Not quite as planned

Well, I didn’t meet my word goal for Camp NaNoWriMo in April, but I figure having more than 18,000 words is worth it. Plus compared to previous NaNoWriMo experiences, this one came closest to that first epic year, which is in itself a major accomplishment. I don’t know where to pinpoint it, but somewhere over the course of my adventures in NaNoWrimos, JulNoWriMos, NaNoEdMos and so on I lost the thrill, drive and joy of participating in such events.

This year I didn’t share with anyone that I was participating in April’s Camp — at least not until the month was halfway through. It was just me and my writing, a place I’ve been trying to get back to since about 2010-11. This approached worked, I was able to enjoy the experience removed from feelings of failure or being left out (it’s amazing what avoiding social media can do for a person disposition!). And despite not completing my 35,000 word goal, I feel accomplished.

My SciFi novel now has a working title, “Heritage Lost,” and is at the halfway point (10 chapters of 20 chapters done). Additionally, along the journey, I made several realizations that will no doubt make revision work interesting, but in the long run will make for a better novel. The experience also sparked a return to writing normalcy that I haven’t had since college and high school, where I’m practically writing everyday again… well, besides work.

Now that the month is complete, I will begin posting regularly again. I have some writing articled planned, in addition to an app review. Also, I will be working on building my creative writing portfolio and resume throughout May and June by completing several short stories for submission. Of course, I still have a lot of work on the SciFi novel to complete, so that will continue to be a work in progress. I also need to get back on top of submissions of “Passage,” which I’m also toying with the idea of publishing on Kindle. Has anyone had any experiences with going that route? If yes, please message me or comment in the comment section.

So how was your Camp NaNoWriMo experience this past month? Even if you didn’t win, I’m hoping you learned something of value about your novel and yourself through the experience, in addition to cranking out some words that you might not have gotten otherwise. As for July, is anyone taking that Camp on? I still haven’t decided on that matter.