NaNoWriMo-Camp Experience: The second time around

July was a busy month for me. Due to multiple factors. I had exams, traveled and first and foremost: I participated in the NaNoWriMo-Camp again! If you are unfamiliar with the project: Here is a post explaining everything about it.

I participated first in April of this year. My goal then was to write for 30 minutes each day. I was not able to fulfill said goal, but still felt like the project was a success for me. This time around things were very different.



When July came closer and I decided to prepare a bit more than in April. How and why is in this Post. Then the first of July came around and with it an E-mail, asking me to set my writing goal for the month. Since Time did not quite work for me as an motivating parameter, I decided to go with the traditional word count this month. I set 25.000 as my goal by the end of the month. Half of what is the goal in November.
When I set the goal I did not thought that I would not be able to reach it, based on my experience in April. But I wanted to challenge myself and I thought a daunting goal would be a good motivation.
Story wise, I decided to keep working on the story I was working on in April. So I did not start with a blank page. The project was already at 8.150 words. This gave my word count an enormous boost, as one could imagine. It also helped me get and stay motivated. Mainly because it gave me a bit of cushion on my goal. I could miss a day of writing and would not fall behind my goal. That took away a great deal of stress and anxiety.

I hit my writing goal on the 21 of July. Ten days before the challenge ended. By the end of the month the project was 30.013 words long.

I would have never thought, that I could do this. But as it turns out: a bit of discipline can take one a long way.

I stated participating in the NaNoWriMo to write more regularly this month helped me very much in building a writing habit for myself. I found my perfect writing time (right after breakfast) and learned a lot about my writing preferences. But most importantly: I learned to accept that my writing does not has to be perfect in the first draft. I finally realized, that I am currently building the bones of my story. Everything else can come afterwards. I also stated showing what I am writing. This was very difficult at the beginning, I was afraid of judgement and criticism, in the end I got both but in polite and respectful ways that made the project better in every way. 

Overall I am very happy how this month went along. I am also already looking forward to November where I will start a new project. The story I am currently working on should be completely done by September 30th. 

Have you participated this month? Have you ever written a book? Let me know!

Thank you for reading.