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5 min read

The day before Camp Nanowrimo

An image of the Camp Nanowrimo 2023 sponsor badge

Camp Nanowrimo starts tomorrow! Let’s take some deep breaths, dial down the existential ‘AARRGGGH!’, and get you in the right headspace to embark on your writing goal for the month!

What’s Camp Nanowrimo, you ask?

It’s a virtual mini-Nanowrimo adventure where you set your own writing goal and tackle any writing project of your choosing! If you’ve ever wanted to do Nanowrimo’s official November writing challenge, but have been too busy to compete – Camp Nanowrimo might just your answer. You’re not obligated to hit a specific word count goal, either. You might want to plot your next story, hit a word count goal, or finish a research task. A time-based writing goal is also a great option: if it's too heavy a lift to aim for a specific wordcount each day, you could commit to 45 minutes of daily writing instead.

Plus, the best thing about Camp Nanowrimo is the community of writers working alongside you.

If you're writing with First Draft Pro this Camp, you get an extended month long free trial if you register any time from now to the end of July (this means that even if you don't use First Draft Pro for Camp NaNo, and only register a trial to test our app out at the end of July, you'll still get a free month to try it out).

Winners get an extra 25% off a First Draft Pro subscription. Since First Draft Pro is currently 50%-off for all writers (thanks to our early bird special), that's effectively a saving of 75%! Wanna see if we're the right app for you? Try it out.

Make sure the Sims gem floating above your head is a bright and shiny green

When we’re well-rested, hydrated, and supported we have more energy, creativity, and focus. You’re an athlete, you need some R&R before the big marathon.

'You're an athlete' from Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)

Try your best to:

  • Get enough sleep
  • Move your body
  • Drink the water
  • Connect with fellow writers (community helps!)

Set your tangible check-off-able goals

When we give ourselves concrete goals that we can tick off a list, we’re more likely to achieve them. Set goals that make sense for you, but here are some quick wins:

  1. Set your Camp NaNoWrimo goal. To win Nanowrimo, 1,667 words per day is what we’re aiming for! We’ll wait.
  2. Set daily wordcount and project word count goals (if that's your thing). If you are setting a wordcount goal, you can keep track of it in First Draft Pro: here's how to set your word count. Keep your eye on the prize with a word count goal for your whole manuscript, too. First Draft Pro’s nifty progress bar will help you visually monitor your progress throughout the month ahead.

Find your tribe

First Draft Pro has collaboration at its heart because we believe that storytelling is way more fun with friends. You can find your Nanowrimo tribe on the Nanowrimo community forums or on Discord.

  1. Follow First Draft Pro on Twitter so we can cheer you on!
  2. Pop over to the Nanowrimo forum and leave a review to let other Wrimos know how you're finding First Draft Pro ❤️

Know when to stop prepping

Don’t over-prep! Let’s face it, prepping can become a form of procrastination. But it has to be good enough at some point, and you need to start writing!

You’ve got this.