Camp NaNo Update: 70K

As you may have seen from my discussion topic yesterday, I’m participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month. Camp is a little different from traditional NaNo in November. Camp allows writers to set their own goals. It even opens up the floor for writers to do some editing instead of drafting because there is more to the writing process than just the first draft. 😉

However, I am in the drafting phase of a brand new novel, and I want to have the first draft done by the end of April. In other words….

My goal for April’s Camp NaNoWriMo is 70,000 words!

Now, those of you who don’t know me and my writing very well (and maybe some of you who do), are probably going: “YOU’RE INSANE!”

Why, yes. Yes, I am. It’s nice to meet you. 😉

But really, though, I know I am more than capable of reaching this goal in a month (as I completed my first NaNo 50k in 5 days and I’ve written 80K in 12 days.) This should be nothing, unless… you know… I hit a wall. -.-

And that’s exactly what I did.

I got started on April 1st like most people and was ready to take a hefty chunk out of my 70K. Well, I got my first two chapters down, but… they didn’t really go according to plan. In fact, my characters developed more intense (and realistic) personalities than I was planning for. Not only was it going to throw off my character interactions, but it might throw off my plot and pacing!

It was a disaster!

I spent the better part of two days slamming my head into a wall (not literally, though some days I wish that helped) to figure out where I went wrong. How could I revise this? I knew I couldn’t simply re-write the sections and alter character personalities because they were correct. I hadn’t realized it during my plotting phase, but those conflicting personalities were exemplary of their societies and their backstories.

Thankfully, I did not join Camp alone. I have a faithful writing friend who was open to talking to me about the sudden changes and allowed me to bounce ideas off of. In the end (aka many phone calls later), I found a way to keep the intense, realistic personalities of my characters that I hadn’t planned for and still keep the plot I designed. I was just going to have to approach their interactions from a different angle.

So far, so good.

Once I figured out how the pacing would alter, I accepted this change. I got back into writing. I also created a nice Pinterest board, which allowed me to finally start envisioning my world the way it was supposed be instead of the wrong genre it placed itself in. (Stupid brains, am I right?) And because of my ability to keep going and to push through the wall…

I broke 15K just last night! 😀 

Now, that’s a lot, but I still have a long ways to go before the month is over and I’m sure I’ll have quite a few more bumps and bruises and maybe even another wall or two, but I know I can conquer it. I know I can finish this novel just as I’ve finished others before it. 

That’s all my updates for the week.
How is your writing going?

Advertisement