Hello all!

Welcome back to the madhouse.

You may or may not be aware that this is my first post since JULY CAMP NANOWRIMO began, but I wanted to show y’all how I have set up and prepped the last few days of JUNE. Here’s a recap of where I am on the project as of the last post:

Hope*writers had a 14 day challenge I took up at the end of JUNE. There were 14 days left in the month, and I challenged myself to work on my second novel LUKE for 15 minutes each of those 14 days.

I succeeded.

LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN: I totally won JUNE

Now a little about how I prepped for CAMP.

You may remember that CAMP NANOWRIMO is a little different in that you can set your own word count goal. I typically use the CAMPs (in APRIL and JULY) to rework novels I have started in NOVEMBER. This project (LUKE) is an exception to that rule. I started it as a new project last JULY and am trying to publish it out of the order in which it was written.

Why?

Because it’s a completed story: I know the beginning middle and end. I know all the major events, though some of the details are bound to change. That’s not true for all my fiction, plus LUKE is definitely more “written” than some of my other ideas.

Since I know all the major elements of the story and have gotten stuck typing them in order, I’VE COMMITTED TO WRITING THE THING BACKWARDS:

WHY?!?

Because it’s good for me. I’ve never done anything like it before, but as several of my students can tell you, I often tell them to write the parts they know.

Often that includes the ending.

Since I know the ending, I’m going to write it. Since I know the scene before that, I’m going to write that too, and the scene before that, and so on.

When we get to where I began before, I’ll deal with it.

I think my characters will look different this way (from back to front) and it will be easier to write some of them.

Some of them are just going to be hard to write no matter what.

Moving on: CAMP NANOWRIMO Prep:

I started putting together my notebook. I blessed myself the day I found these things and remembered the hard work I have already put in:

Lots of notes on characters. What they do and who they are. I’m really excited I found this.

This is what I spent the 30th of JUNE doing:

I decided to make a KANBAN board to help me with this month. I’ve done a very simple one here with only three categories.
TO WRITE: The scenes I haven’t done yet. For the purpose of CAMP this year, I’ve decided to group all the scenes together and either rewrite or heavily edit those that I have already written.

IN PROGRESS: These are the scenes that I am currently working on and will be writing this month. When I decide to work on a scene, as soon as I have any words on it, I will move it to the IN PROGRESS board.

DONE: I’ll take each scene and move it down accordingly. I’m really excited to be able to see my progress throughout the month and to be able to share it with y’all.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE CAMP UPDATES THIS MONTH AND HAPPY JULY TO ALL!

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad on Pexels.com

Sorry about the late post.

Well that didn’t go at all as planned.

Final count was just over 30k words, which would have been a more reasonable goal for the month, but oh well. For Camp, you’re even allowed to change your goal, but I feel it’s cheating to change it on the last day.

So I lost…

…but I was only competing with myself.

I had a lot going on in April.

I tried really hard, and I got a lot of words in spite of not reaching my goal.

I’m told I’m being gracious to myself. I don’t feel that way, but I hope it’s true.

Also it’s May Day and we’re supposed to be flying streamers and dancing around maypoles. I doubt many people feel like doing that this year, but it’s a good reminder that life moves on with or without us.

I’m celebrating anyway. If nothing else that I’m done with Camp 🙂

I have a couple of thoughts, but I’m not sure what my May goal should be for the blog. Any ideas?

xxxlinsey

I don’t know how many of you needed to see this again, but I certainly did.

It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in days.

So my first CAMP NANO update is officially:  ONE O’CLOCK AND ALL’S WELL!

Things have been going pretty well, considering. I’ve had some ups and downs this week already…

I thought it had been a long week at 7am on Monday…

but I know everyone is going through their own versions of adjustment to this new world in which we now live.

I’m currently at 15,008 words and going strong. I’ve taken more time off than I anticipated this early in the process, but I also got a good strong start. I think sheltering is helping my writing more than hurting, which I know from Twitter means I’m one of the lucky ones.

I wanted to inject a little levity into our stay-at-home situation. I also wanted to remind everyone that Anxiety and Anticipation are the same emotion.

We’re all dealing with both right now through the virus crisis, but let’s not forget excitement is part of anticipation too. Whether you’re writing a novel or cleaning out your house, your reactions to all this are valid. It’s ok to be having some fun.

Try to look for the silver linings as much as possible.

I’ve made a lot of new friends online since everyone is on social media so much now. I also had to put myself out there to meet them. Don’t forget this can be a great opportunity for connection albeit different from what we’re used to.

Remember we have so many different ways of communicating in this day and age and we can take advantage of them. Facetime your parents. Send that text or email. Check on a coworker or a friend you haven’t heard from in a while. Just because we have to be socially distant doesn’t mean we have to be disconnected.

CAMP NANO moves into WEEK 2 and I’m ready with bells on. It may not go as I expect, but it will be fine. We all have to remember:

If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you. The world will be yours and everything in it…

Rudyard Kipling

Those are my thoughts for the end of week one. Hope you are all well and safe.

xxxlinsey