The Ten Commandments of Camp

Last week was my first really tough one. As I passed the 50K mark, I started to feel really, really tired. So, I took a day off. After all, I was way ahead on my word count. Then, the next day didn’t go so well. I wrote, but only a thousand words and they were torture. Then, I took another day off. Enough already!

The last couple of days, I seem to be back on track, and still in position to finish on time, even if I don’t write any extra. Spending a bit of time on the NaNoWriMo forums helped get me back on track. It’s where everyone goes to complain and get sympathy. It can be pretty entertaining. There was one thread that inspired me to come up with some rules of my own. Until last week, I didn’t think I needed them, but you know what they say about pride . . .

Christina’s Ten Commandments

1. Thou shalt complete thy wordcount every day, nor shalt thou look at facebook/instagram/pinterest/etc. until it is done. (Twitter is ok, but thou must stay on #NaNoWordSprints only)

2. Thou shalt not make excuses for why thou can’tst write at any given moment. The muses care not that the road be bumpy or the cats annoying.

3. Thou shalt not ruminate over thine format, nor shalst thou agonize over points of view.

4. Thou shalt not allow thy characters to push thee around, even though they be pushier than thou art.

5. Thou shalt not fall in love with thine protagonist.

6. Thou shalt not lust after thine villain, no matter how hot, for he is evil.

7. Thou shalt not reward thyself with chocolate daily, merely for completing thy word count. (this doth seem a wee bit unfair).

8. Thou shalt not bore thine husband to tears explaining plot twists that have not yet come to pass.

9. Thou shalt not incessantly compare thyself unfavorably to award-winning writers.

10. Though shalt not murder the cat for standing on the keyboard for the seventy times seventh time.

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