It’s March, and that means two things. First, it’s spring—at least in the Northern Hemisphere. And second: we are only weeks away from another round of Camp NaNoWriMo.
While spring is already nice and good, this post is all about Camp NaNoWriMo. (We’ll talk about how spring can influence your novel writing in a future blog post.)
Similar to its bigger brother, the official National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which takes place each November, Camp NaNoWriMo is a must for hundreds of thousands of writers each time.
So what is Camp NaNoWriMo all about?
Writing. Mostly. But first of all, Camp NaNoWriMo happens twice a year: first in April and then again in July. Both NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo are basically challenges—challenges that everyone can win. In fact, if you reach your goal, you win the challenge. As easy as that! (Not saying that getting 50,000 words written in a single month is easy.)
Luckily, that 50,000-word goal is only required for NaNoWriMo, whereas Camp is more relaxed—you can set your own goals. So why not use that for smaller projects or to get your feet wet before taking on the mother of all writing challenges in November?
So what can I win then?
Fame. Plus a nice certificate. And eventually, discount coupons—mostly for writing apps. Doesn’t sound worth the hard work? Well, wait until you score your first win. The feeling when you drop your pen (well, your keyboard) after reaching 50,000 words or finishing the month with even more is just incredible and rewarding.
And if that isn’t enough, just imagine telling your family and friends that you basically wrote a whole novel in 30 days or less. Sure, it will need a few rounds of editing, but a) every novel does, and b) we won’t tell anyone. 😊
I could never imagine writing so many words in a month
Yeah, so there’s a not-so-secret secret to that. It’s called motivation. And believe us, taking part in either NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo will keep you motivated—at least most of the time. Sure, life happens. Unforeseen challenges may strike. But it can be done, and the organization helps a lot with that.
First, there are writing groups if you’re into that—both online and local, depending on where you live. Connecting with other writers who share the same goal—whether they write in the same genre as you or the complete opposite—can be very helpful for pushing through and gathering fresh inspiration and motivation.
Second, you’ll earn badges for various milestones. Let us tell you—if you’re on the verge of reaching the next milestone, you’ll most certainly feel an extra boost of motivation, no matter what time it is! Just to be clear, these badges are virtual and only appear on your NaNoWriMo account, but for most people, it works.
And third, they have a shop where you can order merchandise. Doesn’t sound fancy enough? Well, think of it like this: you ordered a winner T-shirt or hoodie, and you want to wear it proudly, right?
Is it free to participate?
Yes. Absolutely. You just need to create an account. Even better, you don’t need to post your progress to validate what you achieved. Just enter the number of words you wrote into your account to see your badges pop up.
At the end of the challenge—after 30 days or whenever you finish your goal—you can even use an external lorem ipsum generator to match the number of words you wrote and paste that for validation. Yes, that’s allowed!
“But where’s the sense in that?” you ask. Well, first of all, you might not want to upload your latest draft to the web. And second: you’re taking part in this challenge for yourself. So most likely, you won’t cheat yourself, right? RIGHT?
Sounds great, but how do I get started?
All you need to get started is a free account, which you can create at Nanowrimo.org, some kind of writing tool (you can even write with pen and paper, but that will make it difficult to track your word count), and an idea for what you’d like to write.
That’s really the bare minimum you need to get started and join the fun.
Want to plan your next novel ahead of time? We’ll cover how Untold Novel can help give you a head start for Camp NaNoWriMo in one of our upcoming blog posts.