Camp Draft Part II, or Attack of the Angry Mosquitos

Last month, I was at Camp Draft, where a number of writing projects were going to get done. Unfortunately, early that month, anxiety roared in like a swarm of angry mosquitos sending me cowering under my bunk, whimpering, with my arms over my head. But, thankfully, my protagonists are braver and smarter than I am, and they eventually lured the swarm away with some Key Lime Pie ice cream (I’m not sure this would work in real life but here, at Camp Draft, weirdness often works.) Coincidentally, this is also how my protagonists lured me out from under the bunk so we could get back to work.  

What got done:

The Longer Short Story – a solid rough draft! 

The Drabble – written, revised too many times to count and submitted!

 

What did not get done:

The Novella

 

So, I decided another session of Camp Draft was in order for August. This time around, we’re going to:

 

* Finish the nightmare road trip – aka The Longer Short Story – and revise it until it stops chanting “are we there yet?” so I can hopefully submit it. 

 

* Explore that cursed island where the Novella lives, and hang out with two of my protagonists and let them tell me all the secrets, or at least the ones they know about. This project will be about progress, and even though I’m not exactly sure what that looks like, I’ll know it when I see it.

 

Hopefully, August will be free of angry mosquitos. But I’m going to stock up on some of that Key Lime Pie ice cream, you know, um, just in case…. 

 

*****

How’s your summer going? Having fun? Getting projects done? Staying cool, calm and collected? Hiding from angry mosquitos?

Is There a Draft in Here?

I definitely feel a draft, and not just the one from the a/c. By the end of July, the first drafts of two stories should – fingers crossed! – give me more chills than the Key Lime Pie ice cream I like too much. 

Welcome to Camp Draft! 

Where:

* I will dive into my novella, featuring a cursed island.

* I will most likely get car sick writing about a road trip gone very, very wrong.  

* And I might dabble with a drabble.

 

Also, here at Camp Draft:

* The only counselors look a lot like tortoises. 

* The only activities are jumping over plot holes and napping.

* My bunkmates are kid characters who are way braver than I am. 

* And the s’mores look – and taste - like cake. 

 

Here I go! 

There Are No Mosquitoes at Camp NaNoWriMo...or Are There?

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.