Camp NaNoWriMo! Strategies and help to win!

5 min read

Deviation Actions

YWP-NaNoWriMo's avatar
By
Published:
816 Views
Hey guys! Wow, it's been like... 5+ months since there's been much movement in this group. If you're writing/drawing NaNo characters be sure to submit them to our galleries :)  We want your writing and art! We're the only YWP group out there at all that I know of and yeah it's kinda dead. Members have to interact as well and upload stuff, not just wait for the mods to do things. Leaders do things first and even when no one else is so take action and help bring things to life yourselves :nod:

As to updates... It's almost Camp NaNoWriMo! If you haven't started figuring out your novel... It's not too late! Here are some things you can do:

1. Just write off the top of your head. I did that my first 2 NaNos, just wrote what came to my head each day and guess what? I won my first one.

2. Sit down for an hour and try this: www.advancedfictionwriting.com… It's a link to the Snowflake method. It'll help you roughly plan some sort of plot for your characters.

3. Read No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty. Your local library might have it, you might own it or a friend in nano could have it. Get a hold of it and use it like your novelist bible this coming month or in August!

4. Just sit down and write the names of each character and find some sort of character meme. Fill out their past, their favorite food, their pet peeves, what their favorite childhood toy was, what they liked to watch on TV if they had one, etc. Write down random things and do this for your 5-10 main/supporting characters just to find out what makes them tick.

Hope these will help you get some pre-planning done!

Now here's a little more serious strategy for winning. It has to do with you, yes you the reader. By now you aught to know how you think controls how your life will go. If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't then you can't. Your mind works however you train it to. You should also know by now that noveling and writing is all a mental game.

If you want to win you need to set aside 15-30 minutes and just close your eyes. Visualize typing 'the end', imagine the thrill of winning and hitting your word count. Think about how your self confidence will burst with explosion from the fact you did this and won. Imagine the proud cheer of everyone on the YWP that you did win. Imagine just how awesome haveing that finished or at least winning manuscript sitting there for you to edit later. Imagine just how much closer you are to that ultimate goal: publication of some sort. Think about how great you'll feel that you got over your writers block and the challenges of camp, family vacations and that you were one of the 10% of people that stuck it through week 2 and 3 to win.  You are awesome and you won. Imagine all that with as much clarity as possible.

Don't think ever "oh I might make it..." "Maybe I should give up..." "Why should I try to make it past week 2..." "Plot holes! Marry Sues! Cardboard characters D:" Don't think one drop of negative or it will kill your novel. You have to focus on that big prize, the winning and the shiny admiration you'll get when you do win.


But remember all the imagining and pep talks in the world won't get you anywhere without a plan. So make sure you're hitting that 1,667 words a day (or make sure to take your word count and divide it by 30 to know how many words you have to do. So 30,000 words in a month is roughly 1,000 words a day. 20,000 is 667 roughly a day. Not bad at all.) Make sure you have a reward for yourself. Hit your word quota? Have a candy bar, buy a new pencil, draw a picture, watch your favorite TV show, eat your favorite snack. Do something to make yourself want to hit that word count for the day and that is the biggest thing you can do for yourself.

Lastly, make sure to use your support team! Your cabin mates are your friends for the month. Get to know them, motivate them, have word wars and have fun. Be sure to come here and find other nanoers and get to know them. Some of the veterans that have several nano wins under their belts would love to share help if you note them!

So there you go guys! Don't forget to visualize this week, next week and the week after! Plan ahead, don't plan ahead but whatever you do keep going strong and you will win! Let's make this the highest win ratio ever for Camp NaNoWriMo!

AJ- Co founder
© 2012 - 2024 YWP-NaNoWriMo
Comments13
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
spottedkit1999's avatar
o.e I have no idea what this is xD