Ahhh, June... For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it means longer days, more sunshine, and (fingers crossed) a break from the everyday routine of school. You know what that means? EXTRA TIME TO WRITE! And Camp NaNoWriMo is the perfect way to do it. Just accept the challenge from your Dashboard to start planning your project. 

What is Camp NaNoWriMo?

• Camp NaNoWriMo is a writing event that happens in April and July. It's different from NaNoWriMo in November because you can work on ANY type of creative project, not just a novel. First drafts or revision, scripts or stories or poems or essays—all are welcome! Just set a goal and get writing. 
  
  

Visit Camp on YWP to learn more!

Tired of working on novels? Here are three other projects you could try:

• Take one of your story ideas (even one you've worked on before) and turn it into a script for a TV show. Watch a few episodes of your favorite shows (bonus!) and take notes on what happens every few minutes: what's the opening scene like? What percent is dialogue vs. other kinds of action? Think about how you could SHOW a viewer what's happening in your story rather than just telling them about it. Check our our script resources for support!

• Write a memoir! A memoir is a collection of stories about moments or events in a person's life. No matter how old you are, you've got compelling stories to tell! Jot down a list of memorable experiences, then choose a few you'd like to write more about. Memoirs can jump around in time, too - you could start writing about the day you got your pet cat and end by reflecting on what it means to graduate middle school, or how it feels to grow up. 

• Think of an issue or topic you care about and write a long-form, narrative journalism piece about it. That means doing research and taking notes, interviewing people who have first-hand experience with your issue, and then putting it all together in a creative - but factual - essay. It's like a newspaper article, but longer and told in a more story-like way. 
  
  

Contest Update

Yowza! We received over 1,100 submissions, and we're having a blast reading them. So much creativity and talent and hard work and risks and surprises and heartfelt emotion... we could go on and on (and on!). 

We'll announce results the week of June 18.  If you sent in your work, thank you! We know it can be scary (and exciting) to send your story out into the world, and we appreciate your bravery. Please consider sharing your excerpt in the "Now What?" contest forum and reading other young writers' hard work.