Camping Out and 101 Challenge 9

For most people, whether online or offline, April 1st is a day for pranking people you know and care about for the fun of it. For many writers, however, April is a time to go into a frenzy and practice the art of focusing on your project without your inner editor going nuts. That’s right! It’s already time for Camp NaNoWriMo!

I told you in a previous post that I’d sharing a cabin with the lovely people from Writer’s Haven on Discord, hosted by Books and Quills (who I need to submit more poems to for fun). Recently we began having fun as a group with Habitica as well, which has helped me start to challenge myself and work on my habits, both good and bad. I can use it as a to-do list, I can use it to remind myself of daily things I need to do…And it all becomes a game with Habitica. I’ve actually used it a long time ago…But having my boss and friends reminding me to look at it helps a lot.

However, “camp” is going to be even more like my youth than I thought it’d be. Over the next month, my grandmother is going to test out an assisted living center…And she’s asked my dad and me to stay at her house to use up her food while she’s gone. We can’t actually leave our own apartment for such a long time (we have inspection later this month, and don’t know quite when it is)…But for the next month, we’ll be staying over there on and off for days or maybe even a week at a time.

To me, this is a mixed blessing. I’m used to my home…But I grew up in this house. Add in free food, TV and internet, free laundry and then some…It’s a pretty sweet deal, really. It’s like a nearby vacation! And you know what? That’s good for writing. There are many who will tell you that when you’re in a rut with your writing, change of scenery can be a great help.

That said, I do have personal qualms about staying there for long periods. Yes, I love the house and it has many memories…But it’s gonna be awkward when my uncle, who is overseas visiting family, returns since he lives there too. I don’t even know if he knows she’s going to this thing.

Anyhow…That’s the lively writing update from me. But man, can you believe this post is already way more words than what I have in my camp project so far, and I’ve had all day!?

Today’s Challenge: Writers in your life and how they’ve inspired you

I could possibly write a novel just about the writers in my life. After his becoming disabled, my father began writing sci-fi novels at home, and would often try to get me to read them (which I just couldn’t get into because, at least at the time, sci-fi was the hardest genre for me to enjoy even a wee bit. Ironic since I usually write it!). He’s had family and friends read the drafts, and he’s still working on perfecting them…But he hopes that I’ll join him and conspire with him so that we can both get our names on the cover. In fact, he’d probably just put it under mine knowing him!

Of course, my father isn’t the only writer in my life. I’ve been making friends with fellow writers thanks to NaNoWriMo since middle school, and I work at a literary magazine- a job which I actually got through a NaNo group! I find that my life has gotten much easier to understand thanks to the many writers I’ve met…Because they all give me such a wide variety of views of the world. Whether we’re talking about new techniques to torture characters with or about personal life problems, my friends that write alongside me are always helping me become both a better author and person.

I am part of a ton of forums nowadays, too, where writing is a major part of my time. My friend hosting Caludin itself (who is so kind as to host me too) loves to write and we often chat about it. I’ve joined RP sites and other such forums various times throughout my life, and every time I felt I grew as a writer, and my characters have grown quite a bit as well. It’s amazing, actually…Just how much they grow from interacting with outside worlds.

If you’re a writer, never be afraid to say hello to another- myself included. You never know what treasures will be discovered by mingling and mind-searching together!