First Five Days of Camp NaNoWriMo: April 2020

April has begun, and though the month does not seem to be what anyone would have imagined when we started 2020, I am really proud of how much I am adapting and striving to define my silver lings each and every day.

There is so much negativity on the news, and when I go on Facebook, I can’t help but witness the countless people who feel stuck in their houses, the people whose depression and anxiety are drowning them in their own home. It is hard not to feel that cloud follow you all around, and at times, I have felt this way, too.

Honestly, I am a huge homebody, so not being able to go out and do things has not affected me as much as it has other people. And I really feel for you if this is something you are struggling with. I know so many people who feel weighed down when they don’t get out and socialize or feel free to do so, and I am so sorry.

I hope that soon we can socialize freely, but it is so important to keep our community safe and healthy, so I thank you for your sacrifices.

I also want to say another thank you to our heroes in the hospitals, in the grocery stores, those stocking our supplies. I am so appreciative of their sacrifices for us and the global community.

Anyway, my struggles come from my inability to compartmentalize my life at the moment. For those of you who know me, I keep everything separate, and while I have my different planners for work, school, writing, and a bullet journal with everything to keep my grounded, I usually account for certain days being my “normal” way.

Everyone’s normal has been flipped upside down, and for me, I am trying to separate work from school, and those two from free time. For all three activities, I am sitting at my desk, so it becomes difficult to differentiate what I am doing at any given moment.

My times and due dates seem to be changing because of the inconsistencies of doing university online. For me, a planner-person, I am frustrated with how many items in my planner I have had to cross out and move to different days–and this has happened multiple times for one assignment, on a few occasions–but there is one thing that I have found to be a huge blessing during this time of stress at my desk.

For the month of April, I am participating in Camp NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). This is an online community of writers who support and encourage each other to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

50,000 words is a very ambitious goal, and I got a little worried that I wouldn’t meet that because of the stress of work and school, so I lowered the standard (because you are allowed to do that during camp), to 30,000 words.

So far, as of April 5th, 2020 (which is today), I have written 9,945 words since April 1st, which means my goal is about 33% complete with 25 days to spare. I am ecstatic about the progress I have made in just five days and how much I have enjoyed writing a new book (while still querying for True Power, of course).

Along with this new writing journey I have begun, I have met so many supportive and encouraging writers who are also participating in Camp NaNoWriMo on the NaNoWriMo website as well as in the Instagram writing community, and even on Twitter.

While making a post about Camp NaNoWriMo, I was invited to join a Discord group (never thought I’d be on Discord, but there I am!) to participate in word sprints and other challenges with other young writers, aged 15-22. It has been really inspiring to see all these young writers hard at work with a variety of word count goals.

I am extremely blessed to have this time to write and enjoy the words as they come.

I am so excited about the week ahead and the progress I’ll make this week.

Say it with me, Silver Linings. ❤

If you want to see my updated word count as I go, you can follow this link to my NaNoWriMo profile where I will be updating my progress every day.