Is it time for you to contemplate writing your own book? Consider signing up for the Camp NaNoWriMo starting on July 1st. It features three tracks that I think might interest you:
‘World-building — Dive deep into the world of your story.’
This track offers a number of cool resources to help you construct the world of your novel, whatever type of genre it’s in: a webcast about building your world with games, three videos and three podcasts about different aspects of world-building, and several blog posts. This is your chance to be omnipotent, to be the creator of your own universe as you want it to look and function! In the graphic above, you can see a snippet of the map I created for the small, eerie town where a good deal of the action takes place in my urban fantasy trilogy. My beta readers have all asked for a map of the town to go into the book, which is a great sign that they got very engaged in my heroine’s world.
‘NaNoFinMo — Finally finish that novel.’
Maybe you’ve gotten a start on your novel, but need a push to get to the final chapter. There’s advice and a number of exercises to help you work through whatever’s holding you back, goal-setting strategies, blog posts and even pep talks from a variety of published authors. On July 31, 2021 I was able to finally type the words “The End” for my first-ever completed novel. It was something I’d dreamed of for many, many years, and it felt fantastic! For all those years, I wasn’t sure I’d ever write the whole book; it had been just a collection of snippets of action and dialogue, photos I’d collected of what different locales would look like, and myriad jottings of plot notes. So, if you’re part-way through, go and finish – your soul will thank you.
‘Camp Memoir — Write true stories from your life.’
This is one I may sign up for in the future. Quite a few people have asked me to write a memoir of the travels my hubby and I have done. Our journeys are always an adventure, coloured by all kinds of strangeness, from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to wild & crazy weather to interesting local encounters. People have actually asked us where and when we’re going next so that they can head in the opposite direction. But writing a good memoir isn’t just about recounting your life – there’s an art to it. Check out this blog post on Reedsy, What is a Memoir? True Life Stories, Minus the Boring Parts – if you have a good story to tell, it will give you a great idea of what’s involved in turning it into a memoir that fascinates readers. Then choose this camp track for all the great resources on tap, from blog posts to pep talks to Ted Talks and more.
Each track has a nifty banner you can post on your social media as well. Whatever you choose, best of luck and have a lot of fun!