Camp Nanowrimo 2019 Wrap Up (major FAIL)

So I'm going to preface this by saying I was fully intending to complete and achieve my goal for the July session of Camp Nano and things were going really good in the beginning but things OUT OF MY CONTROL prevented me from continuing after a certain point which is why I ended up with 15,000 words out of my original goal of 40,000 words. In other words, a massive failure.

Let me explain.

If you don't know, Camp Nanowrimo is basically the same thing as Nanowrimo (which takes place in November of every year) except during both April or July. Writers attempt to write and complete a full manuscript (around 50k words is the target but the goal depends on the person) during one month (so around 2k words a day). However plenty of writers just use Camp Nano as an exercise to get down words one way or another or to just write every day since our lives or so busy that we don't often get the time if we don't make it a big event. People organize trackers, rewards, meet with friends, and make it this whole big thing and it's honestly kind of amazing.

I've participated in both Nanowrimo and Camp Nano for years now and I always love it even if I fail (like this year). This year my goal had been 40,000 words and the project I was working on was RoA, my long-time WIP and basically my baby.

If you want to learn more, check out the website here.

Basically the story goes that I was ahead of schedule for the first week and a half and then I went on a trip where obviously I didn't have access to my laptop or time to write in the first place. It was fun and when I came back I was woefully behind but that was expected, you know? However it wasn't even a few days later when I realized my hand would start hurting once I've written a few hundred words. Not just a cramp or a typical hurt which you would experience when typing so much, but like a tensing, soreness in my joints that made me clench up and take a break from typing because I couldn't physically continue. I'd never felt anything like that before except once years before when I was first starting off on the violin and my fingers weren't used to the complicated and unnatural positions they'd be getting into.

I figured it would go away but.... it didn't. Not for a week and then at this point I realized it wasn't going to get better, especially if I continued to type. The pain continued to be annoying when practicing violin or even doing something like holding a phone so once I told my mom, I couldn't really be surprised when she banned me from continuing with Camp Nanowrimo and said I needed to give my hand a break.

So yeah, I basically dropped out with 15k written. To be fair, I don't think I would have made the 40k goal even if I wasn't injured in the hand- I was just traveling too much in July. It was wishful thinking that I would be able to write 1k+ words a day. I might've been able to pull off a 20-25k but again, that didn't happen.

As for my hand now, it's better which is why I'm able to write these blog posts (however, they are shorter than usual because I don't want to risk it) and as long as I take breaks and don't overwork it. I have to be careful from now on. I don't want to destroy my right hand so young just because I can't control how much writing/violin/phone-holding (may sound like an exaggeration but I have a big phone, okay? the strain isn't something to joke about).

Overall, I'm disappointed but resigned and also optimistic. I have 15k words down which is 15k more than I had before July, and that's something, right? I definitely will be continuing this novel as soon as possible and hopefully will be in prime typing health in time for real Nanowrimo this November where hopefully, I won't be ridiculously busy (probably will be but oh well, wishful thinking is a bad habit). I did actually make progress on the story and that's what's important. Progress in chapters (finished off deep in Chapter 5 out of around 30 so 1/6th of the way done) and in the story itself. I've figured out a few things and came up with new ideas and scrapped a few old, wonky ideas. Progress. I'm happy about that if anything.

I'm also happy that I haven't lost my inspiration or groove with writing this story. It's been so long that the possibility of losing the love or motivation for it has always been a nagging doubt in my hand but I can safely say I am safe. The story is safe. Everything is fine.

I also might be exploring dictation and other methods of getting down words (as of now dictation is annoying and inconvenient for more than a few hundred words but I'm praying it will grow on me).

Until then, I will write as much as I can (and try to catch up on PotG which has also been blindsided by this unexpected string of events). I hope everyone who participated in Camp Nano in July had better luck than me and if not, well I hope you have better luck next time whether it be Nanowrimo or the next Camp Nano next summer (which I'm already making plans for by the way).

No mourners, no funerals (accurate statement for this situation if any),

-SureenaWrites