Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp NaNoWriMo

I have participated in NaNoWriMo SO many times. I’ve succeeded… once.

I’m enchanted with the idea. I would love to write 50,000 words a month. I get geared up in October and make grand plans for (finally) winning NaNo. 

But I simply do not work well at that pace. I’m not a speed writer. I am a notoriously slow reader, and an even slower writer. I do all the things they tell you not to do: I edit as I go (not for minute typos, obviously, but I stop and erase and seek for just the right word. On a good day, I hit 500 words an hour for creative writing, and 250 words an hour for academic writing (I do my footnotes as I go, it makes the end much less hectic and bibliographies a breeze.)

Sure, I have good days when the words fly. But most days they plod, or I have to drag them along behind me.

August will mark a year since I started the novel I worked on for November’s NaNo. I’d like to finish the first draft by then, and Camp NaNo this July seems the excellent opportunity for that final push. 

Of course I want to finish this novel. I will be the first to admit it is not the Great American Novel. It’s not a great novel of any kind. It’ just a bit of fun for me and my brain, and I would like to finish it.

But I would also like to pass the big exam I have coming up mid-July, and I would also like to finish building a tiny cabin in the woods, a project that, at present, takes about 20 hours a week.

So perhaps July simply isn’t the best time for extravagant goals. But that’s the joy of Camp NaNo. You set your own goals. If I stay consistent, even if it’s writing a couple hundred words every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, that’s still progress, and I’d consider that a win.

So perhaps that’s what I shall do. Set a shamefully modest target and celebrate the achievement. Then in August when my time is more my own (and hopefully I’ll have a little cabin to write in) I can step up my ambition.

Of course, I’m going to sign up and record my progress for camp NaNoWriMo, because it is fun to be in the community. 

Anyone else doing it this July? What are your projects/word goals? Look me up on NaNoWriMo.org and lets be friends!   (My username is KathrynAmonett)