Camp NaNo Day Two

It's great doing Camp NaNoWriMo with an active set of cabin-mates. Our cabin began with a collective word-count goal over a million words, which isn't unusual. But the level of production by day 2 is unusual (based on my "vast" experience of exactly one previous cabin.)

The first time I did Camp NaNoWriMo, I chose not to be in a cabin. I was mainly after the motivating drive provided by the public statement of goals, and the daily record of words generated. That Stats Chart is such a visual spur!

After April 2015, though, I got the sense I was missing something. I missed supportive Writing Buddies from the November effort. At camp, that's what cabin-mates provide. 

Today's sample from Meant To Be Here: 
In the 1990s I was riding with a fast group of Orange County Wheelmen. ... I thought I was in for a moderately-paced tour through urban Anaheim and other nearby towns. But most of the group were racers or wanna-be racers; the city limits, long straights and other landmarks were only there to serve as starts and/or finishes for their sprints, intervals and other semi-training races. I could usually catch up with the tailing riders just as they had all cooled down and were ready for the next run. 

In "race" after "race," I kept getting dropped. Until the last one, the long straight run to the finish, that is. "Wait til the next turn," I laughed to myself. 

Around that corner, I knew,  were the main railyards for East Central Orange County, including the tracks for the Metroliner between San Diego and LA, main freight service, as well as Amtrack. 

Once they made the turn, the hotshots with their light-weight racing bikes and skinny tires skidded to a halt in horror. Nine or ten sets of protruding rails, truck-sized potholes, and chunks of asphalt made an effective barrier to their race speeds. Most would need to dismount and carry or walk their bikes past the abatis.

I just went into high gear on my heavy old touring bike with its thick fat touring tires, and slammed across the hazards. 

At the finish, even second place was a long way back.


So far in my cabin, I am paralleling Ken's experience; writing, logging my stats, then checking in with my cabin-mates to find they've dropped me and sped on down the road. But like Ken on his touring bike, I will just keep plugging along, riding toward my own goals, for my own purposes. It isn't a race, and I may yet have that "winning" experience (along with a completed manuscript for us both) before April 30th. 


Word Count: Day 2 Session 1: 3381; Session 2: 1036
Word Count Total: 8835 words