Anyone else doing Camp NaNoWriMo/JulNoWriMo?

[ljwrites]

I was originally going to write my first draft in August as discussed with sarillia, but I had a change of plans when I learned my best friend whom I plan to vacation with can only get vacation time in the last week of August. Besides, July makes a lot of sense for me. It's when everyone else (including my boss) is on vacation, meaning things will be slow at work, and it will leave me August to recover and prepare for next semester. It's not ideal, but no month is going to be ideal.

Is anyone else doing this in July, or thinking of doing so? It would be great to have someone to commiserate/compete with. :)

Update: I've created a private comm, go_nano, for off-site chatter between participants. Ask by comment or PM, and ye shall be invited.

Comments

[graychalk]

I am! :) November is always one of the busiest months for me, so since the chances are high I won't be able to do the regular NaNo this year, I want to at least get Camp in.

(Edit: Btw, there's NaNo in August this year? Or did you mean just writing in general and not necessarily NaNo.)

[ljwrites]

Sweet! I've signed up to the JulNoWriMo site but I'll sign up for Camp NaNo too. Are you doing the default 50,000 word challenge?

I meant AugNoWriMo and JulNoWriMo rather than official NaNo. (Though--fun fact--the original NaNoWriMo was in July of 1999.) I think only NaNo and Camp NaNo, plus a few others like Script Frenzy, are affiliated with NaNoWriMo.

[graychalk]

Oh whoops! I hadn't realized it wasn't the same thing! I had heard people using this term before while referring to which Camp NaNo month they're doing, so it didn't even cross my mind that there's an actual challenge event by this name that's taking place during the same time. Sorry about that. :P

Since Camp allows a flexible word count, I'm still deciding how many words I want to go for - mainly due to the reason that I'm still choosing which story I'll be tackling. The two I'm considering are very different and my word count goal for one or the other would be different as well.

[ljwrites]

I thought of them as pretty much the same thing, too. I've also signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, and edited the title of the post to add a reference to Camp.

I know mine's going to be a novel and the goal for the month 50,000 words, but writing the synopsis is turning out to be surprisingly difficult. I'm never going to look at cover blurbs the same way again.

[graychalk]

Ah, the synopsis. Most of the time, I just ignore it for the time being. For me, I find that there's a direct correlation between how difficult/easy writing the synopsis is and how clear my story idea is to me, as well as how much of the story I've attempted to write. Until I understand very well exactly the type of story I'm telling, that synopsis is always going to feel off or incomplete to me. And sometimes what my book ends up being about is different from what I initially thought it would be about. Other times, it becomes something that is just a whole lot more. Because of that, I often give the synopsis very little importance in the beginning. It's usually vague to begin with, and then I grow it along the way.

Do you have the story all planned out already? Or will you be jumping in and pantsing, so to speak?

[ljwrites]

That's great advice. I'm really vague about the story at this point so every description I write comes out trite as hell ("she thought her whole life was secure until everything changed..."), so I've left the synopsis alone for now.

I'm going to devote the last week of June to outlining. I'm wary of pantsing precisely because I love to follow characters down rabbit holes. I know I'm not going to follow my outline the whole way and the outline itself will go through a number of changes, but at least the plan keeps me from going too far into too many dead ends. The last time I did a novel-length story I made a 20-page outline, lol. What about you? Do you plan before you start writing?

Also, are you going to be joining a cabin for Camp? Any thoughts on the virtues of cabining with friends, random (literally) strangers, or assignment based on criteria?

[graychalk]

Hehe, I'm very well-acquainted with the Trite Synopsis syndrome. I suspect it's a rather common affliction. I mean, all stories when broken down to the very basic idea is going to sound trite no matter what. It's the bits of background details, character goals, and circumstances surrounding the premise that make it more interesting. And those parts can always be inserted after you get it all figured out. :D

I'm usually more of a planner, especially with story ideas that I'm very partial to. Or at least I tend to brainstorm a whole lot before I begin writing, so I'm definitely no stranger to that 20-page outline you mentioned! I enjoy thinking about the stories, but unfortunately, there have also been some cases in the past where I ended up burning myself out before I even got to the writing stage. For this reason (among others), I'm actually considering on pantsing for Camp. When I mentioned that I was still deciding between two stories, the truth is it's more a decision between writing with an outline or pantsing. One of the stories has an in-depth outline (it's the old WIP thing I posted about to the comm yesterday), while the other I've purposely tried not to develop beyond the general premise. I'm obviously still trying to find the best way to approach my own writing process. :S

In terms of cabins, I'm probably not the best person to give an accurate opinion as it's my first time giving Camp a try as opposed to the regular NaNo. I posted around the forums and ended up finding myself being in a cabin full of people who have anxiety issues (whether writing or otherwise), heh. From what I can see so far in the cabin, we basically get a chat box similar to an IRC channel.

I reckon how well a cabin turns out depends on what you're looking for - general chat, writing help, genre talk, etc. If there's something specific you're looking for, you'd probably be better off finding people who are looking for similar things. In terms of going with random cabin mates, I've heard both good and bad things about it. Some people end up meeting really great writing buddies, others find their fellow mates falling off the wagon and going dead silent during the month.

I have no idea how the cabin I'm in right now is going to turn out, but if you'd like to join in, we still have room and I can get the cabin creator to send you an invite. Keep in mind it's a cabin with people who are also dealing with various forms of anxiety, mental and/or physical issues. The cabin was created because they wanted to be able to mention anxiety getting in the way of their writing day without others treating them as people who are just spouting excuses or looking for attention. Otherwise, we could always also set up something off-site of our own, especially if it turns out a few more of us are doing some form of NaNo as well. :)

And wow... sorry, I got a tad wordy up there!

[ljwrites]

Yup, it's the particularities that ground the universals of a story without falling into cliches. I think I'll get a better synopsis as I get those particularities settled in my mind.

Is your planned story the long one and the unplanned one short, or vice versa? I think for a NaNo-style project it might be easier to start from scratch without the ghost of work process past tugging at your heels, but then again the folks on the other thread had some good ideas about how to proceed.

I think I'll try for criteria-based cabin assignment since I want to trade tips on my genre (historical). Thank you so much for the offer, though. If my cabin bombs I might end up asking piteously if you still have room, lol.

Like anehan I'd love to have something off-site, too, as another source of support or as insurance in case my cabin doesn't work out. Maybe on this comm, or maybe a different comm or bbs?

[graychalk]

The planned story is definitely longer. That one is part epic and even if I do it for NaNo, it's not something I'd have a finished draft of by the end of it. As for the unplanned one, I'm having trouble gauging the length at this point. I don't really know where it's headed yet, so I feel like whatever number I come up with may as well be just a random guess. I think you may be right though - I'm getting the increasing feeling that working on the old WIP during a NaNo month might be asking for extra trouble.

Ah, I'm pretty sure I saw a couple of threads on the forum for people writing your genre, so I hope you find some good cabin mates! As for our off-site thing... hmmm, I don't know, might depend on what we're looking for. If it's just general daily or weekly check-in and such, anything more than a comm would be overkill. Then again, comms are flexible and we'd likely be able to do a lot with it. In terms of IRC or a chat room, that would be great but it'd also only work if all three of us are actually on at the same time (less of a problem if it turns out more are doing this). What do you think?

[ljwrites]

Yeah, the default NaNo-style challenge usually isn't editing-friendly, so starting something new might fit the format better. I think NaNo founder Chris Baty similarly discouraged continuing a WIP on NaNoWriMo. As for the word count on the new work, it's a crapshoot no matter what you do so if it looks like a novella 20,000-30,000 might be reasonable to shoot for, while if it looks novel-length the default 50,000 would suit well enough.

I found a cabin with fellow historical/fantasy writers! I see what you mean about it being basically an IRC chat, though. We're talking about setting up an off-site board, too. Meanwhile, for the folks on this comm I've created a private NaNo community with a generic enough title that we can hand it over to later NaNo participants. I've sent you an invite as co-admin.

[graychalk]

Oh yeah, no... editing is pure nightmare for NaNo. I don't know how others do it. I tried it once and it almost killed me. I had to jump ship midway through and work on a different novel. D: I'm probably going to set it at 25,000 for now. It's a number that I'd still see as a personal accomplishment. Besides, I'd rather aim lower and write more (as opposed to aiming too high and then having to resort to magicking words out of my butt).

Looks like you've found a good group then, yay! :D And thanks for creating a comm for us. I've joined - see you there!

[anehan]

Like graychalk, I'm also doing Camp NaNo this July. I'm in the same cabin as her. :) I have a very modest word count goal, though.

I'm definitely in if we decide to create something off the Camp site!

[ljwrites]

Any ideas/preference for a format or host for the off-Camp board, such as this comm or a different comm, a bbs service and so on?

[ljwrites]

I've sent you an invite to a private comm if you would like to join in. :)

[anehan]

Thank you! I have joined.

[alexseanchai]

I'm doing Camp NaNo in July. 50K goal, even though I am working full-time and very nearly studying full-time, because I want this damn novel out of my head.

[ljwrites]

Ouch, that's like three full loads you've got on your back. I get what you're saying about needing to get it out of your head, though, if only to get on with the rest of your life. I am reminded of this Churchill quote.

I've sent you an invite to a private comm for chatter between Camp participants, feel free to join if you'd like a separate place to vent. :)

[alexseanchai]

:)