July Camp Week 1 Update

Week one, the week of excitement and adrenaline filled writing. Where cabins are formed (or broken) and characters are screaming for attention. Writers chose sides with Team Planner or Team Pantser. Tents were pitched and packs emptied as everyone settled in for their 31 days of creative achievement.

Week one went better than planned. Characters started to develop more defined personalities, the plot took shape and locations became real. So far there have only been a few “oh” moments as my characters decided to throw some subplots at me, but this will most likely turn out to be a blessing in disguise as it will most likely add complexity which has sorely been lacking so far. One of those moments also helped solidify some of the evil aspects of my villain that were not as apparent earlier.

I had some great moments of inspiration with days that blew my daily word goals out of the water. This really helped pad my word count, which came in handy as the weekend started. The weekend…was a total bust. It was 4th of July weekend on top of all the regular weekend things, like groceries and cleaning.

While wandering around looking for cabin mates, I stumbled upon many interesting and motivation threads on the NaNo forums. One of them was the Dares for July thread. Here you can find all sorts of creative ideas to try and work into your novel, ranging from a character always losing their cell phone to a talking book. It really is a great source of inspiration when you are stalled.

Looking ahead at Week Two, I really want to get back on track with my word count, as I am now behind a bit. This Camp session I really want to push myself and I have been doing that so far. Now I need to go a step further and when I get home from work, I still need to write. No matter how much I write, I just need to do it. It will help create a rhythm and a flow to keep me going. I also want to do some more world building as well as plot planning so I have something to fall back to on those lazy days.