Camp NaNoWriMo is 26 days away officially today. It you're still asking yourself the question in the title of this post, you're not too late to decide. The fun thing about Camp NaNoWriMo is that its a much more customize-able goal (you don't have to commit to 50K if you don't want to), and you can even choose to revise your November project if you wish.
So that leaves the floor pretty much open then for whatever goal the writer chooses, doesn't it? It does, and that freedom is pretty attractive...if not also a tad dangerous, too. Here are the fears I had when I first considered my own customize-able goal for camp: what if I make a goal that is too unrealistic? What if it isn't actually challenging enough? This is why I liked 50k, it was a really clear goal...but I don't know...
Well thankfully for us all, our "camp counselors" thought of this, this year, and have added some interesting ways for us to measure our progress:
At camp NaNoWriMo, goals can now be tracked by words/lines/pages written or hours/minutes spent instead.
I've always been one who gets frustrated with word counts. Page and line counts aren't that much more attractive to me than the former, but amount of time spent is an interesting new development. If there's anything I'm more than comfortable admitting to myself, it's that I have not been committing enough time to my writing like I should be. It's been a lot harder to do so since I began my office job. That however, is no excuse to keep committing time to my writing, even if it's only an hour after a long day. My book depends on it.
Speaking of my book, if I keep starting new projects every time NaNoWriMo comes around, I'll never get this book done. So, not only will I be taking on a new kind of challenge for NaNoWriMo, I'll be revising too. I'm taking my project from November and I will be rewriting one of my character's "part 1" from beginning to end. Once that's done, I'll be spending (hopefully) the next session of camp on starting "part 2" of my first novel. Got to love Fantasy stories you divide into 3 parts.
My goal this year's probably not the most mapped out, but my goal is clear...enough. It's enough for me, especially since I want to keep that New Years resolution.
Enough about that though, this post is supposed to be about how you are supposed to choose. Well, let's refocus. NaNoWriMo is meant to motivate you to write. So, go into camp for the right reasons. Yes, my goal is to keep writing my novel, but a smaller goal is also to get me back into having a writing routine. That's my secondary goal. I made so much progress in November because I was working towards the goal of winning NaNoWriMo. I managed to do it, but I ran out of steam. So here I am coming back to not just keep the novel going, but to get myself back into the much needed practice of writing everyday.
That's what's key--at least I think. Seize the opportunity to better some bad habits. Take on an editing project this time, especially if you hate it. It's only the beginning of 2018, right? Let's use this session to better ourselves. If you haven't quite gotten on those promises for a better year, now's the time to get going on it.
Didn't get your NaNoWriMo win last year? Now's your chance to try again!
I need better writing habits, I can't let my feet-dragging at the end of the day change that. Camp's going to help me do that, and I suggest you take the opportunity for the same reasons. Camp NaNoWriMo is only 26 days away, so now's the time to get ready because come April, it's time to get back to work!
Need some extra motivation? Private message either blogs and I'll invite you to the Sokulski Review's cabin where I will welcome any and every who want to buddy up and get some writing done!