Camp NaNoWriMo

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Every November there is a challenge offered to everyone in the world from NaNoWriMo. November is National novel Writing Month (hence the name NaNoWriMo), but I’m a teacher. November is not the month for me to dedicate to writing 50,000 words while also prepping for the holidays and teaching. Fortunately for me, NaNoWriMo offers an alternative for people like me who just can’t do it in November. Camp NaNoWriMo is basically the same thing, just with a camp theme, smack in the middle of teacher-friendly July! You may have already guessed that I’m knee deep in process of my novel.
I often get told that I should write a book. I always wonder at the reality of that- who would ever want to read a whole book written by me? I’m not a terrible writer, but blogging really suits me. It’s so informal, the rules are made by me and the casual nature of it makes me not flip out over grammar and typos, unlike a published book. But then I realized that Camp NaNoWriMo allows for that too- anonymous authorship without risk. I do want to write a book. I’m not sure if it’s worthy of publishing or selling, but it’s just a thing I feel like I have to do- like finish college, lose weight, get married, be a mom, run a distance that feels outside of my ability, grow my hair long once… YOLO. It’s true. So here I am, embarking on my novel.
What does this have to do with my blog? Guess what I’m writing about? I’m writing the story of Tamara Shazam in detail. So far it meanders all over and has bird walks as I through-write my story, but I’ve decided to share it here during this month.
I realized that when I found Katie from Runs For Cookies that I felt mildly discouraged that she was already ‘done’ with her project. She was maintaining her weight, she was an accomplished runner and her blog was incredibly inspiring, but I found myself having to dig deep through her archives to uncover her greater story and get closer to the genesis of her project. My blog is a few years old now. People might be having the same issue with me- sure, she’s exercising and struggling with losing and gaining right around the 200 mark, but she’s already looking good! (I actually have had people ask me why I’m continuing since I already look good, but it’s that inside goal that is important, now.). I’ve decided to share excerpts from my story this month as kind of a primer for who I am and where I’ve come from. It’s not going to be perfect, mind you it is a draft and it is for personal use on my part, but I’m also happy to share it with anyone who wants to read it.
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