You may have heard of National Novel Writing Month, the marathon writing challenge that happens every November. It encourages writers to write 50,000 words in one month. You can find my resource of advice and information about the event here. But have you ever heard of Camp NaNoWriMo?
The less intensive and more flexible program occurs every April and July. The website describes Camp as an idyllic writers retreat, smack-dab in the middle of your crazy life. While NaNoWriMo is designed exclusively for writing new novels with a firm 50,000 word goal, Camp allows writers to work on new novels, short stories, poetry collections, revisions, anything they want.
The best thing about Camp NaNoWriMo is the flexibility. You can have a word goal as little as 30 words or as many as 1,000,000, although I can't imagine having the time or stamina to write that much! If you're going to be exhausted and busy in April, but want to keep writing, you can sign up to only write 10,000 words for the month. The community and your cabin will keep you on target.
Cabins are also a unique aspect of Camp NaNoWriMo. While the November challenge has regional groups that have in-person write-ins and meetings, Cabins are more intimate virtual communities that offer support and goal-setting. For example, I've set up a cabin for the subscribers to SarahFoil.com, where we'll have weekly prompts, daily advice and quotes, as well as check-ins for your goals. If you'd like to join, just reach out to me via my contact page with your NaNo username and I'll invite you to join!
The point of Camp NaNo, in addition to helping you work on your creative passions, is to help fund the large National Novel Writing Month project in November. Their goal this year is to raise $70,000 that will fund the programming and financial aid for education and writing communities around the country. Plus, you get some nice perks for your donation, including gifts.
Interested? Make sure to sign up before April 1st. If you want to join a cabin, you can contact me to join my private cabin or sign up to be assigned to a public cabin!