It’s July, and time for Camp NaNoWriMo! (And a kick in my writing butt!)
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, or ‘NaNo‘ for short) has been around for a while now. Originally, it was held only in November, with a target of 50, 000 words in one month. Why 50K? Because that makes the story technically a novel (usually considered minimum of 50, 000 – to 60, 000 words, depending on your source). I’ve never reached the 50K goal (and don’t expect to, as I write around physical and mental health issues). My highest word count was almost 33K and I needed a month to recover.
Camp NaNoWriMo is held in both April and July, and allows for the writer to set their own goal (mine is 20, 000 words this time round). November NaNo is for new projects (not already started). Camp NaNo can be anything – a story, an essay, resesarch… You set your own goal and writing format, and there are ‘badges’ along the way to bolster enthusiasm. (Carrot always works better than stick.)
NaNo’s website describes the process as:“a fun, empowering approach to creative writing… For 30 wild, exciting, surprising days, you get to silence your inner critic, let your imagination take over, and just create!”
It’s the ‘just create’ that inspires me (and I work better to a deadline). It gives me that push I need to get out of my comfort zone, get words on paper (or laptop), to push forward and (hopefully) not get distracted by (too many) research rabbit holes.
I’ve been using NaNo and Camp NaNo as writing tools since 2014. Some writers are fixated with the final goal of 50K.; I aim to write as many words as I can, knowing it’s unlikely for me to reach 50, 000 words. And that’s OK. Most importantly, NaNo helps silence my inner critic, which is strong with this one. Anxiety, PTSD and chronic pain do that.
I’ve written before about the ‘Black Dog’ who growls negativity, snaps at my heels, and pulls me into what feels like slow-devouring quicksand. (There’s a lot of metaphors in that sentence! Yeah, it kind of got away from me – There’s a Doctor Who quote for every situation. 🙂 ) NaNo (usually) pulls me out of a funk, kicks my writing brain butt, and makes me write.
I can comfortably write 10, 000 words a month (when I’m in the right headspace) so, for Camp NaNo, I set my goal above that – depending on my headspace and health at the time. This month it’s 20, 000 words (knowing there will be days I will crash to recover, but hoping I’ll sprint beyond it). re-writing the stalled first draft of the second book in The Department of Curiosities.
As of 11th July, I’ve written 11, 446 (51%) of my goal.
You can follow my Camp NaNoWriMo progress on my Patreon page. If you’re already registered for NaNoWriMo, you can find me as KatCarlisle.