Why July Just Isn't November

July and August has brought an odd phenomenon this year; thousands of writers locking themselves indoors, staying out of the sunshine and writing into the small hours of the morning. These writers are becoming withered and pale while their friends are looking tanned and healthy. And why? Because the writers are busy camping.

Camp NaNoWriMo is the summer version of November's National Novel Writing Month, allowing people to write in July or August or both. If you've never taken part in NaNoWriMo before, the idea is this: crazy writers all over the world commit to attempt the seemingly impossible; to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November. I've completed it twice now and, believe me, you really do have to be a little insane to do it (and willing to give up any hint of a social life). NaNoWriMo is tough, and takes up a lot of your time and needs a lot of commitment, but there is one vital ingredient that will really help you get through it successfully - Writing Buddies. The NaNoWriMo site gives you a page with all of your friends listed with their word counts. It adds a real competitive edge as you write like crazy to get ahead of your buddies.

November's NaNoWriMo is a fastpaced, caffeine-induced, sleep-deprived rollercoaster ride of adrenaline. July's Camp NaNoWriMo however, not so much.

On a dark, damp November evening the only things you have trying to pry your attention away from your novel is tv and a warm bed. In the middle of the summer there's a whole world of distractions in the light evenings; barbeques, beach parties, beer gardens, festivals, long walks. Besides that, some of the essential motivators are also missing. There's no Writing Buddies, no forums, and you can only view other people's stats by typing the url in directly. Camp NaNoWriMo still has the motivator of proving you can do it, but somehow July just isn't November.