Camp NaNo Lessons: Redefining "Winning"

It's now May. Another Camp NaNo has come and gone. Some campers have walked away completing their Camp goals and others haven't. I'm #teamwontfinishcampgoal and I'm totally cool with it!

I made a goal of 1320 minutes for the month, which is about 22 hours (the site won't let you go that low in hours, so I had to do minutes). I ended with about 600. I basically reached about half of my goal.

After many setbacks, the fact that I wouldn't win this time around was pretty clear. I was sick for the first week. I went on a trip. I had a number of appointments that I needed to go to. My time was filled up with anything but writing. So I ended up just getting in what I could and not stressing over the numbers.

I know I could have adjusted my goal so I could win, but I've done that almost every single Camp and it doesn't sit right with me. I wanted to be okay with losing. I wanted to start resetting my priorities. Winning isn't always about the numbers. It's about putting in the effort.

Think about a race. What causes someone to win? Is it the fact that they hit their PR for the distance? No. It's the fact that they worked hard, pressed through, and came out in front. They may have gotten the slowest time in their career, but if they come in first, it still counts as a win.

No one would ever say that they should have pushed for a PR if they didn't need to (except for jerks that they don't need to listen to). If the competition was slower, then why work harder than they had to? That's not efficient and could lead to burnout and injury. The same goes for writing.

As I started looking at the work I'd accomplished throughout the month, I realized that I actually had gotten a lot of things done. Despite the fact that I only got 10 hours of work in, I finished almost all of my actual goals that I had made for the month. Here they are:

1. Outline upcoming NaNo novel. Check.

2. Create a battle plan for my upcoming edits. Check.

3. Research pitching. Check. Not to the level I'll need for Realm Makers, but I got the basic idea and now I'll grow it as I go through the upcoming months.

4. Plot additional scenes for Simon Says. Honestly, I did some reading through and just ended up encouraged that it didn't stink as much as I thought it would. I didn't really get the sense that too much was missing. I still think that there's something I could add, but it wasn't a horrible read. So this wasn't completed, but it wasn't a waste of time either.

As you can see, the time I spent working in April was well spent and profitable. I came out in front, not because I put in extra hours, but because the hours I did put in were used well. I worked smarter, not harder. I reached my tangible goals. In my mind, that's a win.

But what if I had tried to push to get in the 22 hours? I'm pretty sure I would have walked away angry, depressed, and burnt out. Not what I need in these upcoming months leading to Realm Makers. I need to create a sustainable, healthy work system so I put out the best work I can so I'm better set up for my pitches.

I want to redefine winning in my life. I want to understand that putting in more hours isn't better than putting in quality work time. If I can work fewer hours with better results, shouldn't I do that so I can spend more time on other things like family time and taking care of my spiritual and physical health?

ABSOLUTELY! 

So if you didn't reach your Camp goal, but still worked hard last month, be encouraged! Your efforts matter. They are steps towards whatever goal you're working towards. Be proud of yourself and what you did!

Having a healthy balance between work and life is important if you want to make writing a lifelong endeavor (or anything a lifelong endeavor, for that matter). Find what is a win for you and rejoice in it.

Onto y'all! What's a win you experienced this past month aside from Camp? What are your priorities when you sit down to write? How are you redefining winning in your life? Let me know down below!

I also wanted to remind y'all that this is the last week you can get your questions in for Jules's and my joint Q&A vlog, so if you haven't already and want to, hop over to this post and get your questions in!