Monday 31 July 2017

Camp NaNoWriMo // the final day

1 July 2017, 12:00 AM. I was sitting on a stack of cushions in front of the fireplace in our lounge room.

31 July 2017, (ALMOST) 12:00 AM. I am, once more, sitting in the exact same place and thinking philosophical thoughts.

You know actually I'm not thinking philosophical thoughts, I'm bouncing on cushions. But anyways.



July was a big month. I had my cousin staying over for the first week, I had my weekends booked with odds and ends, I had this and that and everything else on.

Plus Camp NaNo.

And yet right now after all the month is past (*glances at clock* technically it's still another little while yet, I guess. :P) I feel a sense of achievement. I feel like I lived this month. I feel like I took time to be with my younger siblings (and my older ones. :P I actually went to bed at a sane time once or twice so we could hang out before going to sleep). I feel like I did just the perfect thing that I needed to refocus my gaze and remind myself of why I spend hours at the computer everyday. Why I pour my heart and energy into words on a page.

It was a good month.


I actually have a story for you today (ironic, I know). At the end of May, I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to do for July Camp. I was going to write Steam Flight. I was going to have a goal of 70k. I was going to spend half of June plotting.

Haha. Ha.
Nope.

None of that actually ended up happening, but I'm so much happier with what I ended up doing. I wrote A Sprig of Green - the idea of which came into my head about three weeks before Camp. I had a goal of 40k. I started plotting three or four days before Camp, and finished with eleven hours to spare with a chapter-by-chapter plot. I then realised that my novel was actually a novella, and so I lowered my word count goal to 25k.

I had so. much. fun.

A Sprig of Green was one of the easiest books I've ever written. It was just the thing my brain needed to get out of the secret agents and criminals mode, and take a creative break to try out something else. It was an exciting adventure of writing. I finished the novella on day fifteen, at approximately 35k. And then I did something crazy.

I didn't start editing.

I meant to. I honestly planned to. But it didn't happen. And that's all cool by me. I really enjoyed being about to roll back on my insane word counts and hours of typing and delve into other things. I finished some critiquing projects (plus started and finished yet another). I learnt-ish how to do a flying jump kick (don't ask xD although if you do ask, you might get access to a secret youtube video featuring my gymnastics skills xP). I got one or two new movies to fangirl over (Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy yaaass). AND SO MUCH MORE that I won't bore you with telling. xD


At the end of one NaNo month, I automatically look toward the next. November. Actual real super duper 50k NaNoWriMo. Normally I would be starting to plan out "Ohh I'll write such-and-such project then" but right now. I have no clue at all. I don't know what'll happen between then and now. I don't know how far edits I'll be. I don't know what God has in store. But I'm excited. I'm excited to see everything that he's doing and I'm super hyped to see what he continues to do.

I have a pile of projects that are eagerly awaiting my attention, and I could do an entire blog series on what they are and what needs doing on all of them, but I'm not sure that would be terribly interesting after the first one or two. :) So currently, I'm just meandering along as God opens doors or closes them and I'm just so excited for next month. And I'm also excited to have all my wonderful blogging friends so I can bounce along and hear all the cool stuff about your life happenings too. :D

Only two minutes left. :P


What are you excited for in August?
Who's hoping to do NaNo this year??

37 comments:

  1. One thing I look forward to in August in writing a novel I had been working on (before Camp Nano).
    I also hope to edit the novels I wrote in Camp Nano.

    -Quinley

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    1. Well that's a great thing to look forward to!! You shall have to keep me updated on how the editing and writing goes. *nods* :D

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  2. Thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your cabin Jane! I had a blast!

    August is a month that I'm going to write the second draft of The Apple in the Snow and work on Rebellious Writing stuff.

    If you're curious, I also wrote a wrap up post - https://catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com/2017/07/end-of-july-camp-nanowrimo.html

    Catherine
    catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com

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    1. I loved having you!!! :D

      OH FUN. That sounds like a great plan. *nods*

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  3. I enjoyed being in your cabin so much this summer :) You made my first ever nano experience great and the thoughts and encouragement over at your blog were always spot on and driving me on. I get you on the business, I feel like I have so many blog posts waiting and so much to say but not half enough time eeek! I hope you have a beautiful August and I can't wait to see more on your novella because it's PURE GENIUS
    <3 _ <3

    Anna | www.worldthroughherheart.blogspot.com

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    1. Awh thank you. <33 It was wonderful getting to know you better, you sweet girl. :)

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  4. Sounds like you had a very productive month! (I just found your blog, and I think I'll stick around for a while!)

    I personally am getting back to editing during August. I put my trilogy on hold for both Camps to first draft a new story, and just used it as a break. So now I'm back to editing at full force!

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    1. I did indeed! Ooh HELLO HELLO. :D Thank you for commenting, Julian!! I hope you enjoy your stay. ^-^

      Ah yes. Editing. OH OH YOU HAVE A TRILOGY TOO?? *fistbumps* SAME. Mine is a dystopian spies/secret agents sort of style. What's your's about?

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  5. Umm... Not much that I can think of...
    Also I can't do NaNo as I'm not old enough! ;(

    Funnily enough, I reached my word-count-goal BUT I didn't actually finish the story. I /really/ need to do that sometime soon as I finished my word-count-goal just after they left on their quest... I really need to come up with an idea of what happens on that quest XD

    Also, what's a novella?
    -The Belgian Waffle(Ral:D)
    (Sorry for the long Comment)

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    1. Aww. *pats* In another year or two you'll be able to. :)

      GOOD JOB ON THAT. But ooh that's cool though, because then it's a longer story! Yay. XD

      A novella is a story between 20,000 and 50,000 words. Longer than a short story. Shorter than a novel.

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  6. I am looking forward to watching The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug for the first time in August. Yay! *flails*
    I love the LOTR movies, and it looks like I love the Hobbit movies, too. :)

    Sorry, I am not trying to rush you, but I'm curious, have you remembered your WordPress password yet? If not, I don't think its needed... *thinks really hard*

    Anyways, I am glad Camp NaNo went well for you! MiddleEarthMusician and I are friends in real life (we go to the same church) and she has not yet told me how Camp NaNo went for her... I'll have to ask. ;)

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    1. OH YAS THAT'S A GREAT THING TO LOOK FORWARD TO. *flails with you* YOU'LL HAVE TO TELL ME HOW YOU LIKE IT.

      Oh wow I've just completely forgotten everything apparently. XD I shall go see if I can hunt it down now. XP

      WHOA THAT'S COOL. I had no idea. *flails* She did pretty good. *nods* Got to her goal right on time. :D

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    2. I will! *makes mental note*

      Its okay! Like I said, I was just curious. :)

      Oh good! ;)
      And yes, I thought it might be interesting for you to know that. XD The way I discovered your blog was through her. :D

      Delete
    3. Okay so about the blog, I can't seem to log in? I thought I had an account but it's possible that I'm mistaken. *squints at all the confusingness* xD

      Delete
    4. Ooh, then maybe you can make a new account??

      Delete
    5. It's not letting me for some reason. >.< I'll have to battle with the technologies and try work out what's going on. XD

      Delete
    6. Hmmm...
      I hope you win! XD

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  7. Ooh yes, for August I'm kinda hoping to train myself to get back into the habit of actually writing daily xD and then... mebbe if I'm feeling brave enough, I can attempt Nanowrimo ;D But we shall have to see... *rubs hands together in anticipation*

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    1. Aw yas that's an excellent plan. *rubs hands* It doesn't matter how little words you write, as long as you get some out every day. :D

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  8. I'm really eager to have a post of snippets from A Sprig of Green or something? Please?????
    I'm hoping to do NaNo in November and I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not sure whether I'll be rewriting an old story that needs editing or working on a first draft. Either way, it'll hopefully be exciting!

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    1. WELL SINCE YOU ASK. *shall have to do that* I'll add it to my list of posts to do. ^-^
      Ooh yes that's exciting. *nods* Very cool. :D

      Delete
  9. I'm hoping to do nano this year!!! I also agree with Chelsea, WE NEED THE SNIPPETS!!!!!!

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    1. OH YAY!! That's super. :D
      *double writes that down* Two people have asked. I must obey. XD

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  10. Ahhh I'm so glad you had a good month for camp! It's great when writing is relaxing and you feel accomplished :)

    *raises hand* I'm one of the crazy people who is already planning their nano novel xD This year I actually plan to start on time. EEEPPP I'm just so excited for the writing projects I'm doing this fall (which are kind of a secret right now, but basically plot bunnies have overthrow my original plans xD)

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    1. Yass, I'm so happy that everything went fairly smoothly - though not fully according to plan. :P

      AS YAS THAT'S EPIC. *flails* YOU'LL HAVE TO TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT.

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  11. XD Yay for you!!! I'm glad you had a good month. :-)
    I'm excited just to live this August. I still had school in July (I'm almost done!!!), so in August I'm going to just write. Read. Listen to music. Blog. Practice my marital arts. Dance. Etc. I probably won't do Nano this year. November is really busy for us; and I'm in a play that month. :-( Maybe next year. XD

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    1. THAT IS THE BEST THING TO BE EXCITED ABOUT. *throws confetti* I hope it's a wonderful relaxing and productive time. <33

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    2. Thank you! I hope you have a good August too. XD

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  12. SOOO happy you finished your novella, Jane!!! It sounds very amazing and sweet and interesting and AHH. =D
    July was epic for me- won NaNo, ordered a copy of my other novel, sold one of our houses, one of our horses had a foal (and she's mine!!) and am currently on vacation in NC. ;P SOO YES. GOD IS AMAZING!
    God bless you girl!
    -Ang | thepeculiarmessenger.wordpress.com

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    1. SAME. ^-^ Thank you so muuuuch. <333
      OH YAY THAT'S SO COOOOL. O-O that sounds like a LOT of stuff happening, but yass, isn't He. :D

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  13. Yes, we need snippets!!! We wants them; we needs them; they will be preciouss to uss. XP

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    1. Great. Sorry, I felt that I needed to say something in a Gollum's style. XD

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    2. It was the gollum voice that convinced me. XP

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  14. So glad you did A Sprig of Green Jane! So beautiful!
    Ah, philosophical thoughts...

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