What I Learned at Camp: The Importance of Corralling One’s Plot Bunnies

Every new writing project is a chance to tell a new story… and to learn something about yourself. We’ve asked writers to share what they learned about their writing during Camp NaNoWriMo. Today, participant Edeline Wrigh discovers just how many rough drafts are too many:

Dear fellow Wrimos,

I began Camp NaNoWriMo the same way I begin all writing challenges: by declaring myself a rebel, listing out all of the projects I had been working on or had been wanting to work on, and setting goals for each one. This approach does two things: 

it ensures I have no chance of “winning,” but, it makes me get a lot done.

I’ve created this plan for the very simple reason that I’m very, very bad at focusing my creative energy on one thing. While I have no problem distributing my word count among 15 projects, meeting a high word count on one is near impossible for me. The only time I won NaNoWriMo, I spent half the time procrastinating with school work…

Now that I’ve finished two-and-a-half novel manuscripts, a second iteration of a game, polished a long comic script (but only drawn two pages of it), and have bits and pieces of roughly a million other projects, I am forced to reflect on my creative decisions. The hard truth of the matter is that I love new ideas right up until they become work.

I’m not sure I’d approach my Camp or NaNoWriMo experience differently; it’s certainly helping me get those rough drafts done and ideas on paper. But it might be good for my art, and for me, to develop better post-event habits—that is, learning to focus just enough to actually edit.

Fact is, it’s completely fine to write first drafts as a hobby. Or to write first drafts until you fall madly in love with one.But if you’re like me—wanting to share the product of your love, sweat, and tears with others—you might want to hone your editing skills before then. That way, you’re already hardened to how others might critique your work.

Personally, I’m not good at this yet. But that’s why I’m going to be spending an hour a day minimum up until November practicing revision. All of those story ideas I threw away to pump out my first drafts have to become relevant again sometime, right?

That’s the plan, anyway. Even as I say this, the plot bunnies are running around in the back of my head—may you be better at keeping them penned up than I am.

With love,
Edeline Wrigh

Edeline Wrigh is a writer, artist, and game developer who informally researches the impact of stories and creativity on people and cultures. That’s what she claims, anyway, though she actually spends a lot of time on Twitter and devising new ways to claim playing video games is “productive.” When she’s behaving, she dresses like a fairy and makes things on Twitch or posts updates on her blog.