Camp NaNoWriMo

Short for National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo takes place in November. For the next 30 days, participants are to write 50,000 ‘new words’ for their novel. In the past, you needed to start a novel from scratch. Now you can continue a work in progress just as long as you do not count any words you wrote before November 1st.

I always knew about NaNoWriMo and, for the past few years, have unsuccessfully tried to complete the 50,000 word challenge. With a family and kids, it’s quite the challenge. Last year I wrote for two weeks until my kids got sick and I caught the flu. But this year I learned something new: there are two additional events called Camp NaNoWriMo!

So how are these different? First, the camps run through the months of April and July. Second, you do not need to complete 50,000 words. Phew, that’s one stressor off my mind. You can choose any word count you like. I estimated I needed around 25,000 more words to complete my short novel, so I set my goal accordingly.

There are many tutorials and advice articles online, which I strongly suggest you read, specifically from those who won the main event. April’s Camp NaNoWriMo is the only event I completed, so I will walk you through what experienced.

Days before the event, I mentally prepared myself. The most important thing was to block out time to write. My intention was to work during the day when the kids were at school and I had finished cooking. I had some emergency time blocked out at night after my kid’s bedtime, just in case. The second most important thing was to beat down my bad habit of editing as I wrote. Do not edit! Girl, if I catch you editing, I’ll take away all your chocolate! Lastly, I’m a Plantser, so I wrote a one sentence outline for what each chapter should contain.

For those of you who don’t know what a Plantser is, check out this link: Plotter, Planner or Plantser? There is a helpful test to try.

One thing I was grateful for is Scrivener’s NaNoWriMo template file that is available before every event. You simply download the free file, open it in your scrivener program and link your NaNoWriMo profile. With one click, it updates your daily word count on your project page.

The first week was great. I wrote at my assigned time with no disruptions. I wrote my 834 daily word count or more, and I felt wonderful because I never got stuck. One great thing I learned was that I did not need to write in sequence. Sometimes I felt my writing stagnate. So I stopped, put a note to complete the scene later when I had a better idea, and moved on to another chapter or scene. Sometimes I switched between two chapters because I caught an idea and needed to write the scene down before it flew out of my head and back into the void. Other days descriptions slowed me down, so I switched to script and wrote the dialogue with a bit of stage directions. Yes, we writers are strange.

The second week is when my emergency writing time turned into my normal writing time. Life has a way of sneaking up on you, and if you lag for just a minute, everything gets backed up. I sometimes raced to complete my word count before the stroke of midnight. Gang way Cinderella, mama’s rushing her carriage through the word count gate. Thankfully, no one saw me, or the look on my face would have frightened them away as I typed furiously for those last few seconds. I cut it close one night when I updated less than five seconds before midnight. I was both pleased and peeved at how reckless I was. Good lord Alaa, what were you thinking?

Well, on the third week I was done. I reached a point where I had completed the first draft of the novel. What do I do? I still had 6,000 words left to complete the 25,000 goal. Well, I started on book two. I had the continuation already in mind, but I had no outline. So I worked on the few scenes I had already imagined for some new characters. Eventually I got stuck. And I was tired. So I sat down with myself and asked – do I really need to finish 25,000 words? I was eager to edit, and I transfixed my imagination on the events of the first book. Should I work on the second book now and switch mindsets to another timeline? Would that spoil the flow state? NaNoWriMo has no police officers, no one is telling you what to do. It is a personal goal, after all. So I allowed myself the respite and the freedom to stop.

I battled with guilt, but at the end of the day, the reason I was doing Camp NaNoWriMo was to complete my novel. I reached my main objective. There was no shame in stopping now. And that made me feel justified. It is always good to let your first draft sit for a week or so – ‘don’t frost the batter’, if you know what I mean.

Over the next few days, I wrote brief notes for myself here and there. After two weeks, I was ready and eager to start the editing process!

I hope this post helped. Camp NaNoWriMo is a great way to enter the world of sprint writing. For those who will take part in July, I wish you luck!

Photo by Jose de Lago