Author Prince Shakur 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) Fall in Love With The Process

The biggest piece of advice that I give is new writers is the importance of “falling in love with the process.” Love the fact that you love stories, that you want to tell them, and honor the messy parts of the process. Remind yourself that you’re lucky to love and want to try something this much.

2) Give Your Characters Secrets

If you want to make the characters in your story more engaging, consider giving them secrets. I once watched a writer talk that recommended you give your prominent character or characters - a secret that everyone knows, a secret only some people know, and a secret that only that character knows.

Writing Dare: Follow Prince's prompt and answer these questions: What’s a secret that everyone knows? A secret only some people know? And a secret that only that character knows? Continue with other prominent characters.

What's up at Camp?

• NaNoWriMo Community Virtual Meetup - Thursday, Jul 27, 1 PM PT (Your Time Zone) All writers in the NaNoWriMo community are invited to join us for a virtual meetup! We'll get to know each other as writers, share writing sprints, and talk about the writing life.

• Writers of Color: Virtual Community Meetup -  Friday, Jul 28, 1:30 pm PT (Your Time Zone) Come join NaNoWriMo for a virtual meetup and meet other writers of color! We'll get to know each other as writers, share what's inspiring us, and talk about the writing life.  

• Writers of Color: Virtual Write-In - Thursday, Aug 10, 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.