Author India Hill Brown is your Camp Counselor for this week. Find all Camp Care Packages in Breaking News throughout the month of July, or learn more about Camp NaNoWriMo!

1) Celebrate your Success.

It’s easy to get discouraged while writing – maybe you feel behind, or maybe you don’t love what you’ve written so far. It’s time to celebrate the progress you’ve made. Get excited about your story by reading it over again with fresh eyes and a new mindset. You might get a strike of inspiration about what do next! Don’t love what you wrote? Keep writing. The goal of NaNoWriMo is words, not editing. That part comes later.

2) BACKUP YOUR WORK!

If you are reading this, backup your work. When I did NaNoWriMo, one night I went to write and my laptop would NOT TURN ON FOR HOURS. I was almost at the point where I was ready to pry my laptop open with a butter knife to investigate, when it thankfully powered back on. If it didn’t, I would’ve lost all my progress! Back up your work, email it to yourself, update your computer and delete old files from keeping it from running out of space.

Writing Dare: Make a list of everything that excites you about your story.

What's up at Camp?

• Writers of Color Virtual Write-In  - Today, July 13, 4:30 PM PT (Your Time Zone) Come join a virtual write-in for writers of color in the NaNoWriMo community! This event will help you set aside your time for writing, complete with writing prompts, quiet time to write, and writing conversation.

• Ask an Author: Instagram Takeover with India Hill Brown -  Friday, July 14, 2:00 PM PT (Your Time Zone) Author and Camp Counselor, India Hill Brown, will be taking over our Instagram Stories to answer your questions about writing, editing, and publishing!  

• Camp NaNoWriMo Virtual Write-In - Tuesday, July 18, 1:00 PM PT (Your Time Zone) Join us as we dive into our Camp NaNoWriMo projects! During this hour-long livestream, we'll share a few writing prompts to help you brainstorm ideas, and you can chat with other Camp NaNo writers.