A Glimpse of Starlight

Hello there, dear readers! I’m super excited because April is coming up, and with April, some wonderful writing adventures. Here they are:

Camp NaNoWriMo 

Remember back in November that I did NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)? Yes, that was the time I wrote all those “Preparing for the Beast” posts. And yes, that was when I wrote the novel that I lost when my computer crashed. Camp NaNoWriMo occurs in April and July and is basically a modified version of NaNo. “Campers,” the writers who are participating and logged in at the website, get assigned a camp on March 25th with other campers who are selected according to a preference form you can fill out. You can also create a private cabin with friends, which is what I’m doing. Unlike NaNo, you can work on whatever you want—it doesn’t have to be a novel. I am going to be working on rewriting the novel I first wrote this November. I don’t plan on finishing it by any means, but I hope to make more headway than I normally would. Also, Camp NaNo lets you adjust the word-count  goal to your own preference. Instead of having to reach 50K, you can aim for whatever you want. I’m setting mine fairly low—20,000 words—because I’m going to be doing something else this month …

NaPoWriMo 

This stands for National Poetry Writing Month, the younger brother of NaNoWriMo, so to speak. Here’s the goal: Write a poem a day for the month of April. It may sound easy, but it’s actually very difficult to write thirty poems back to back like that. Some days, there’s just no inspiration. NaPoWriMo does have a website—it’s not as interactive or “fun” as the NaNoWriMo one, but it provides great prompts and a reminder that you’re not alone.

Why? 

So why am I doing this, and why should you?

First, because it forces you to write. Maybe you’re different, but as much as I love writing, I struggle to work at it consistently. Camp NaNo and NaPo force me to write every day. These activities teach you how to keep pushing when you’re tired, unspired, unmotivated, or caught by writer’s block. Overcoming those slumps is so important, and both of these help you do that.

Second, because of the community. Writing is so often a solitary effort, but this month, it doesn’t have to be. The whole idea behind the virtual cabins is to get support from fellow writers and be reminded that you’re not alone. Although NaPo doesn’t have quite the same community, many bloggers are doing it, bonding us poets together across the blogosphere.

What It Means for This Blog 

I plan on continuing Miscellaneous Mondays and Fireside Fridays this month, but instead of posting random writing snippets on Wendesdays (or any other day), I’ll be posting a weekly collection of some of the best poems I’ve written that week (because let’s be honest, some of the things I’ll write will be horribly un-blog-worthy).

Are you planning on doing either of these things? What does April hold in store for you?