After four weeks of nonstop writing, I have finally hit the finishing line of 65, ooo words in a month. (Here's proof...)

I has taken a long time and a lot of hours of brain racking and backspace banging but I have finally finished the first half of my first draft of the first part of my first book. 

I had the original idea of a woman becoming a knight from many different thing. A line of dialogue from one book, a scene from a film, and finally I came up with a story line which fitted the exactly with the pre-created characters.

 After week three of Camp NaNoWriMo I knew that I would not finish the whole story idea in one month let alone in one book so I decided to split it and have a long first book and a smaller sequel.

The idea has worked so far and now that camp is over I'm going to sit back, relax and wait for July to roll around...

 WRONG!

I'm going to carry on writing during May and June, a little at a time, to keep my creative juices flowing for when July comes a calling.

I recently discovered the online writing goal tracking program called Pacemaker (http://pacemaker.sewillia.com/) which would work extremely for a single month. The features are great but after visiting this great site (http://svenjaliv.com/2013/01/its-here-word-tracker-for-2013/) and found an amazing spread sheet of sorts.

These trackers are so great that I've decided to use them in-between NaNoWriMo and it's relative Camps. 5,000 words in May, 2,500 in June. 5,000 In August 2,500 in September and October.

I absolutely love them and to any writes out there looking for a lovely programme to help with writing goals, I would suggest using either or both of these amazing products.

So finally, without further ado, I leave the virtual world merrily with the prospects of doing some noveling recon tomorrow in the form of a weekend woodland survival course, after which I will be adding another few thousand words to my total word count for the month of April.

 After all, 70,000 is so close that I can almost taste it. And the prospect of finishing only 4,00 words away from that momentous goal is just agonizing. And so, as a message to any and all other Campers doing NaNoWriMo this month I bid you... 

"Good luck. And may the words be ever in your favour."

Hello there virtual friends.

Today I would like to give you a chain.
Yes, a chain. Or more precisely a link to my NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNo profile
pages.

I like keeping tabs on other campers and Wrimo's no matter where they live, and so if any other wrimo's who blog see this, I would just like to say "thank you for honouring me and reading my post".

I love seeing everyone's little word bars go up as the month goes along and so I shall now
present you the links to my pages.

It would honour me if any other Wrimo's out there were to mail me via the NaNo site and tell me what they think of my books or my blog.

To see my Annual November novel writing progress please see this link - http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/aerin-s-heart-s-song

To reach me on the separate Camp NaNo forums and keep tabs on my semi-annual
novel progress, please see this link - http://www.campnanowrimo.org/campers/aerin-s-heart-s-song

Another little tool that I use which I shall post on this site is a gadget found on the website www.tickerfactory.com. With customizable banners and event counters, it is a handy tool for any event.

With that said, I leave the virtual world at peace with a sweet farewell and a softly whispered "adieu". 

 It used to be every November that millions of people would shut themselves away and loose themselves in the daunting task of writing a 50 thousand word
novel during the 3o day month of November.

National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo as it is informally known is a fun and exiting literary adventure for people of all ages, weather looking to write their next killer best seller of weather just writing for the sun of it.

But then out of the smoke of all those novelists came the wondrous Camp NaNo. A lite version of National
Novel writing month, held twice a year in July and August.

This year in 2013 the camp system changed and the camp sessions were set for April and July instead.

Last November (2012) I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time and after winning and thoroughly enjoying myself in the process, I decided to join up for Camp NaNo in April.

The word count goal was flexible and after my quick win last November I decided to up my goal from 50,000 words to 65,000.

It is now day 24 of The April Camp NaNoWriMo and I am currently at 53,157 words and going strong.

NaNoWriMo is a fun experience for all sort of people, no matter your experience or skill. Anyone can do it, and so everyone should. It is fun to meet new people from all over the world and chat about different aspects of your noveling journeys.

I am completely confident that I will reach my 65,000 word goal for the month of April and so thoroughly intend on participating in the next Camp NaNo in July.

I encourage everyone who ever wanted to write a novel to give NaNo a go. It doesn't matter if you win or loose. At the end of it, you can say that you sat down and worked alongside millions of people worldwide in an attempt to write a novel in a month. 

Some writers take years to get their novel down on paper. NaNoWriMo is an
incentive to write.

It will not be perfect, but it will be written. After the month ends, do with your novel draft as you wish.

Edit it, revise it, put it away for a while, pick it up later, or in extreme cases, bin it and start again. But
whatever you decide to do after NaNo, if you haven't written anything, you can't do it.

I never knew I could get so much satisfaction from writing. I become my characters, they become real to me. I know them inside out and they help me learn about who I am as a person. I grow stronger as they do and feel their pain like it were my own.

I can become whoever I want to be. I can be a knight in a fantasy realm, I can be a warrior in the forests of the Amazon. I can be a fairy in a glen or even a captain in a hovercraft seven thousand years from now.

I can live anywhere I want. Be anything I want to be. That type of release comes only from writing and delving into the magical realms I create in my books. Nothing makes me feel so fulfilled, and nothing can take away the joy I find when becoming my characters and letting them lead my life.