Today is the first day of August, and I am excited to start writing as part of Camp NaNoWriMo. I have participated in a number of these events since I first discovered it in 2001, and I always enjoy the experience, even if I don’t reach my goal.
What I love about these events is the community support. Having a goal and a schedule for writing is a good motivation to stay on track, but there is something exciting about doing it with a whole group of people. I love updating my word count every day and watching my stats rise with everyone else. I love going to the forums and getting caught up in discussions about everything from writing music to week three slumps. I love that I can ask for advice and have so many responses in a matter of hours.
Just seeing the logo on the participants’ badges gets me excited. I try and plan out my writing schedule so that I can work on something during this time, even if it’s just a fun project or a continuation of a previous work. And sometimes the fun project turns out to be better than I expected.
Small Town Witch was mostly written last November. Now, after months of polishing and preparing for publication, I’m ready to work on something new. I want to keep the momentum going and keep having fun with these characters that I’ve come to love. So I am starting on the first draft of book two today!
Right now, I know that the story will pick up right where the first one left off and it will feature a new viewpoint character: Kai. This let’s me stay close to Rosa but also starts to broaden the focus to show more of the things going on in her little town. It’s not just about Rosa and her mom anymore. There’s more at stake and things run deeper than she and her friends suspected before.
Writing this in August is a little crazy because the school year is going to start before the month is over (when did summer start ending so early?), and that means work is going to pick up soon. If I want to get to 50k, or better, finish an entire first draft (the first draft of STW ended at 80k), then I am probably going to have to do the majority of my writing in the first two weeks. But if I don’t make it, I know I will still be in good company: there are plenty of groups dedicated to catching up after the event is over!
I don’t know if I will get to go camping for real this summer. Last year was fun because I went out to Calaveras County and camped in Big Trees. I wrote on my laptop in the campground. Obviously I found a lot of inspiration there, because I decided to write a book in that setting just a few months later!
But even if I can’t camp this year, I will try to bring a little camp spirit into my month by using some old camping photos and making time to write outside. I may go to the park or even make it out to the woods. Maybe I will also enlist some help from my teen beta readers to make a blanket tent inside.
To all my fellow campers, good luck with your writing endeavors this month! I will see you around the campfire!