They say April is the cruelest month. Back to school, lectures, midterms after a week of vacationing and beach parties… seriously, we’re just waiting for it to be summer at this point. Vacay’s still three months away, but you can go to camp this spring with Camp NaNoWriMo!
An offshoot of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, which challenges participants to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November, Camp NaNoWriMo runs twice a year through the months of April and July. The basic goal — finish a writing project in a month — is the same, but Camp has some important distinctions. Unlike the official event, in which you start and finish a 50,000 word novel, Camp NaNoWriMo is open to all projects. You also get the classic summer camp experience in the form of “cabins” of up to 12 fellow Wrimos.
Writing a novel might not be the obvious post-spring break activity to kick off the new academic quarter, but as a previous Camp NaNoWriMo “winner” (58,897 words in July 2014!), I can testify that it can be a fun and rewarding experience. Here are the top reasons to pack your (imaginary) bags and go to camp this April:
The challenge (and rewards) of writing a novel.
Writing a novel in a month (in classic Nano style) can seem a little daunting. But it’s doable (42,221 people won in November 2013) and, c’mon, how awesome would it be to say you wrote an actual novel?!? When I clicked that “Validate Word Count” button on July 31, I can tell you, it didn’t matter how much my novel sucked (as a first draft written in a month inevitably will) or how sore my hands were, my word count wasn’t the only thing that got validated. Even if you don’t meet your goal, that’s totally fine — even if you only got 500 words, that’s 500 words of a novel you wouldn’t have had otherwise!
You can set your word goal.
50,000 words in 30 days can seem like an awful lot, and with spring quarter starting in April, it’s understandable that collegiettes might not want to commit to that much at the beginning of the new term. Fortunately, you don’t have to! Once you make your novel on the site, you can set (and adjust) your own word count. Prolific writers who spit in the face of 50,000 words can challenge themselves to go above and beyond and college students with papers to finish can strive for smaller goals of 30,000, 10,000, or even 1000 or 100 words — it’s all up to you. I didn’t succeed at my NaNoWriMo 2014 goal of 50,000 words, only writing about 25,000 words before deciding to focus more on my schoolwork — so for Camp in July, I’ll be setting my goal at a word count I know I can handle, 25,000 words.
Camp NaNoWriMo is open to all projects.
Are you more of a short story writer than a novelist? Working on a novel already and need that extra motivation to finish? Got a novel already finished that needs revision? Unlike in November, when participants start a new novel from scratch, April and July is a time for writing projects of all stripes. Since I only got halfway through my attempted November novel, I’ll be (hopefully) finishing it in April.
You get your own support group of fellow Wrimos.
National Novel Writing Month has always been a social event, with active forums, word sprints, and Virtual Write-Ins to encourage participants. During Camp, writers can opt to join “cabins” of up to 12 campers to chat with and cheer each other on. You can choose to be assigned to cabins randomly, assigned based on certain preferences (like genre, age group, or word count goal), or even create a private cabin with your friends! Joining a cabin is a great way to interact with fellow writers and get support throughout your journey.
It’s the beginning of the quarter.
Camp NaNoWriMo in July was admittedly a lot easier than NaNoWriMo November. No classes, no exams, no homework assignments. But if you’re someone who’s always wanted to do Nano but never did because you didn’t want it to mess up your schoolwork, April is a pretty good time to give it a shot. Unlike the official month of November, which is the second month of fall quarter, April is the very first month of spring quarter, which means the workload is generally lighter. I had a rough start in November because I fell behind on my word count goal the first few days since I had to study for exams. When you can start strong, you get more leeway to finish.