Camp NaNoWriMo

I (Citali) mentioned this earlier in my introduction, but while Willow and I both love to write as well as read, I'm actually (without you, sorry, Willow) participating in a writing challenge this month (July)! 

This challenge is known as Camp NaNoWriMo: NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. At Camp, participants sign up, challenging themselves to write a novel in a month. The "novel" is defined by word count: at Camp, participants can set their word goals to anywhere from 10,000 to 1,000,000 words in a month. 

The organization NaNoWriMo hosts three writing events per year: November is the "actual" NaNoWriMo, where the word goals are 50,000 words in a month for everyone. In April and July is Camp, where word goals are set by the "campers" themselves, projects don't have to be novels (poetry, short stories, or nonfiction are all perfectly fine!), and campers get to work as a community in "cabins" where the campers can see each other's current word count progress as well as chat with each other. 

As NaNoWriMo itself says, 

"Throughout the year, National Novel Writing Month welcomes nearly 500,000 writers to start creative projects. They value:

• Diversity. They support writers of all ages and backgrounds, from over 200 countries around the world. 
• Empowerment. Their projects help people learn what they can accomplish when they're determined. 
• Community. They encourage participants to form and sustain creative communities, both on-and off-line."

What's not to love? If you didn't know, several "actually" published books, including one of my favorite series, The Lunar Chronicles (the books Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress), were written during NaNoWriMo, which makes it even more special for me: walking in the footsteps of amazing authors! I got started with NaNo in April at the first Camp session of the year with a (wimpy) word goal of 10,000. I'm doing it again with a "much higher" (ha!) goal of 10,500 words. This time, I'm more than 3,000 words in! (That's a lot for me. Come on, give me some slack here.) I'm terrible at actually starting any projects, or finishing them, as Willow can tell you. NaNo has really helped with that... at least for now. I'd encourage any word lovers to join this! For Camp in April or July, go to campnanowrimo.org. In November, students or kids up to age 18 can join the Young Writers' Project at ywp.nanowrimo.org, or anyone over 13 can use the "actual" NaNo website by going to nanowrimo.org. (yes, I know, extremely subtle plug. Oh well.) 

Happy writing, everyone! 

~Citali