Camp NaNo in July has been a success for me. I am pretty pleased with the fact that I wrote a short story this month.
This is great news for you readers. It means that I will have something else to give away some time in the near future. I’ve been wanting to write and have tried a couple of times to write this story, but this month things clicked.
What is Camp NaNo?
In case you don’t know what Camp NaNoWriMo is, let me explain it. In the months of April and July, writers participate in this event. The cool part about this is that we get to pick how many words we write during the month.
Maybe you’ve heard of National Novel Writing Month. In November writers have to write 50K words in order to “win.” By winning, the writers get some good discounts from the sponsors, such as a writing software called Scrivener for half off or free copies of your novel from Createspace.
Camp NaNo does some of the same things. I have already gotten the code for Scrivener so I don’t need it anymore unless I buy a Macbook and need to buy the software again. (That’s my dream laptop!) I always give the code to another fellow writer as long as he/she promises to use it.
What is a “win”?
For Camp this month, I chose 10K words. I had tried the challenge in April and hadn’t even come close to “winning.” While this month was a little slow getting started, I did finally finish on Saturday. I have a nice little short story that is a prequel to my trilogy, something I’ve been wanting to write for a while now.
I’ll let it set for a couple of weeks and revisit it at that time. Once I edit it, I’ll have a couple of fellow writers read it. I hope to have it posted on my website by the end of the year.
Would you give Camp a try?
Either NaNo or Camp can be done by younger writers, too. I know of one local teen who participated a couple of years ago. I know when I first started participating back in November 2012, some classes in New York took part in it as well. That was cool to hear!
I know I have some parents who have come to me asking about writing and publishing a book. Participating in NaNo or Camp would be a great way to get started.
This event is a challenge. It’s a way to build a routine in your writing. I don’t always write every day as this month went. In November when you have to do the 50K, you can’t skip very many days, or you’ll get too far behind. However, it can be done!
This brings me back to Camp. This is the easiest way to break into the NaNo experience. You can set your word count, as I said above. You can choose whatever you want to work on.
In November, you are supposed to start something new, and the writing must be fiction. I’ve written nonfiction for Camp. Like last year, I wrote the memoir I’m in the process of editing and hope to publish by the end of the year.