Camp Nanowrimo is on Day 11 of the June session. While the concept of the camp structure is interesting, it still has a few bugs in the system. Currently, I am feeling some disillusionment with the process–and it has nothing to do with my actual writing.
Camp setup. All writers are placed in a six person “cabin” unless opting to be a solo writer. These six have a small message board to chat with and encourage each other through the process. Actually this is a pretty awesome idea.
- Improvements. I would like to see ten or twelve individual cabins also connected to give a greater feel of community. It also affords a larger group of people with whom to swap stories and inspiration–particularly if your cabin-mates have gone quiet or are not particularly chatty.
Failed cabin-mates. When camp began, three of my six cabin-mates were already dead in the water; they have yet to log word progress or make a peep in the cabin. My two other participants have since dropped out–no posts or word count updates after day 6. I am now a solitary camper in my cabin and it isn’t particularly fun.
- Improvements. While a person has the option to drop out of his or her current cabin and be resorted, the majority of accounts seem to say the new cabin is rarely more active than the old. Currently there is no option for cabins to boot out the no-shows. The problem could be remedied by a simple “check in” requirement for all participants on the day before camp begins. Those who do not check in on time will be held out of sorting to a cabin until such time as they actually check in. It will lower the likelihood of cabin-fail.
I really do enjoy the process holding me to a goal. This kind of visual accountability puts my fear of failure in overdrive–and I get the work done!
As of yesterday, I was 540 words below the projected word count. Today I need to write 2207 to catch up. Will I make that? It depends on where it feels natural to stop in the progression of the story. If I end at a transition point and I’m short for word count, I will let the remainder sit until the next day. I will eventually make up the missing words–even if by a mad dash at the end of the month…
Allegraphy 
Very interesting! I was wondering how the cabin system is working out. I was initially going to do CampNano in June, but I backed out at the last second. I made sure not to sign up before I was certain, although judging by your post, most people don’t do this, lol. Maybe CampNano should institute some system where people who are inactive for more than a few days get booted out of the cabin and replaced with new people. That’s a bit harsh, I admit, but it would solve the problem!
From what I have heard, the moderators are looking into various options that could help the problem–including the one you suggested. Keep your fingers crossed!