Writing For Camp NaNo 2019

Writing is something that I’ve always done. I remember loving the “young writers” program in my elementary school. This was a program that allowed students to write their own books and they school would then go and put them into a hardbound book cover. I participated in this program every year. I loved creating my own stories and drawing pictures to go along with them. And even to this day I have them all so I can look back and see where I started.

Since the young writer's program, I wrote all the time, either it was at school in my free time or at home. I loved writing and creating characters. I even went to college and major in creative writing to enhance my skills. Now, I am a freelance writer making a living doing something that I always dreamed about. But even though I am making a living by writing I still wanted more, I wanted to write creative fiction and not just articles on websites.

What Is Camp NaNo?

NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month, is a monthly project that encourages anyone and everyone to write their novel along with thousands of others. NaNoWriMo's whole goal is to have participants write 50,000 words in a month so people know what it takes to write at a fast speed and to understand what needs to be done to make a living as an author.

And that is what I want, I want to be able to make a living as an author and not just a writer.

Camp NaNo is a side project that allows writers to participate with other writers and set their own goals for their writing project during the “camp” months. Camp NaNo happens in April and July to keep people being creative throughout the year. And this time I know that something made me want to participate.

Why Did I Want To Participate?

Even with me being happy and doing what I love for a living, I wanted something more. I want to be able to see my stories in novel form, I want to be able to see a book, I wrote, in bookstores and libraries. To finally get what I’ve been thinking down on paper and to allow others to see the world and characters I’ve been dreaming about.

I needed a push to get me started on my creative fiction pieces and the July Camp Nano was perfect. I was able to set my own goal, talk to other writers and finally sit down and put all of my thoughts down on paper. So I found a cabin where I can talk to like-minded writers and I set my goal to write down 25,000 words in my novel throughout the month.

How Did I Do?

With Camp NaNo still going on until the end of the day today July 31st, 2019 I can say that my goal and participating in Camp NaNo was a struggle. I started off the month strong. I was able to hit the word count I need every day and more. The story I started writing was able to flow from my brain and fingers to the computer no problem. But then in my personal life, my family ended up losing one of our beloved dogs, making it difficult to stay focused on my creative piece, but instead, I needed to focus on my grieving of a loved one.

After taking the necessary time off from writing and having multiple days of not adding words, I was able to start writing again. Though I did end up skipping some scene I was getting back into the flow of writing. The senses started to come together with one by one and before I knew it, I was caught up on my word goal. On July 30th, I reached my goal of 25,000 words. Getting to 25k was an amazing feeling. It was the most I have ever written for any story and to do it in such a short time was incredible.

I know I have a long way to go until I am completely down with my first draft of this novel, but I am excited to see how fast I can get the rest of the words written down. And as for if I am going to participate in NaNoWriMo in November, I am not sure, but once I figure it out I will keep you updated.

In the comments down below let me know if you have ever participated in a NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNo!