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My Camp NaNoWriMo Plans + a NaNoWriMo Alternative

by Kellyn Roth |
June 17, 2020

It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I’m still doing Camp NaNoWriMo this year in July!

It would be a lot more surprising to some (and less to others) if I announced I wasn’t doing NaNo. A lot of my friends are looking for other options and boycotting NaNoWriMo (which I totally support).

Why? Well, NaNoWriMo has always been quite liberal in the way they talk on their social media and in their emails, and lately they’ve gotten a tinge worse. Therefore, some Christians feel uncomfortable supporting them.

I again 100% support those who choose to boycott NaNo after their statements of the past several years, but I am choosing to keep doing it.

My Non-Boycotting

Why? Well, I don’t feel convicted to boycott NaNoWriMo. To me, they’ve been saying these exact same things for years, and it never caused a fuss because I ignore it. They want to turn their event into a platform to speak their agenda.

I want to write during April, July, and November—and use their tracking systems on their website to record my words. I don’t consider those two mutually exclusive.

I could write a lot more about being in this world and not of this world, and where the line must be drawn, and all that, but … personally, I think the lack of conviction is what is pushing me away from boycotting. I’ve prayed about it, but I only feel less and less sure about leaving behind something that is helpful to me and causes me no harm.

Without NaNoWriMo, I would not have written my first book. Using their website, I’ve written 785,628 words. Their lack of Christian principles has not in any way affected my ability to write those words, and the words I’ve written have the power to help other people.

That’s why I consider it an event unto itself with little connection to the organization, and I don’t follow their social media, emails, etc.

If you choose to leave NaNoWriMo behind:

If you’re a Christian girl who will not be participating in NaNoWriMo events, here’s an option for you for this Camp NaNoWriMo.

There is a great option for Christian girls who want something else to do instead of NaNoWriMo. It’s called “King’s Daughters Writing Camp.” A lot of my friends are running it, and I’ll be joining up even though I’m also doing NaNoWriMo.

Email them at: kingsdaughterswritingcamp@gmail.com for more info. But basically, they’re using Slack to power a simple community that will allow us to interact with those with similar convictions and just WRITE. It’s moderated entirely by Christian women. There is a statement of faith involved, and there are guidelines to keep it running smoothly.

Okay, now that that drama’s out of the way, the actual focus of this post … My Camp NaNoWriMo July 2020 project:

At Her Fingertips (The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, Book 3)

Debutante ​Alice Knight has a plan: have her first social season in London, meet the perfect man, and marry him. Fortunately, a rich and charming gentleman falls right in her lap—and nothing will convince her to give him up.

However, Alice’s faith in her plan shatters when a childhood friend tugs at her heart, and an American reporter gives her some unusual advice about God. When the decision must be made, she finds it difficult to make a choice between her head and heart.

The life she’s worked so hard for is finally at her fingertips, but what if faith in God’s will is more important than her own?


My goal is to write 40,000 words during the month of July, though I hope to write more than that. At the moment, I’m putting together a detailed outline (and yes, it looks like I’ll be dealing with some super intense rewrites).

I’ll definitely update you on my progress as I go, but until then, those are the main details!

TTFN!

~Kell~

p.s.

Are you doing Camp NaNo or some equivalent?

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10 Responses

  1. Ok, so I have been praying about this and was having a hard time deciding what to do. Girl, this is totally where I’m at. I really enjoy seeing the stats and progress on the Nano site… it’s helps me visualize my writing goals more.

    1. Yup! It was a hard choice for me, too. I don’t want to be operating outside God’s will or anything of the sort, but I just … didn’t feel the conviction to leave it.

  2. This was really interesting to read! I hadn’t heard about the NaNo boycotts, but I can definitely see the reasoning behind it. However, I’m still intending to do Camp NaNo in July. Like you said, it’s just a way to motivate yourself to write and keep track of your word counts. Their liberality annoys me, but I can just roll my eyes and delete the e-mails. It’s not like I’m paying them or anything.
    That being said, I’m also intrigued by the King’s Daughter’s thing. It’s good to know that there are Christian alternatives out there!

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