Camp NaNoWriMo

I have decided to embark on another literary mission- Camp NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which takes place in November. The challenge is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. There is also a kid's version, which allows you to choose your own word count goal. In November, mine was 7,000 words and I met that goal. The Office of Letters and Light, which runs NaNoWriMo, has just launched an exciting new thing- Camp NaNoWriMo! The only difference from regular old NaNoWriMo, besides the camp theme and longer name, is that Camp NaNoWriMo is for whatever month you want (or at least the summer months). Unfortunately, a YWP (Young Writer's Program) has yet to come out, although there is a section in the YWP NaNo site for Camp. My goal is 10,000 words, and I am currently at 1,490 words. I wrote 631 words today! Here are my tips and tricks.
*Round up your daily goal
For example, if your goal is 10,000, like me, you will need to write 323 words per day. That's assuming you write all 31 days of July. But what if one day you are sick, or on vacation? That's where rounding 323 up to 400 would be useful. You don't need to worry as much about missing a day here and there then, because you've already got at least an extra 77 words! Plus, it's easier to remember and do math with numbers like 400.

*Reward yourself!
I made up 'milestone packs' for myself, which each include a short letter to myself about how far I am in my writing, a sour gummy, and 1-2 old Archie comics. The final pack (for 10,000 words) also contains an Airhead. I plan on adding more treats, like candy from the July 4th parade tomorrow! Having rewards motivates you to keep writing so you can finally have that yummy/fun/exciting thing you've been waiting for, and also rewards you when you finally complete the number of words you've chosen to complete before your reward.

*No excuses!
Even if you're just 10 words short of your goal, don't stop for the day. If you get into this horrible habit of falling short, you will never reach your goal. You will keep putting writing off and off until there is no days left to put it off until! Pressure yourself to keep going and write those extra 10 words, even if they're something you hate and will immediately edit out in the next month. Which brings me to the next tip...

*Absolutely NO editing!
Editing words out doesn't help you write more. It interrupts the flow of your writing and *gasp* wastes valuable words! I don't care how much you hate that sentence, how much you think the whole paragraph is just a bunch of ranting and 'then she laced up her battered shoes', DON'T DO IT! Remember, quantity, not quality.

*Use Write or Die!
Write or Die by Dr.Wicked () is a online program that punishes you for not writing while you are in it. There are 4 modes, all of which have consequences for not writing. When you stop writing, the background of the page turns red and gets darker and more intense as time elapses. The each also have another punishment. In Gentle Mode, a box pops up telling you to keep writing. In Normal Mode, an annoying sound is played. In Kamikaze mode, your words delete themselves until only your first word remains. You can also set your grace period to Gentle, Strict, or Evil. Write or Die doesn't work for everyone, but for me it is pressure to keep pounding out the words.

*Keep track of your words.
I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my word count. The one I use is located at: http://svenja.atspace.com/wordtracker.html/ It tells you how many words you write per hour, how many words you have left, when you will be done at this rate, and much more! I like using this so I know just how fast I am progressing or just how slow.

That's all my tips for now! Good luck!