Camp NaNoWriMo

So, here goes nothing. Camp NaNoWriMo is once again upon us; the virtual writer's retreat where we set some writing goals and then get on with the writing! Simple!

The project: A rough draft of book five of The Hidden Novels
The goal: 30,000 words
The time limit: 31 days

Check out my Camper's profile and see what all the fuss is about by having a nosey around the site - maybe join in the fun and games?!

For those of you who are wondering what the hell I am on about with the acronyms - NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month - every November, writers across the world, traditionally published and the indie crowd, set out to write 50,000 words in just 30 days! It's a great boost for productivity and incredibly rewarding at the end of the month when you have so many words that you didn't have before. Camp is a virtual writing retreat held a few times a year where campers can set their own goals and work towards them... hence my 30,000 word target. I find that expecting myself to write a thousand words a day around a full time job, a family and some resemblance of a social life is not a lot to ask for. The 50,000 words in November pretty much take up my time and I focus on not a lot else! Haha, don't expect to make plans with me in November - but I do take December off normally, taking a break from pretty much all things writing in reward for achieving target and to enjoy the festive season!

But back to camp. Campers are put into virtual cabins on the site where we can chat and encourage the others in with us. It's a great community and there is always someone there to give you a nudge when you need it most. I have been doing NaNo for a few years now and have done each camp and found them most productive!

Now, bearing in mind that July holds my birthday, two music festivals and ten days in Buxton for a book festival, things could get interesting - but I have faith. I'll check in later in the month for you to see how I am getting on - but for now, here's a sneak peak at the unedited opening for book five!

~~~

The whispers came in that indescribable moment when you're falling asleep but are still conscious.  That moment when you're neither awake nor asleep.  That moment actually had a name, one I'd learned just a few days ago when I'd been trying to explain the whispers to a friend.  Hypnagogia, that was what they called it.  My mom had called it lucid dreaming when I was a child; she convinced me that it was just my imagination creating the images and the voices, and that it wasn't unlike dreaming, apart from the fact that I could control it.  My father, well he hadn't been so nice about it.  When I turned thirteen and still talked about the whispers that came at night, he started calling them hallucinations and actually recommended taking me to a doctor about it.  My mom stood up for me, continuing her claim that I just had a good imagination and that I wasn't hurting anyone with my stories. 

Parents.  What did they know? 

I knew that the whispers weren't in my imagination, and I knew that they weren't hallucinations.  I didn’t know what the whispers were, that part I still hadn't figured out yet, but I knew that they were trying to tell me something.  Something important. 

~~~