Thoughts on Camp Nano and My Final Word Count

Camp NaNoWriMo ended 7/31/2020. I stopped writing somewhere around day 10. Yep, day 10. While this is far shorter than the 30 days given to meet my 15k goal, I managed to write 7k works in 10 days or less. Pretty nifty. This was my first Camp NaNoWriMo. I was not sure what to expect.

Here is what I liked about Camp.

  1. In years past, Camp’s site was separate from the full NaNo site. This year, NaNo merged the two sites into one. I did see some complaints from writers who preferred the separation, but this was my first Camp. I appreciated the one stop writing spot.
  2. Goals are set by the writer. The goal can be set for words written, hours spent writing, editing, or researching. The goal is completely up to the writer. The goal can even be changed during the month if needed.
  3. Cabins are basically writing groups. You can join by invite or create your own cabin (group). The forums will have posts about different cabins looking for campers. The cabins can vary depending on genre, gender, ethnicity, etc… You are sure to find a cabin (group) that fits your personality or writing style. Reply to one (or more) of the forum posts and you are sure to be invited to join a cabin.

Here is what I did not like about Camp.

  1. Yes, you can set your own goals, but it is too easy to change them if you are not as far along as you expected to be. For me, there was no push to get there. No urgency. I set my goal low compared to the WriMo standards and then did not feel the urgency to get there. I set it too low. I was 1/2 way through by day 10 and let myself slack off knowing I could get there easily. Once I had slacked off, I never went back.
  2. The cabins are a nice way to pull in the theme of going to “camp”, but the groups are not set up for real conversation. The communication is a bubble style post in a small window. This did not promote back and forth conversation. We mainly used it to update each other on our writing or to congratulate a writer on their success. I had hoped we could use the group for real time chat. I ended up on Twitter more than the NaNo site.

Am I disappointed? Nope. Would I do camp again? Yep. My goal was to learn more about the relationship between Emily and Liam. I hoped to get about 15k words down to figure out who they were before they met, how they met, and what happens next. I wanted to figure out Liam’s family trait. I wanted to feel Emily’s personality. I achieved most of this in 7k words. The flexibility of camp let me focus on key information I needed to pull from my characters.

So, yes, try Camp Nano, especially if you have never tried a November NaNoWriMo. Camp is a great way to get ready for the focus needed in November.

For even more prep, try NaNo Prep 101. Click the box below. See you there!

Camp NaNoWriMo 2020 – Day 7

Today marks the 7th day of NaNoWriMo. I have written about 3,600 words of Emily’s backstory. My main goal this month is to figure out who Emily is as a person, how she meets Liam, and what kind of relationship they have before Athan comes into the picture.

I am off to a good start and love the opening scene of this story. I am not so much writing a novel as much as I am pulling out info about Emily. I have also narrowed down Liam’s family gift. When the story falls into place, it feels so good. I want to tell everyone all about it. Luckily, my husband has become a good listener when I want to toot my own horn or just talk out loud about these characters. He laughs at some of the names I choose, but I just shake my head and call out some of the names of the characters in his favorite novels.

I have not started writing today, but I will. I do not typically scene jump, but I think it is important to get what I need from this writing and not try to create a full story moving from point A to point B. I can always do that later. When I finished the opening scene, I was happy with the progress, but I stopped writing at the close of the scene and lost momentum. Now, I am struggling to find a pickup point. I do not want to drag the reader from day to day to day to day, but I have a hard time skipping through time to move the story along. My drafted novel is like this, too. The story moves from scene to scene. One linked to the other in a day to day, sometimes minute to minute timeline. Maybe that is ok. Maybe I should do me? Maybe I should just stop overthinking and just do the damn thing, right? Yeah!

The Day Before Jitters

Just a few short hours separate me and Camp NaNoWriMo. I am excited to dig into Emily\’s backstory. I need to know who she is. How did she meet Liam? What exactly are Liam\’s family gifts and how does Emily come to be accepted into the Lux family? What happens to her prior to my current novel draft? These are huge questions I need answered. As I start finding answers to these questions, I am watching for new information about the other characters as well, but I can\’t let them take over this time. This month is about Emily. This is Emily\’s story, her voice and her point of view. 

I was getting a little worried yesterday about my lack of information on Emily and as of yesterday I had very little get me started. I talked out loud most of the weekend trying to get Emily to talk back. I thought maybe one of the other characters would spill the beans. Nope. Then, last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I heard Liam telling me he met her at a club. He was too drunk for her liking and she turned down his attention. She refused to give him her number and left the bar. He then saved her life and voila… love.  I was thrilled to have this information. It fits in with the other characters during this timeline, but wait, now that I type this out, it feels like gossip behind her back.  I think Liam would write this whole book if I let him.

I need the story from Emily\’s point of view. I don\’t want the information second hand. Feels like I\’m gossiping about her behind her back. I am certain she has a different story about what actually happened. Tomorrow is the big day Emily. You and me. Thirty one days. Fifteen thousand words. 

\”If you\’re silent for a long time, people just arrive in your mind.\” — Alice Walker

Camping with Emily

Hello Out There!

I\’ve been thinking a lot about my last blog post. I\’ve argued with myself about how much I really need to know about the two characters I mention in the last blog. They are my MC\’s mother and father. They are important to the story, but are they trying to take over the story? Are they trying to pull me way from my current WIP for their own story? Are they helping me build my WIP into a more well rounded story with rich characters? So, after a lot of thinking and no writing.. a couple things have happened. 

Thing number one: I\’ve moved my focus to my MC\’s mother. Her name has changed. Her name is Emily, and I love it. She didn\’t fit into the previous name I had for her. The old name did not fit her role in this story. It was… trying too hard. Emily is softer and unassuming. She is just like everyone else. She and I are talking a little, but she\’s not loud about what she\’s been through or where she\’s headed. She needs a level of trust to let me in.
Thing number two: I am participating in Camp NaNoWriMo which starts July 1st and carries through the month of July. I\’ve never participated in the NaNo Camps, so I\’m jumping in with both feet. From what I can tell the camp version is not as strict on word count as you get to pick your own. You also get to pick the type of project you want to complete during the month.  My project name is \”Getting to Know Emily.\” I am spending the month of July bonding with Emily. While she may not be revealed anymore than she is now in the current WIP after this bonding session, I will have a better understanding of who she is and where she belongs in this story.. or future stories. I\’m excited and terrified to get started. 
Camp is just 5 days away. I\’ve booked my cabin with like minded writers and packed extra socks. You can follow my camp journey on twitter @Crafty_Crafton . Please send sunscreen and letters from home!

Character Drama, Where\’s My Story?

I woke up thinking about characters in my novel. One of them is on the verge of a name change. She\’s been yelling it at me for some time now, so I\’ve committed to the change. This lead me to think about a couple of other characters in my novel. They feel flat when they should feel dynamic and integral to the story. I was trying to work through why they felt so flat while showering. There\’s just something about the mist in the air or the echo in the room; the bathroom is great place to literally talk out loud. Somewhere between the conditioner rinse and the face wash, I heard very clearly – WE HAVE NO BACKSTORY!

Aha! I have two couples in my novel. One couple is fleshed out with a backstory and a story to themselves within this novel. The other couple, the one not so happy with me right now, has zero backstory and float along in the book doing important things, making important steps, but there\’s no feeling in it. I\’m sorry to say … I don\’t like them. I much prefer my \”known\” couple. The \”unknown\” couple are important to the novel, and the story cannot be told without either of them. They deserve more. They deserve to feel connected to one another and to feel all of the pain and horror and triumph. They deserve a story. 
Part of the reason the \”known\” couple has more depth and strength comes from the 2nd novel I am writing which tells how they met and came to be the symbiotic couple they are now. The \”unknown\” couple is in this 2nd book as well, but so far, same issue – no story, yet. My plan today is to focus on these two characters and listen to them. They know who they are. They know their story. I just haven\’t been listening. 
How Exactly Does Active Listening Work? – Gordon Training ...
Oh. The retype? I\’m on page 82 of 160. #amslow

Pseudonym Be Gone!

I am reading a mountain of books on writing as well and joining writing groups and signing up for writerly advice from publishers, editors, and authors. I’ve also been listening to Neil Gaiman read his book, The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction, on Audible. I was cutting grass in the back yard and listening to him read past speeches he’s given over the years. He includes his feelings about the speeches, his thoughts about the events, and other tidbits. Then, he said something that will stay with me always. “You cannot learn to write a book. You can only learn to write this book.”  I
stopped pushing the mower. I stood there, holding the push bar, and stared at the mower. The front wheels spun in the grass as I had not let go of the bar which helps to pull the mower forward. I repeated it again to myself, smiled and pushed on. “…. you can only learn to write this book.” So very true, Mr. Gaiman. So very true. Some part of me feels as though I am wasting my time reading about writing. Just write it already. Another part of me thinks there’s knowledge to be had in those books.

Speaking of just write it already, I am farther along than I initially anticipated in retyping the novel. I am on page 77 of 160 pages. Granted 63 of them were already retyped at some point which I’d forgotten. So, instead of retyping the 10 pages a day I set as my goal, I’ve typed just over 10 pages total since last week. Ha! It’s 10 pages more than I had this time last week.

And finally, what’s in a name? When I started writing Bleak, I decided a pseudonym would be better than using my real name. I went with my name in high school (story for another time): Khrys Norman. She seemed more creative, more free with words. She just seemed… more. I created an email address, blogger ID, twitter ID, etc… all under Khrys Norman. I won my first NaNoWriMo under that name. That was 10 years ago. I hardly know that name anymore. I am more comfortable with my writing and with myself. I am ready to just be the person I am today. Wendy Crafton. Hello world!

Next time I post, my retype will be done (LOL), and I’ll be moving into the editing process. I’ve no idea what that means, but I’m excited to start.