I’m feeling oddly calm considering I have less than 24 hours until I start a month of NaNo madness. It doesn’t feel real for some reason. Maybe it’s denial. Maybe it’s just the heatwave in my area keeping me in a decidedly un-NaNo mindset.

Usually in the month leading up to a NaNoWriMo event I spend a lot of time planning my project. I’m not doing that this month since I’m spending the month of July planning a serial. It’s almost like I’m using Camp to do NaNo prep work!

It’s definitely not conventional. Over the last few years I’ve been moving away from doing traditional NaNos. Even during the main November event, I’ve shifted to continuing ongoing projects instead of starting something new. My projects are just too big to start a new one every year and I feel like I’ve been a WriMo long enough to change things up.

Another reason I want to change things up is my horrible track record with Camp sessions. I’ve signed up for every single CampNaNoWriMo since they started and I’ve failed every single time. The last few times I’ve tried to change things up. I still failed, but I have to believe I’m on the right track. April and July just aren’t good months for writing fresh drafts of a novel for me. I’m not willing to be idle during those months. I just need to figure out how to push myself without setting myself up for failure.

Working on something writing related that needs to be done seems like a safe bet. Having a set amount of time I want to dedicate to my project adds an element of challenge to it and juggling several projects in different phases is another challenge I need to learn to overcome.

I’ve set my goal at 30 hours of planning for my next project. I’m rounding it up to an hour a day. Yes, July has 31 days, but I’m more than sure I’ll end up missing a day. Considering my track record, I’m going to give myself some wiggle room.

I want to try out some new planning techniques. If I find anything to be particularly useful I’ll try to share it with you. Maybe if I try something that really doesn’t work for me I’ll share that as well. Just because it doesn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else.

Are you participating in CampNaNoWriMo in July? Tell me about your project! I want to know who is drafting, revising, planning, or doing something I haven’t even imagined!