Camp NaNo: Spring Edition! (IT'S OVER)

Just a few days left! How's progress been?

Going well and finishing strong!	13.8%	[ 4 ]
Super far behind and in despair!	20.7%	[ 6 ]
Oh, people are still writing?	34.5%	[ 10 ]
The pom-poms are still waving.	31.0%	[ 9 ]
Total Votes:			[ 29 ]

[Alberic of Krufton]

Welcome to Camp NaNoWriMo, Spring Edition!

It's that time of year again! The snow is finally melted, the thermometer's slowly climbing back up, the birds and the bees are about, and life is coming back to the land. What better way to celebrate than spending all your time indoors, slaving away on a story of your very own? emotion_awesome

What the heck is all this about?

It's Camp NaNo time! Maybe you've heard of National Novel-Writing Month, the insane month-long race to get 50,000 words written... well, this is its baby brother, Camp NaNo! Like NaNoWriMo, it's a month-long competition to meet a word goal on a novel or story, but the cool thing is that you can choose your own goal! 10k, 25k, 50k and beyond, the choice is completely up to you!

Unlike NaNoWriMo, you can also continue working on old projects, instead of having to start a fresh one from scratch. Got a story that's been sitting around, half-done for a while? May as well knock out a few thousand more words, or push to the finish!

Who is crazy enough to do that?

Hopefully, you! Don't worry, you won't be alone---there are a lot of folks who participate, and we're a fun bunch. We don't bite; we only give love nips.

When did you say this thing was?

Spring Camp takes place from 1 April to 30 April every year. There's a summer session, too, in July.

Where can I sign up?

You don't have to sign up if you don't want to, but if you want to be all official-like, then head on over to the Camp NaNoWriMo site and make an account there, or use your NaNoWriMo account if you already have one! You can create a profile, make a page for your story, join cabins, and hang out in the forums there. Of course, this thread is open to all comers, for when you need inspiration, cheerleading, or a swift kick in the pants to get you moving forward again.

Why on Earth would I want to do this?

For fun! Camp can be an exciting challenge, especially if you've been stuck on a story for a while and want to knock it out finally. There's also the satisfaction of completing a challenge and knowing that you pushed yourself beyond your comfort zones. It's a nice ego boost, and it can really kickstart your motivation through the rest of the year, too!

[Alberic of Krufton]

Traditions and Fun Stuff

Think setting a word count goal isn't enough? Don't worry, here in the thread, we have bonus challenges for the enthusiastic writer.

Events

What the heck is a Word War?

I'm glad you asked! A Word War is a spontaneous mini-challenge that anyone can do. In a nutshell, it's a race to write as many words as you can in a given amount of time. Anyone can call a word war whenever they want, but it's better to do them when more people are online and in the thread, so you can rope in more participants. cat_wink

Word Wars typically run between five and twenty minutes, but it's all up to you!

How do you call a word war? It's easy! You need to list two criteria; the duration you want to write for, and a starting time. Since people live all over the world and in different time zones, for simplicity's sake we usually only use the minutes and not the hours when naming a starting time.

For example, if you want to have a fifteen-minute war starting at (local time) 12:30, you would post:

"Anyone want to war at :30 for 15?"
or "How about a 15 minute war at :30?"

Then it's just a matter of writing your butt off for the allotted time! At the end of the war, people post their final word count. There are no prizes, except for the satisfaction of busting out a few hundred words and getting that story written!

What the heck's a RET? Why are people panicking? cat_gonk

Aaah, the dreaded RET! RET stands for Random Excerpt Time, and it's an opportunity to show off your literary prowess! All you need to do when someone calls a RET is to find a snippet of a story of yours---any story at all, since it's a random prompt---and post away! Spoiler tags are appreciated, so you don't stretch the page too much, and 100-500 words is a good size to shoot for. (We want teasers, not the whole novel!)

When you post a RET, please make it legible! Basic WF etiquette applies, so:
> plain black text at default size (12)
> left-aligned, not centered
> insert an extra space between paragraphs! Gaia is awful about eating formatting
If you have any other questions, then check out this thread for additional guidelines.

It's customary for folks to read everyone else's RET and then give a comment or two for each entry. Critique, praise, questions, anything goes! This is a super informal event, so we don't need essays. It's nice to get feedback, isn't it?

What's this I hear about Prompt Wars?

Prompt Wars are almost the same as word wars, except instead of writing whatever, you have a word, phrase, or idea to incorporate into your scene! They can be as simple as "Your character finds a puppy" or "The weather takes a turn for the worse." The possibilities are endless!

Strip Wars
(Brainchild of Hrair Rabbit)

Normal wars not exciting enough? Strip Wars may interest you, then!
Rules are:

You must have on 5 items ONLY.
The winner of each round does not have to remove their clothing, everyone else does.
After the 5th prompt, the person with the most clothes wins!
If needed, a tie-breaker prompt will be made.
You have 3 min. for each prompt.

Challenges

Word War Challenge

You know all those word wars that you've participated in? Keep track of them! As satisfying as getting all those wars done can be, knowing that you've done more than the next guy can be icing on the cake! For fun, I've made a nifty little spreadsheet here for ease of counting.

Who knows, by the end of the month, the top few Word WARriors could get prizes. cat_wink

Anon Challenges
"What's this? There's an anonymous present in my inbox!" cat_eek

Anon has struck again! Who is Anon? Honestly, nobody knows, but they're the resident issuer-of-challenges and giver-of-gifts, appearing mysteriously and disappearing just as soon. If Anon chooses you for a challenge, you'll get a gift, and a condition that must be met before opening it. These can be things like:

Participate in five word wars
Write 1,000 words
Call three prompt wars, and get at least two people to participate

One never knows when Anon may strike, but if they do, don't panic! But please, Anon only does this out of the goodness of their shadowy heart, so don't post in the thread begging for handouts! Anon Gifts Bribes are a privilege, not a right, and it's bad taste to pester folks for rewards. After all, writing is its own reward!

[Alberic of Krufton]

Aurin Jade's Master List of Helpful Links
(Stolen from last year's thread)

These are all of the links that I have bookmarked on my computer for various writing dilemmas. If anyone has any they would like to add, quote me in the thread with your suggestion and I'd be happy to add it!

Boost your word count!
Write or Die - A useful tool that kicks your butt into writing, or suffer the consequences. There is a downloadable version and a free web app if you scroll down the page.
Written? Kitten! - The soft, fuzzy version of Write or Die where you get rewarded for writing with adorable kitty pictures! What more could you ask for?

Plotting?
The Snowflake Method - A detailed method for plotting your novel! I haven't used it, but know plenty of people who are trying it out.
Random Adventure Generator - Somebody posted the link to this somewhere, and I haven't had the chance to use it yet, but I saved it because I thought it might be helpful. If you use it, tell me how it goes!

Characters!
Character Traits - Get to know your characters. Like, really know your characters.
Charahub - A place to upload character bios.
Fantasy Name Generators - Because coming up with unpronounceable, awkward, unique names is hard enough.

Make a decision already!
Virtual Coin Toss - My personally most abused link. When I need to make a quick decision or decide between two options. Let fate decide (or better yet, realize you were really leaning toward one decision more than the other when you're upset about the results).
Random Generators - Need some help crunching out ideas? You will find a generator here that suits your needs. Includes the Mary Sue Litmus Test, not to be taken seriously, but fun nonetheless.

Everything else you might need
That Awkward Writing Moment - Trust me, you are not alone!
Liftlift - I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS YET, BUT IT LOOKS AWESOME!
Scribophile - Share your work!
Tablo - Create, publish, and discover great books.
Yarny Handy link is handy. Write your whole novel on this!
Prowritingaid - Writing/plotting aid!
How I Self-Edit My Novels - A handy-dandy blog all about editing!
House Plans - Need a floor layout? Check out real homes for inspiration! (I personally use this one a LOT for coming up with character house floor plans)

Additional Links
Got a challenge? An auxiliary thread? Quote me with a link and I'll put 'er here!

Character Café - Bring your characters!
Word of the Day Challenge - Expand your lexicon!

Past Events

NANOWRIMO WEBSITES

NaNoWriMo Official Site
Camp NaNoWriMo Official Site

LINKS TO PAST GAIAN NANO EVENTS

Current Off-Season NaNoWriMo Thread

The Original Off-Season NaNo Thread
NaNoWriMo 2014
SuWriMo/Camp NaNoWriMo [July] 2014
Camp NaNoWriMo [April] 2014
NaNoWriMo 2013

[Alberic of Krufton]

Participants

Decided to join us in this crazy adventure? Let the whole world know! Use the following in a thread post or a PM to let me know who you are and what your goals are for Spring Camp. Roll call!

[quote="Alberic of Krufton"]
[b]Gaia Username:[/b] Who are you?
[b]Camp NaNo Profile:[/b] If you have one!
[b]Camp Goal:[/b] How many words are you aiming for?
[b]Project Title(s):[/b] What's your story called?
[b]Story link:[/b] Optional, if you want to share![/quote]

~*~*~*~ Updated 23 APR at 17:45 EST ~*~*~*~
Ami Satomora | 15k | Aizora
Alberic of Krufton | 25k | Caenef
AurinJade | 50k | Cerulean
BlueJay Adler | 50k | Echo
child_of_roses | 35k | Dream Weaver
Clasela | 30k | A Heart's Home
Hellsing_Demon | 50k | Untitled
Hrair Rabbit | 50k | Warborn
Illusionary Elysium | 50k? | Earth
Ju-chansuki | 50k | Guardian's Burden
Lady Lagomorph | 10k | The Foot Journey
Lady Snark | 10k edits | The Cagebirds, Before the Blizzard, and WIP: Purgatory Express
- L u n a A s t r i d - | 10k & 10k | Revenant & Hawthorne
Maeve Faylenn | 20k | Earth Spirits
Morsuaile | 20k | Waterlogged
Petit Poupee | 10k | Prinsessen og Dragen
Psychotic Maniacal Sanity | 10k | Penumbra
Silently Wishful | 5k | Eternal Summer
smutty cannibal prince | 25k | Flightless & Soul Hackers
Whimsicaldreamer | 10k | Stepping Stones
WOOFlE | 5k+ | The Underbelly: Arc One
x-BelleDameSansMerci-x | 15k | Fall of Zandürin
xMaskedShipper | 30k | Mother Moon cat_exclaim
Lord Zy | 15k | Safeguard

Trolololekszi | 30k | emotion_dowant

Lurkers

General Phade ninja
ninja x-BelleDameSansMerci-x

[Alberic of Krufton]

Reserved, just in case.

[Alberic of Krufton]

Are you ready?

Let's do this.

THREAD IS NOW OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS.

[AurinJade]

Alberic of Krufton

Gaia Username: AurinJade
Camp NaNo Profile: La Crook
Camp Goal: 50k
Project Title(s): Cerulean

[whimsicaldreamer]

Alberic of Krufton

Gaia Username: Whimsicaldreamer
Camp NaNo Profile: Whimsicaldreamer
Camp Goal: 10,000
Project Title(s): Stepping Stones
Story link: Opting Out

[Ami Satomora]

Alberic of Krufton

Gaia Username: Ami Satomora
Camp NaNo Profile: mirroralchemist
Camp Goal: 30k
Project Title(s): Aizora

[General Phade]

Resident Lurker cat_ninja

[BlueJay Adler]

Alberic of Krufton

Gaia Username: BlueJayAdler
Camp NaNo Profile: BlueJayAdler
Camp Goal: 50k
Project Title(s): Echo
Story link: When I have one, I'll post it

[child_of_roses]

child_of_roses

Gaia Username: Child_of_Roses
Camp NaNo Profile: Imeko
Camp Goal: 35k
Project Title(s): Dream Weaver

[BlueJay Adler]

Posting my replies from the other thread.

Whimsi: What's the symbolism with hands? His tattoos sound really cool. Glad you figured out what worked for him.

Phade: What do people do with a degree in museum studies?

[AurinJade]

*settles in*

I feel like I need to get more naked to properly smear this shiny new threw up a little bit.

And I feel weird because I can't do any pre-camp preparation. I'm doing a re-write. There is no prep for this! Unless we start doing prompt wars. I could use those to get back into my characters, I suppose, but that's about it.

[General Phade]

Adler - Work with collections and drawing connections, setting up exhibits, etc... Generally just working in a museum. It's like needing a degree in library science to be a reference librarian kind of thing.