4 Writing Secrets to Win Camp Nanowrimo This April

We’re already 5 days into the month and I still can’t believe it’s already April! Time seems to be passing by faster and faster these days, and while on the one hand it’s a little sad, it also makes the upcoming trips and adventures feel even closer. So it’s all about how you look at it, I guess. ;)

One thing I love about April is that it means the return of Nanowrimo, in CampNanowrimo form. For those of you who don’t know, Nanowrimo is a one-month novel writing challenge. But unlike the original November event, Camp Nano lets users set their own word count goals instead of the usual 50,000.

I wasn’t planning on participating this month, but as usual the excitement of Nano prep got to me. I decided to set my goal at a more reasonable 20K this time and so far it’s actually going pretty well. I think I’ve learned a lot about conquering Nanowrimo (and writing in general) over the past couple of years, and that experience is helping me.

There are a few of the things I’m sticking to this month to make sure I (finally) win Camp Nanowrimo.

Flexible Daily Goals

The Camp Nanowrimo site is super helpful in telling you how many words you have to write per day to reach your goal. But the reality is that life happens. I’ve had weeks during Nano that were so free and easy to write in. And I’ve had weeks when I suddenly got super busy and experienced serious writer’s block. What that’s taught me to do is to change my word count goal on the days that I’m writing well. If I’m having a good writing session, I’m not going to stop at my 700 words a day, but keep going for as long as possible. Going above and beyond on the good days will help you build some cushion for the days when life gets in the way.

Stretching a Reasonable Goal

I’m currently about 35,000 words into my novel, so when I decided to participate in Camp I only wanted to set my goal at 15,000. But honestly, 15,000 felt too easy. I knew deep down that I was only setting that goal because I knew I could reach it. So I decided to push myself to 20,000. Because of where I am in my novel, this is the perfect goal for me. It’s going to push me to keep writing daily – without pressuring me to take my plot somewhere that doesn’t make sense (which tends to happen during Nanowrimo, when all I’m thinking about is hitting those 50,000 words). If you have yet to choose a goal for the month, I’d suggest considering a number that you really think you’d be able to accomplish, and then stretching that just a bit more.

Committing to my Ideal Writing Time

I am a self-proclaimed night owl, which means that no matter how much I try, my best writing is generally not done in the morning. I’ve also noticed that I tend to be much more focused and creative in my story after I’ve exercised, gone for a walk, or driven somewhere (research actually shows that getting outside clears your head and makes you more creative!). So lately, I’ve been writing as soon as I get home later in the day. And so far it’s worked so well! Find out your ideal writing time, and then try to to stick to it as much as you can so you’ll be at your best.

Reverse Outlining

I am a pantser and not a plotter which means that though I have a general idea of where my story’s going, for the most part I like to see where each page takes me. But the problem with not having a detailed outline is things start to get a little confusing after a few chapters. So this month, I decided to outline my story in reverse, which means I’m writing down exactly what happens in each chapter so I have a way to remember what scenes I’ve already included, and what I still need to. I’m sure this is also going to be super helpful when the month is over and I face the ominous task of editing my manuscript (the realfun part).

Do you have any Camp Nanowrimo secrets?

#writing