Under canvas

Many people who know me, know that I am not a camper. I love the outdoors and I love the idea of camping, but when it comes down to it, it is just not for me. Traipsing across a field for the loo in the middle of the night just isn't my thing. When my husband and I found out we were expecting a son (he's 3 years old now), he said to me that I would have to get over my field phobia. I saw his point and promised I would (at some point!) go out under canvas, but to this day the Premier Inn and I (known as the Moon Hotel) have won over! So it might surprise you to you know that I have been on camp for the last month. To be fair, it wasn't under canvas, but I have been out under the stars, tucked away in my cabin working away into the early hours. Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month. It takes place in November, and writers challenge themselves to put down on paper a 50,000 word novel. I have always fancied this, but 50,000 words in a month when I work and look after two children has always seemed a little too ambitious. And then suddenly I heard about Camp Nanowrimo. This takes place every April and you set your own goals. You decide how much you want to write and then with the support of your cabin mates, you go for it. And so I did! On April 1st, I started writing, setting myself a goal to write 30,000 words of my book. At the end of each day I checked in my word count and caught up with my fellow cabin mates for motivation. (Each camper is put in an online cabin when they start and you can chat and encourage each other as the month goes on). Now as the end of April approaches I am a little behind my 30,000 goal. However, I have written 13,000 words and more importantly I now feel motivated to keep going. I have in the past few years become a little 'stuck' and this month I feel that I have found something that I really love to do. I have now signed up to a free Creative writing course with the open university and will be working on developing my characters over the next couple of months. Camping has suddenly become appealing again...although for the time being, maybe indoors! My cabin below (Our kitchen!)