4 Tips on How to Run a Successful Camp NaNo Cabin

Camp NaNoWriMo is just around the corner! If you’re participating in Camp, you may have been sorted into a Cabin! But what does that mean? And what makes a cabin successful? Today, YWP writer Lilly Hallock shares her tips for how to run a great cabin: 

It’s almost April! That means it’s time to roast marshmallows over the fire and write a great story. The problem is, no one goes camping on their own. That’s where Camp cabins come in.

Those who have been in a cabin in the past will quickly tell you about all the friends they made and the fun they had.

For those of you who don’t know, Camp NaNoWriMo cabins are a group of up to twenty writers who help support each other throughout the month (and beyond). You can be sorted into a cabin by genre, age group, word-count, or completely at random! You can also create or join a private abin and invite writers who are writing something more specific or writers that you already know. (If there is a cabin for LGBT+ teens writing a dystopian sci-fi adventure novel told from multiple points of view please let me know.)

Some campers might define a successful cabin as a place where everyone hits their word counts. Others may say that it is a place where Campers talk to each other to overall improve their writing skills. Most people will probably tell you that a successful cabin is a place where you have fun. So what are the key ingredients to having all three?

1. Push people to their limits.

I understand that not everyone is comfortable with sharing their writing or giving others advice, but what’s the point of a cabin if you never talk to each other? Gently push other Campers to share their work, or specifically ask the quieter Campers a question about writing. Get in the habit of giving more positive comments than negative, especially to those who are afraid to share something they’ve written. A little push goes a long way.

2. Get time zones and schedules right from the beginning.

The first thing I always ask my cabin mates is what time zone they live in. Keeping track of who lives where makes sure that everyone has a chance to participate in a word war or a character building session. Figure out what days work best for the most people and then go from there.

3. Activities are important.

Sure, people will pop in when they have a minute to chat about characters, but the real fun comes from planned activities. Figure out what time works best and prepare some fun activities to do. Make sure that prompts can be applied to a large range of genres and aren’t too difficult to weave into a scene. Weird character and world questions could also be used for some good preparation before or at the beginning of April.

4. Engage outside of the Cabin.

Postcard swaps, real-world contests, character pen-pal, and a Discord server can be great assets. I personally run a few contests, such as whoever writes the most in one day, or whoever can send me an excerpt from their novel that makes me laugh the hardest. Sometimes there can be a prize, like a gift card—but overall it’s just for fun!

In the end, the cabin is what you make it. But utilizing the tips and tricks here can make you come out of Camp NaNoWriMofeeling a lot more accomplished, even if you didn’t meet your word count.

Lilly Hallock is an amateur teen writer from Virginia, USA. She has been a part of the NaNoWriMo community since she was thirteen, and this upcoming Camp session will be her third Camp. This will be her second time running a LGBT+ teen cabin, and she cannot wait for April to begin. When she isn’t writing, she is attending high school or reading too many young adult fantasy novels.

Top image licensed under Creative Commons from Al_HikesAZ on Flickr.