Author Adib Khorram is your Camp Counselor this week. Find all Camp Care Packages in Breaking News throughout the month of April, or learn more about Camp NaNoWriMo!

1) Take a reading break: 

I’m a firm believer that you have to be a reader to be a writer. Find yourself stuck? Go read something to rekindle that creative fire. Something in the same genre, something in a different genre. Something that excites and inspires you. Something that reminds you why you want to write.

Writing Dare: Spend at least 10 minutes reading something you love. Afterwards, jot down a few ideas the book sparked that may be related to the project you're working on. 

2) Change it up:

One of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself as a writer is permission to change course. It can be scary to admit to yourself something is not working; it can feel like you’ve wasted time and words. But you haven’t! You’ve learned and grown and you know what doesn't work, which means you’re a lot closer to learning what does.

Writing Dare: Throw something totally unexpected into the next scene you write. Maybe a tree crashes into the house, or the main character finds a wallet with $1,000 in it - anything to take the story in a different direction for a page or two. If you like it, keep it! If not, delete it in your second draft!

Adib Khorram is the author of Darius the Great Is Not Okay. If he’s not writing (or at his day job as a graphic designer), you can probably find him trying to get his 100-yard Freestyle under a minute, learning to do a Lutz Jump, or steeping a cup of oolong. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where people don’t usually talk about themselves in the third person. You can find him on Twitter (@adibkhorram), Instagram (@adibkhorram), or on the web at adibkhorram.com.

What's up at Camp?

• Join in the NaNoWriMo Writing Marathon from Wednesday, April 10 through Sunday, April 14. The average run time for a marathon is 4 hours... so we're working together to write for 4 hours and raise funds for Camp NaNoWriMo! 
  
  
• Write with @NaNoWordSprints. Our sprinters are up and running! If you want to take on a timed writing challenge, check this out to keep your progress flowing.
  
  
• Check out the Camp NaNoWriMo Calendar to stay up to date on what's happening, including Virtual Write-Ins every Thursday at 1 P.M. Pacific!