happen in your book?
A scene? A trope? A character? A setting? A completely unhinged plot twist?
I want to hear it.
I’ll see you tomorrow for Day Four.
We’ve got a novel to plan. 🎃✍️
