My 3 Biggest Regrets From This April’s Camp NaNoWriMo
This April, I, along with thousands of other writers worldwide, undertook an enormous challenge. We took part in Camp NaNoWriMo and spent the month writing frantically, devoting ourselves to creative projects. If you’re a writer, you may well have participated in it yourself.
Many succeeded, surpassing their goals easily.
I didn’t.
And that’s okay! I learnt important lessons from the experience, and I’ll share the three biggest ones in this article. Despite “losing” Camp NaNoWriMo, I came out of this month as a better writer.
If you haven’t heard of Camp NaNoWriMo before, you may be wondering what the big deal is. NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is an event that takes place in November. Writers challenge themselves to write the first draft of a novel, which NaNoWriMo defines as 50,000 words, in that month.
There are also Camp NaNoWriMo events in April and July. In these, writers are encouraged to work on any sort of creative project rather than just a novel. The word count goal is typically also more flexible, and most people opt to set their own one that’s different to 50k words.
I’d definitely recommend taking part in NaNoWriMo — it’s an amazing experience. But, like I mentioned, not everything went to plan this time.
I failed to meet my word count goal, and only wrote 60% of what I’d hoped to.
Now, let’s get one thing clear — I didn’t lose Camp NaNoWriMo. In fact, nobody who took part did! Whether you wrote 50 or 50,000 words this April, you still grew as a writer. Every single word written is an amazing achievement.
However, I fell well short of my Camp NaNoWriMo word count goal, even though I’ve easily surpassed it before. But why?
Here are a few of the mistakes I made in April that ultimately led to me giving up on this challenge a few days before the deadline, as well as how to win Camp NaNoWriMo by avoiding them.
1. Worrying about the quality of my writing
Rookie error, I know. One of the most important steps to becoming a Camp NaNoWriMo winner is putting your inner editor to one side and just letting the words flow without judging yourself.
But this time, that’s not what I did.
I agonised over finding the “perfect” sentence to express what I wanted to say. I pored over thesauruses in search of the word on the tip of my tongue, rather than moving on and coming back later.
Basically, I spent too much time worrying about my writing and doubting myself, rather than letting go and enjoying the experience.
As a writer, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others, which can lead you to believe you’re “not good enough”. But you have to push past that and simply write. It’s the only way to improve.
You can’t edit a blank page. — Jodi Picoult
The only way to create better writing is to stop worrying and just write. Editing comes later.
2. Losing motivation
By allowing myself to be discouraged by my dwindling word count instead of motivated to get back on track, I created a deadly trap for myself. I couldn’t be bothered writing. After all, there was no point even trying to catch up when I was so far behind, right?
These thoughts stifled my creativity, and I found myself unable to get any more words down. This was a significant reason why I didn’t meet my Camp NaNoWriMo goal, but now I know to avoid this trap next time.
It’s vital to ignore those nagging voices in your head telling you there’s no point in writing. Don’t let them get you down. Instead, use them to spur you on. Defy them.
3. Procrastinating
Okay, I’ll admit it — I chose to spend my time on other things than writing this April. Do I regret that? Not necessarily. Sure, I’d love to be able to brag about writing tonnes of words, but taking a break can be important too.
Just because you don’t spend every waking minute writing doesn’t mean you’re not a writer. You don’t have to feel guilty for having other interests.
But if you don’t really know where all those hours went, then maybe you need to reevaluate how you’re spending your days. It’s highly likely you could be much more productive by reducing the time you spend on some less important activities.
So I lost Camp NaNoWriMo in April 2020. I worried about my writing, I got discouraged, and I procrastinated.
But, in a way, I did win after all.
I wrote more words than I would have done otherwise, plus I now know what to avoid if I want to succeed.
If you’re feeling disappointed about not reaching a writing goal, that’s okay. But remember — chances are, you’re a better writer now than you were before. If you persist, if you keep learning and honing your writing, then someday soon you will be able to declare yourself a winner of your writing journey.
