I never made it to Girl Scouts. I was, however, a Brownie and as a Brownie, I went camping. Once. Now, remember, I grew up in the city - concrete and brick and honking cars and indoor plumbing. At this camp, there was an outhouse-type building so yes, it technically had indoor plumbing but the bathroom was still outside! I had to walk outside to get to it.
Only I wasn't allowed to walk to it by myself. And neither was anyone else. We had to go with a buddy. Especially at night. Now, I had no intention of walking to the outside bathroom in the dark, knowing for absolutely certain that escaped convicts wielding machetes were hiding in the trees, with only another little girl for protection. Not. A. Chance. So, I made sure I wouldn't have to use the facilities and then I went to bed.
And do you know what happened? Every little girl in our cabin woke ME up to go with them to the bathroom. Me. Why? I still have no idea. But I went. Why? Because I couldn't let my friends get eaten by the zombies I knew were lurking behind every tree along the path. I might not have made it to Girl Scouts, but even I knew they didn't give out patches or badges or whatever for being a chicken. (Although, if they did...never mind.)
What does all of this have to do with Camp NaNoWriMo? Nothing really, except that was my one and only experience of camp life and I wanted to share. But Camp NaNo (the new summer version of November's NaNo!) will not have any mosquitoes or outside bathrooms or escaped convicts or zombies...unless you want them and then it's up to you to put them in your novel.
For more information and to maybe donate if you can, click on the link above and join me in this summer pursuit. Make sure you get your marshmallows and your chocolate and your crackers...it figures that my only other memory of camping is the food. S'more later.
I went one year to 4-H camp and wasn't that big a fan. We did do 3 years at family church camp which was more fun. I then sponsored 3 years of youth camp when I was in my early 20's. It was much more fun being a counselor than a camper. I didn't know there was a summer version of NaNo, thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteSally, I don't think I would've made a good counselor either. :)
ReplyDeleteCamp NaNo is new this year - check out the regular NaNo site for updates on when, etc.
Those NaNo folk are great. Script Frenzy was a blast for my creative writing students, and they turned out some quality work. I wish you all the best this summer, and you've reminded me I need to stop neglecting my novel WiP. Stinkin' Write1Sub1 has sent it to the back corner where it sits even now, glaring at me.
ReplyDeleteDon't beat yourself up, Milo. Remember, it's a lot easier to work on a novel when you're doing the Light Ray version of W1S1. Maybe consider that during Camp NaNo? Maybe give your WiP some cool shades (it'll hide the glaring if nothing else) and let it bask in the summer sun...
ReplyDelete