If you’ve been wondering why this blog has been kind of quiet for the past month, the answer is relatively simple.
July is host to Camp NaNoWriMo, an offshoot of November’s well-known and well-loved National Novel Writing Month. Although it’s been going on for a few years now, I haven’t successfully participated before, mostly because the past few years I had a full-time job. This year, though, I not only had time on my hands, but also internet access and–most importantly–a wonderful group of writers who formed a cabin with me and a few other friends.
How did it go? I’ll let the following graphic speak for itself:
That’s right I won! Not only that, but our cabin did a spectacular job in terms of cumulative word count. There were late-night word sprints, letters written home to Mom, and end-of-the-line celebrations involving many virtual s’mores.
My word count wasn’t a huge one–unlike NaNoWriMo, you can set your word count goal (minimum of 1k), so I aimed low: 6,000 words, to work on something involved in a secret project I may or may not have mentioned before.
I crushed my project word goal in the first couple of weeks, then went on to more than double that total by the end of the month, working on a separate project (ironically, a novel I once started for an April Camp NaNoWriMo but have yet to complete.)
Did I enjoy the Camp? Yes, definitely!
Will I do it again next year? Quite possibly, if my writer’s group hosts a cabin again. Without their support, I doubt I would have gotten as far as I did.
Would I recommend it to other writers? Yes! The wonderful thing about the Camp NaNos is that they’re flexible in terms of word count. They also occur twice a year–in April and in July–offering different times for people to participate. If Novembers tend to be crazy for you, but you’ve always been intrigued by the NaNoWriMo challenge, I recommend checking out Camp NaNo. Create your own cabin or choose to be sorted into a random one. You can also go at it alone, but I think having cabin mates really helps to keep you motivated and on top of your daily word count goal.
Heck yeah we’re having another cabin in April!!!!
I think we have enough people for two cabins. 😀
The November NaNo is too much for me, but I loved the customized goal aspect of camp.
(And we actually beat our cabin goal by 7k words. *nudges Corinne* Which is even more exciting than when we thought we were just super close.)
Awesome! I can’t wait. 🙂
NaNo was my introduction to novel-writing so I still do it every year for fun.
*also nudges Corinne* We unofficially beat it, yes, which is pretty darn amazing given everything going on for folks!
Nice!!! Congrats! 🙂 I, too, love the cabin atmosphere. November’s event is great–and challenging–and I love it, but I like meeting new writers in cabins and getting to chat. 🙂
Yeah! NaNoWriMo’s wonderful and I do it every year, but it’s a lot harder to find a group. I tend to hang around on my regional forums, but even then it’s hard to keep up with everyone. I like having the cabins.
Yay well done Heather! We did good.
Thanks! We did awesome this Camp. Definitely earned those s’mores. 🙂