Writing Skillet #5 - Finding Your Own Success in Camp Nano

It’s almost the second-most wonderful time of the year: Camp Nanowrimo!

If you’re reading this, you probably know what Nanowrimo is, but I’ll give you a quick blurb on it. Nanowrimo stands for “National Novel Writing Month,” and during that month, writers around the globe challenge themselves to write 50,000 words of a brand new project in the thirty days of November. Camp Nanowrimo happens in April, and while “rules” are very loose in Nano since you’re really only competing against yourself, Camp Nano is overall less strict. You can set your own wordcount goal, edit instead of write, or work on an existing project without being labeled a “Nano Rebel.”

I will be participating, and I actually am going to be starting a new project. Eep! “Door Evergreen” is a solar farm fantasy that takes place in the same world as “Queen of the Exiles,” the novel I’m querying. I want to make both stand-alones, though.

I’ve done Nanowrimo several times and Camp Nano several times, and I have a few ways I try to achieve my own success and continue looking forward to these events every year.

But I can’t forget breakfast in my excitement. I did not use the “skillet” in Writing Skillet today – all I have is some Greek yogurt with dehydrated strawberries and homemade granola. I’ll put my granola recipe below – it’s delicious! I’m somewhat dissatisfied with this breakfast though, because I made hardboiled eggs last night and today discovered they are too soft. I’ve made hardboiled eggs a million times, so this is sad. Also, I was going to make bread yesterday, but my sourdough starter and I had a falling out. She’s sulking right now and I’m trying to play it cool while frantically googling ways I may have wronged her and trying to find a solution.

For now, I’ll just sit here and eat my yogurt and talk about Camp Nano. Here a couple personal rules I enforce on myself.

1. Give people in your life first priority. I am less concerned about meeting my wordcount, because I know I can write 50,000 (or 30,000) words in a month. I’ve done it, and I know I could do it again. However, my tendency is to hole up by myself and lose contact with the people I love for an entire month while I hammer out these words. I want to write, but I don’t want to let writing turn me into an ogre. So, before the month begins I give myself the stipulation that if someone asks to talk, or go on a walk, or what-have-you, I do it. No excuses, no overthinking, I just do it. And you know what? I’ve never regretted any one of these social times, even if I grumble for an hour leading up to them. And I still always have time to write – it usually just means that time is more focused and a little more frantic, which is what Camp Nano is all about anyway.

Now, your goals may be different. You might use your friends and family as a delightful excuse while avoiding your Word document, and if so, you might want to practice saying “no” more often during Camp Nano. It’s all about knowing yourself and what’s best for you and the people who love you. Avoid ogreing for their sake, and don’t you dare use them to get out of writing, either!

2. Try three new things in your writing. The whole point of Camp Nano is word quantity, not quality, which evaporates the pressure from that blank page and helps my fingers move more freely across the keyboard. It’s a great opportunity to tackle story elements I know I need to practice more. My three new things are…

- Romance. I really want to try and write a romance people can ship. I’m just terrible at writing romance, and it usually ends up as a not-romance, or a “just friends” situation, or just...nothing….blah. It’s time to stop being afraid of writing romance and just do it.

- Personal stakes. Every story should have personal stakes, but most fantasy novels circle around bigger stakes like saving a race, a world, or a universe. I want to try filing those down to be way more personal. In my case, my main character Noa will struggle with trying to be loyal to her family while she feels like her family is abandoning her as they grow up and move on with life.

- Farm setting. I love gardening, agriculture, pretty much anything food-related, and will be starting my part-time job as a farmhand again right after Camp Nano. I’ve always wanted to translate my passion for farming into a fantasy novel, and I’m so excited to finally have a plot to accompany this setting!

3. Make a Loose Outline. I’m a plotter by nature, but when I wrote Queen of the Exiles I was still feeling out my process, as it was the first novel I’d written since high school. I still have a lot to refine in my process, but I discovered the 27 chapter outline during my fifth draft of Queen of the Exiles, and this time I’m going to implement that for my zero draft of Door Evergreen! I love plotting. I have the first act finished, which is always the easiest, and slowly am filling in the rest of the outline. I was going to try four-act structure, but I figured I should use this format again so I really get a better grasp on it before challenging myself to an entirely different outlining method. This is something that really helps me, however, think about what you want to do – just like I said above, it’s the perfect opportunity to try something you don’t usually do. If you’re a pantser, maybe try an outline this time. If you’re a plotter, maybe it would be refreshing to pants.

I can’t wait to hear about all of your projects, and will be keeping an eye out through my Twitter, so feel free to post updates! Now, off to Camp you go!

Granola:

Mix 2 c. of oats with a dash of maple syrup, some shredded coconut, chopped almonds, anything you want, and a splash of almond milk to make it stick together. Spread on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.