April Camp NaNoWriMo 2015 & Writer’s Nerves
Tomorrow is the first of April (beware April Fool’s Day), and also the first day of April’s Camp NaNoWriMo for 2015.
What is NaNoWriMo?
For anyone who hasn’t heard about NaNoWriMo, this stands for National Novel Writing Month. This is held every November, and challenges writers to join a community with the goal of writing a 50,000 word novel within 30 days.
The first time I heard about it, I thought it was nuts and that I was nuts for signing up for it. But not only did I manage to write over 50K words my first NaNoWriMo of 2002, but I went on to win the challenge for 11 years total. During that time, I completed a four-novel fantasy series, Dreigiau, and started on my shorter form loose fiction, Runne.
I wrote a good deal of that back when I was in college, but once I started working full time, trying to swing a NaNoWriMo, especially during a crazy November month, became more difficult. When I heard about Camp NaNoWriMo, which has much more lax rules, and is held during spring and summer months, I decided to switch to writing during these events instead.
I like that you can set your own word count – I choose to do 25K words, but to do it twice a year for a total of 50K words. You also get assigned to your own little cabin – a group of writers who are also taking the challenge, often put together based on a common writing interest (mine are fantasy writers, for example). During the month, your cabin mates are there to discuss progress, encourage each other, and work as a sounding board through frustrating times.
And while this is geared towards fiction writing, you could take this challenge for any kind of writing, I’m sure. So if you’re interested in taking part and challenging yourself, there’s still time to sign up at the site! If you miss it in April, there’s another in July.
Chances are, since I’m participating, I’ll probably be blogging a good bit less during April. Unless it inspires me to write more about the process, somehow. XD
This Year…
I’m a little on the nervous side to be writing fiction again, especially since I haven’t visited my story, Runne, for way over a year. Last year, I skipped writing for Runne because I was stuck at a plot point that I didn’t know how to overcome. Over the past Christmas holiday, Syn and I brainstormed a ton of great ideas. I just have to figure out how to move the stopping point from the last chapter I wrote to mesh with these ideas, and that has me a little frazzled.
But I always get the nerves right before a NaNo event. Then, once I’m in there and writing, things somehow seem to work themselves out in unforeseen ways…
Is anyone else writing this year? If so, good luck!
