Thursday, April 2, 2015

Camping Time!

On my March 4th update, I said I'd decided on the necromantic weed titled Queen of Bones as my next novel project. A little after my Terry Pratchett post, I finished my outline. An actual, honest to God 100% complete novel outline, a story ready and raring to go from start to finish. I'm still in shock about it. I've always thought I was a pantser, but after the last few short stories and this, I think I can no longer deny the facts: I am a plotter. I got lucky pantsing. Once. I finished one pantsed novel. Everything else is a mess of words I'm going to spend half the year untangling.

In any event, I got roped into doing Camp NaNoWriMo thanks to a bunch of friends doing it. The NaNo team has made a bunch of positive changes since my last one. No more "add friends and hope for a cabin together," now you can invite a whole group and be with up to 11 friends in one cozy cabin. It's nice. I'm shacked up with a wonderful group of Absolute Writers that, on day 2, are already destroying their word counts, and we've got a fun little competition going with another AWer cabin. It involves s'mores, so that's all the motivation I need right there.

I've set my goal at 30,000 words for the month, 1k a day and approximately half the novel. Mid-April, I'll be going to a weekend writing retreat with my local critique group. I'm excited to see what kind of word count I end up after.

What about you, dear readers? Is Camp NaNoWriMo on your April schedule?

25 comments:

  1. Hey, Maggie - visiting from Ms. Reid's blog. Good luck with Camp NaNo! I participated once awhile back, and am keeping the summer session in mind. I do love s'mores.... :)

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    1. Thanks, Madeline, and welcome over here. :) I checked your blog out from Ms. Reid's as well. Your tortoises are adorable! Enjoy your blogging break, and I look forward to reading more from you when you return.

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  2. Me too, good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

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  3. Just visiting from Janet Reid's blog, and wanted to say, "Hi!"

    Lilly Faye Poodle

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    1. Hi Lilly! Your puppy's adorable. Thanks for stopping by. :)

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    1. Hi Carolynn! Thanks for stopping by. I checked out your blog. So glad your granddaughter is okay! How scary. :(

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  5. Good luck with Nano! Just saying hi and visiting from JR's blog.

    -- Barb

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    1. Hi Barb, and thanks! I love your decoupage work on your blog, and I adore your book's cover. Looking forward to getting to know you. :)

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  6. Haven't heard of Camp Nano before. But as I am A-Zing this month, will wait until November to Nano again.

    Stopping by from QOTKU blog :)

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    1. And I likewise hadn't heard of A-Z before I started checking out everyone's blogs from QOTKU. Maybe next year. It sounds fun! Good luck, and perhaps I'll see you in November. :)

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  7. Hi Maggie, popping over from JR's blog. 30,000 words in a month?! Wow. Happy writing.

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    1. Hi Lisa! 30k isn't really that difficult, only 1000 words a day. Compared to the full NaNoWriMo, it's a leisure cruise. Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. Hi Maggie, came here on the Janet Reid bus. Like very much that you know how you work and stick to it. Good luck!

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    1. Hi Susan! I've still got a lot to learn about how I work, but I'm keeping at it. :) It's pretty much something we all never stop learning, isn't it? Thanks you, and hope to see you around again.

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  9. I hope this works. This is the type of credential login that has failed for other sites. I'm a pantster sort of writer, and at times have tried the outline, but two weeks later I'm no where close to writing what I'd planned to write. I hope your outline will work for you!

    Hopping over from QOTKU's blog!

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    1. Hi Donna! So far, so good on the outline. I've usually stuck pretty well to it when I've used an outline for short stories. I guess only time will tell if it'll stay the same for the novel.

      Glad your comment came through all right. Hope to see you around!

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  10. hey there, just popping over from janet reid's blog. :) sounds like you've got a lot going for your next book. i've been thinking about joining one of the nanowrimo camps, but fear i don't have enough time to accomplish anything. :) good luck and i hope you reach all your goals!

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    1. The nice thing about the Camps is you can set your own goal. It seems like 30k to 50k are the most popular numbers, but I have a friend whose goal is a 17k novella. You can set it to work for the time you have. Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has dropped by from Janet Reid's blog! It's a pleasure meeting you all, I've been following everyone, and I hope to get to know you all and see you again. :)

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  12. Thanks for the follow! Good to see a fellow camper, though my word count goal is only 15,000 due to teaching and other life type things. I will reach it though!!
    I have also had to accept the fact that I am a plotter. Though I do tend to go off outline while writing the scenes, which is why I only plot about one quarter at a time, besides the major plot points of course.

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