When I was a teenager me and a friend went camping a couple of times. We pitched-up at the seaside resort of Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire. We were 14 and it was a big deal for us to be let loose on our own. We ate chip butties for every meal (I’m not joking. Chips for breakfast is one of life’s great delicacies) and spent most of our time in the arcades. The thrill of Asteroids, Robotron 2084 (I LOVED that game) and Defender. 🙂
The second time, we caught the tail-end of a hurricane. Now that was a weird holiday. I ended up clinging to a lamp-post in the early hours waiting for my dad to drive the 90 miles to rescue us when the tent flooded. Very wet holiday and surprisingly, we didn’t go again.
That seems such a LONG time ago. Wow. Nearly THIRTY years. Still, happy memories.
Anyway, the reason for that trip down amnesia lane is another type of camping. This is the challenge type of CAMP. You know the one.
For me, this is a year of the challenge. The Eclectic Reader challenge to read genres that I wouldn’t usually touch; doubling the number of books I read in a year to 24; and WRITE more.
I have decided to enter the Camp Nano challenge for August. I have some time off at the beginning of the month and as well as watching the Olympics (I thought about going, but the best seat is at home with the BBC!) I have time to get some serious writing done.
I should finish the second draft of my crime novel in early June and I am ITCHING to get into a new project.
Usually, I’d want to finish one project before embarking on a new one, but I want to write something else. I plan on putting the crime novel to one side for a couple of weeks so I can then read it with fresh eyes and want to do something else.
I like a challenge and Camp Nano seems like the perfect choice.
If anyone else is doing the challenge in August and they want to join me in a cabin (ooh matron!) then let me know and we can make arrangements.
Anyone else participating?
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Pete Denton 
I’ve been thinking about participating, but I just know I’ll end up swamped with work a few days into the month; that’s what happened with last year’s NaNo and I was only able to write 5000 words. That was rather upsetting.
Good luck to you, though! I hope you can make it! =]
Thanks, Zen. I need to set a challenge to have a hope of achieving it. I hope to make it out the other side of August 🙂
I’m doing both camps this year. I tried doing them last year but only got about 25k in the first one and 10k in the second. I’m determined to get my 50k in both camps this year though!
Good luck with your camp adventure! 😀
Thank you. Good luck with hitting the 50k mark. I thought about doing both, but it doesn’t fit well this year. Maybe next year.
I’m doing the June camp to start my new trilogy. I’m looking forward to it. Too bad we aren’t doing the same camp, but then it wouldn’t wholly surprise me if I ended up doing August too. :p Good luck with your camp though. I’m looking forward to reading how it goes.
Thanks, Julie. Best of luck with the June camp. I look forward to reading about it and it inspiring me on to hit the August totals.
Sounds like a fun challenge, and of course you’ll post about it afterwards…
Of course, EllaDee. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I need to push myself otherwise I drift and accomplish nothing. 🙂
Best of luck Pete. I’m sure you’ll manage. You’ve been nominated for the Illuminating Blogger Award. http://barsetshirediaries.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/new-award/ ready whenever you want to pick it up.
Thanks, David. I’ll know how I’m doing by the end of the Olympics. This is my 2012 challenge.
Thank you very much for nominating me for the Illuminating Blogger Award. I will post my acceptance sometime in the future 🙂
I might try out the August camp. It really depends on where I am at that point in my various novelling projects. I have a tendency to start like four stories, abandon them, work on a new one, abandon that, go back to the second story, etc. Camp Nano is great for sticking with a story, I just don’t know if I’ll be able to tear myself away from whatever I’ll be working on at that time! Best of luck with your own Nano-ing 🙂
Thanks, Michelle.
Timing is always an important factor for me too. I will have finished the draft of my current novel so the August camp is perfectly timed.
If you try the August camp, best of luck with it.
Good luck Pete, I’ve never taken part in any of these writing challenges. One day…
Thanks, Vanessa. That’s what I kept thinking “One day I’ll enter that challenge.” 2012 the year of the challenge!
Hope Nano Camp is way better than clinging to the lamp post during a hurricane camping. 🙂
Hahaha, thanks Kourtney. I hope so. Camping from the luxury of my living room sounds more my kind of thing now.
I will be there! Good luck this summer! 🙂
Thanks, Rachel. Likewise enjoy camping.
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