Going Camping
Welcome to the Camp NaNoWriMo Blog
This entry will be updated every Sunday, from April 1 - April 30.
This is not an April Fool's joke.
In fact, I'd like to propose we take a year off to let 2021 play out sans any more antics.
I won't be needing a tent or sleeping bag, though I may spontaneously break into a campfire song or two without warning.
I will be writing 1,667 words per day for 30 straight days.
Unlike its parent event in November, Camp NaNoWriMo allows you to make your own goal for whatever project you choose to work on for the month.
I chose to stick with the typical 50,000 words in 30 days because I know I can meet that goal, and I don't want to give myself any reason not to write every day.
What I'm Writing:
"My Soul to Keep" follows Ethan Beckett and his misadventures in the world of Necromancy and the Underworld. Like most of my stories, this one will break all the rules. There are multiple "Grim" Reapers, some of whom have a sense of humor, and Necromancy is not an evil ritual used for nefarious reasons by unscrupulous people (though there will be some of that too).
Because I am not a planner, I have attempted to write MSTK once or twice without success. I am hoping I have found the right angle of the story this time around.
This space will be a fun look at my writing process. Follow my socials for word count updates and a running commentary on music choices for each day.
WEEK ONE
DAY 1 - Thursday, April 1
Waded through the online world on this April Fool's Day without so much as believing even the truest of news. Just Kidding. I might have fallen for one or two headlines before remembering what day it was.
The first few days are always cheat ones for me. I tend to write stories all year long then add to them frantically during these NaNoWriMo events. So, for this story I have partial chapters written which will be useful as I continue to work out the details. Today's word count goal was met using an assignment I wrote in one of my classes for my Master's degree which was a wholly new chapter in Ethan Beckett's tale which I had not told yet.
Instead of a quick copy/paste I re-typed every word, which helped me change some of the sentences around and make some of the things clearer.
I had very little intention of writing this story in first-person but the story had other plans so that's what I gave it.
DAY 2 - Friday, April 2
Still writing in first-person. Had to find about 500 new words to add to the previously written ones.
Future me checking in here. It's Sunday, Day 4. I haven't written any words yet today and waking up with a migraine means the struggle will be real.
The truth of it all is, I am finding it hard to both come up with words to write in my story AND say something mildly interesting here.
All the cliches about being a writer are true. Self-doubt and gripping fear plague me daily. Two weeks ago I loved the idea of this story and I had dozens of plans for where it was going and clever dialogue my characters were going to say. I made notes, by hand so I would remember, and then I started writing and none of them make sense anymore.
Anyway, that's the rant.
Day 3 words were 98% already written by past me, in third-person, which I left intact. I am on track to meet the word goals and have a few more already completed daily 'wins' if I am unable to come up with new words today. Still on the fence about what tense this story wants to be told in. I seem to do better in first-person but third is so fun.
Happy Easter to those who celebrate. Thanks for joining my Ted talk. See you next week!
WEEK TWO
Day 4 - Monday, April 4
The original idea for My Soul to Keep centered around Ethan Beckett waking up in a small town with no memory of how he got there. What he learns about the town and how he chooses to step up and help them becomes the main plot of the story with his search for his parents being secondary.
Several days worth of NaNo words were written for that storyline, about two years ago. And by some miracle they also work for the new and improved story I am writing today where Ethan still finds himself in the small town with big secrets, but his search for his parents becomes his primary goal.
That all being said, today's words were 99% copied and pasted into the new Scrivener document intact.
Day 5 - Tuesday, April 5
What I said yesterday also applies here with the exception of having to write 880 new words to go with the 800 I wrote back in 2018.
Days 6 - 11
Doing the daily entry thing may not work out here but we'll see how it goes now that I am going to be relying one- hundred percent on writing all-new words from here on in. This week has been a mix of adding new and editing old. Next week is all about continuing the story and staying on track. I was able to get my 2nd vaccine jab today (Sunday) so that might also influence how much I write in all the places I've asked my brain to come up with cute funny compelling words in.
Thank you for reading any and all things I put out there. Happy Sunday!
WEEK THREE
April 12 - 14
Knowing when you don't have the words and knowing when you've lost your grip on a story you thought was solid and taking a step back is sometimes better than sitting in front of a computer screen slowly going mad while your brain tells you what a failure you are as a writer. In these weird times...I have decided to choose my mental health over my word counts. I have not given up on this story, I think it's going to be a fun one to explore, at my own pace, when my body isn't trying to build Covid antibodies and when my brain is ready to tell it.
In the meantime, and in case you haven't explored the site further, there are books to read and short snippets to explore all over the place. Follow my socials for random memes and occasional updates and check back here for more nonsense.
Till we meet again...
