Why do werewolves run in a pack? Vampires are usually portrayed as solitary creatures. But werewolves live and die as a pack. It’s their strength. Alone they are weak, but together they can overcome any challenge. Cole, the hero from the Circle of Dreams, for example was separated from his brutally dysfunctional pack as a child. As a young adult he and his twin sister have built a team of psychics that serve a part of that pack function. I sometimes wonder if authors are like this… writing is a solitary activity. As much as we live to write and may love the process of creativity, at times it can be a difficult thing to go it alone. Where writers go to find their pack is an interesting question. One of these resources is Camp NaNoWriMo, which provides community to help get writers across the finish line and to the last page.
Perhaps one of the greatest weakness and greatest strengths of being an author is solitude. It is a necessity, but can also lead us into the oblivion of distraction if we’re not careful. Editors, agents and publishers can keep us in check if we are at the stage where we have these amazing people in our work life, but setting a day to day writing schedule is all up to us. This can be tricky when our minds to wander (after all, that’s why we love writing!) and creativity takes hold when we should be focusing on the task at hand. I confess that I yearn, as I suspect many of us do, for the quiet of solitude, for time and space in my hectic life where I can write or take a walk as my characters come to me and my stories unfold. Some of our best works are created when we finally reach that sometimes illusive space between the two worlds of creativity and discipline. But finding that sweet spot can sometimes be a challenge.
Although I have yet to try it, Camp NaNoWriMo presents an interesting opportunity for authors to have a pack-like experience, even if only for a month. It all takes place online, providing a great mix of support without unending distractions. You get your own cabin (small chat room for close knit groups) and plenty of time every day for the solitude required for the craft with the thrill of friendly competition in the air. NaNoWriMo sets a daily word count based off of your word count goal for the month. It is a call to arms to write as a team. The leader boards (based off words written per county) give extra incentive and many use the new personal cabins feature to get a group together for daily word wars (writing sprees where you set an amount of time and see who can write more words in a race). Overall, a simple social network online that can help anyone who has a bit of a competitive streak, needs a little extra incentive, or finds it difficult to stay on track with their daily word counts and could use a few reminders.
In Circle of Dreams Cole has been forced to develop his own pack. Given the solitary nature of his early life on the run from his own kind, he has learned that going it alone is a safer option. As writers, and I will admit to being one of them, it can be an immense challenge to share my writing, my struggles to find a story, finish it, and shape it. For some, the solitary life of a writer is necessary, for others, a romantic notion. And for many it doesn’t need to be so austere. Perhaps we are wolves of a different sort, and groups like Camp NaNoWriMo give us a pack-like experience that can help us move closer to our goals.
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