It’s been a while since I paid much attention to the event calendar, so I figured that now was a good time! August is usually a quiet month regarding holidays and celebrations, filled instead with back to school dread and anticipation if anything at all. However, when I took a closer look at the month of August from a writer’s perspective I found several fun things that just might help finish a few novels! Let’s take a look:
Writing Events
There are two nearly identical events spread through the month of August–AugNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo. Both events include writing a novel in the month of August. As the name implies, Camp NaNoWriMo is run by NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and offers a more close-knit though not as fancy experience than its progenitor. I participated in Camp NaNo once a couple years ago, and I can say that if you have the time for it, it’s a great writing experience.
AugNoWriMo is much more informal and laid-back, run by people who want to practice their writing skills by setting their own pace and writing at a more relaxed time of year. It might be a great idea if NaNoWriMo intimidates you or if you want to commit to finishing a novel already in progress!
Obscure Holidays
One of my favorite kinds of prompts to get me writing are obscure holidays (especially writing related ones), and there are more than you might expect! First off, the month of August is, among other things, Romance Awareness Month. Now is the time to review the spiciness in your novel and make it come to life!
Coming up August 9 is
Book Lovers’ Day. This will be one of the few times I will recommend stopping the work on your novel and spend your time reading instead! You might already know that being an active reader will make you a better writer in the long run, but it can still be hard to find the right time to read when it’s hard enough to get around to writing. So on August 9, try to lighten up on your writing and instead spend some time with your favorite book.
The other great writing day in August is Bad Poetry Day on the 18th. This day is actually copyrighted by wellcat.com, if you want to go official, but it can be a great time to experiment with poetry in your novel without feeling obligated to make it any good. Re-write a chapter in limericks!
Hopefully you’ve found some inspiration for the month of August, and personally, I need to get back to working on my Book-In-A-Week novel for this month!
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