As if the A to Z challenge wasn’t challenging enough, this month I’m also doing Camp NaNoWriMo. Anyone who is a writer has probably heard of NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. If you haven’t, it’s kind of like the A to Z challenge, except every day you try to write 1,667 words. If you manage to do this every day for the month, you end up with a 50,000 word novel. Cool huh?
I’ve been doing NaNoWriMo since 2006. Some years I’ve “won”, some years I haven’t. Not once have I regretted the words I did manage to write.
Camp NaNoWriMo is an offshoot, still run by the same people, but slightly different. For one thing, you can set your own goal. You will also be assigned to cabins, small groups of up to six fellow writers, who you can share the months highs and lows with.
The first year I tried it, half my cabin mates went silent by the end of the first week. I couldn’t really blame them, I dropped out half way through too. This year I’m in a cabin with 5 of my fellow writing friends, and I’m looking forward to making my 50k goal. Hopefully that will see a majority of my novel, Reckless Rebellion, done. You can watch my progress in the sidebar (I did start with about 9,000 words), underneath the novel cover, or over on the Camp NaNo site.
What else are you trying to fit in this month? Any other great challenges you’d like to share? I think I’ll be looking for a new one next month!
All this month I’m participating in the A-Z blogging challenge, writing a blog post for each letter of the alphabet, on every day of the month except Sundays. Check back regularly to see what else I have in store for you.
I didn’t know that April was Camp NaNo month! That’s a great deal of production packed into one month with A-to-Z. Will you be using some of the letter-days to share your masterpiece with us or chat over problems in production?
At this stage I don’t have any plans to write more about Camp NaNo for my other letters, but you never know. 🙂 I will probably be chatting about it a bit on twitter though.
OMG, I’ve heard of NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo, but doing Camp NaNo w/ A to Z challenge is a big mouthful!
It is a challenge. But in a good way. I’m finding I can get more done than I thought I could!
I’m doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month too. I’m a tad behind on word count, but not panicking yet. 🙂 I’m also doing some flash fiction challenges (using an alias–amazing how that takes the stress out and allows me to experiment). And then there’s work…three new staff to orient and train, all starting at different times. Poor brain. It needs a wee rest.
And one of these days, I may even post an entry on my blog again. Sigh.
I’m doing Camp NaNo again this month too! And doing a lot better than I was in April.
Using an alias is helpful for not stressing so much. Here’s to experimenting!