March is quickly coming to an end, and what does it mean for the writing community ? That Camp NaNoWriMo is just around the corner !
For the ones who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge designed to encourage writers to write a novel in a month. The goal is to write 50,000 words, and the challenge takes place in November, every year. So what is Camp NaNoWriMo ? It’s a lighter version of NaNoWriMo, in the sense that there’s no 50,000 words goal, you can just set whatever goal you want to set for your writing project. Camp NaNoWriMo takes place twice a year, during the months of April and July.
As I participated to NaNoWriMo for the first time last year, I found that it really helped me to write more than usual (waaaay more than usual haha), so I’m excited for Camp NaNoWriMo.
So what do we do to get ready for Camp NaNoWriMo ? I asked myself this question, because I more or less participated to NaNoWriMo last November on the spur of the moment. I decided to participate less than 48h before the challenge would start, so I brainstormed the basics for a new story in less than 48h and just went with the flow… Which turned out great, btw ! But I just want to see how it can turns out if I’m a little better prepared this time. Also, I’m not planning on starting a new story, so yeah. Here’s what’s on my to-do list (in no particular order) :
- Check the events on the NaNoWriMo website (link) – if you’re looking for a community, there are lots of events hosted all over the world on the NaNoWriMo website. Personally, it’s not really my thing, I just prefer to talk about it on Twitter, but yeah, I still take a look just in case there’s something that catches my eye.
- Select the projects I will be working on – I tend to work on several projects at the same time so that I never get stuck. During the last NaNoWriMo, I had my main WIP with a completely new story, but I was also working on other WIPs, as side projects.
- Define a goal (word count) – during the NaNoWriMo there’s a recommended goal of 50,000 words, but for Camp NaNoWriMo there’s total freedom so I need to think about what I want to achieve during that month.
- Make a tracker in my bullet journal – for the ones who’ve read my blog posts last November, you know that I had done a tracker in my bullet journal back then. I really liked it, so I’m going to do it again.
- Re-read the projects I will be working on and take notes on where the story is going + if I already have scenes in mind to include – because having several WIPs means that sometimes you don’t exactly remember everything that you’ve written so far haha, so yes it’s important to read everything again, and it’s also a good opportunity to take notes and structure a bit what’s going to happen next.
So this is what I’m going to be doing during the last few days of March. Of course, for the ones who are planning to start writing a new story, trying to take as many notes as you can beforehand is always be handy. Some people like to structure the whole story beforehand, some prefer to have only basic info and see where the story leads them, so make sure you get ready in a way that fits your writing style.
Are you planning to join Camp NaNoWriMo in April ? What is on your to-do list ? (Or are you going to improvise ?)
I hope you all have a lovely day. See you next Wednesday !
Marie.
Marie K. Ricci - Author | Translator 