The End of Camp NaNoWriMo: A Partial Success in 2014

I managed to “win” my camp challenge, but not technically. I have to qualify because I feel like I didn’t win by my personal NaNo standards. With NaNo I like to make goals that I hit with completely new words of fiction. That means I don’t count outlines, notes, or editing. I’m kind of a masochist.

I wasn’t able to work to my standards this April, for reasons I’ve mentioned in previous posts. But I tried really hard! And I’m solidly pretending that I didn’t go on and on about socializing and networking with other writers when I outlined my challenge because I completely hermited this April. I have the pasty skin to prove it. And I think five people knew I was participating…I tell you, that accountability thing with all the people in your life really spurs you on.

If I’m only counting new story words, I ended up writing 3458 words out of the 10K I wanted to hit. Or 35%.

If I count all the outlining, researching/planning I needed to do, in total I wrote 4725. Or 47%.

Then there’s that story I spent nearly every free day I had this month editing. I wish I had a numerical value for the amount of work I actually did with that piece. Seriously, I’d have hit 50k and then some since I tore it apart and put it back together over 11 drafts. However, counting that baby in, I ended my challenge with roughly 12 978 words.

12 978 / 10 000 words. 130% done!

130% is none too shabby. Even though I wish things had been a little different this month so that I could truly throw myself into the revelry of camp. Oh well. Still, a major positive came out of camp for me: I finally got my butt in gear and started conceptualizing a series I’m really excited about. It got me writing again, and not just when I “had time.” I found myself squeezing in little writing windows throughout the week because I just wanted to get back to my story. And I have a big picture plan for it! That really excites me because I needed a project like this to focus on right now after putting a different one on the back burner (again).

Overall, this was an important experience to show me where I’m at in my writing life and what I can tackle with my current life schedule. I’m thankful for the eye opening experience –one I’m trying not to see as a fail!

How did everyone else fair with Camp NaNoWriMo?

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