She's a Rebel

I'm going to camp!  And once I'm there, I will be a rebel.

The camp is Camp NaNoWriMo and it only exists online, for authors and would be authors.  Camp opens April 1 for a month, and there is another session in August.

Yes, after having pounded/bled out a 50,000 plus "novel" (which most likely will never see the editor's pen, as it was more of a mental health exercise than anything else) back in November for National Novel Writing Month, I'm coming back for more punishment.

Heaven Help Me. 

But this time, I am going to be the rebel I wanted to be back in November.  For in the NaNoWriMo world, non fiction writers (including memoir writers) are considered "rebels". You're supposed to write fiction.  Indeed, a number of fiction works, including at least one that I've read, have come out of NaNoWriMo - 30 days of insanity during which you are supposed to write 50,000 words. Just pour them out.  Editing comes later.

There are certain "permitted" genres in NaNoWriMo. If you write outside the box, you are a rebel.

In contrast, Camp NaNoWriMo is a virtual camp.  You have "cabinmates" (you don't get to pick them, either, just like in regular camp, although you can invite other campers you know.  I chose not to because I didn't bother to find out if anyone I knew was participating.).  It's calm.  You get to choose the number of words you are striving towards.  I decided on 10,000.  You get support from your cabinmates.

And....you can write in any genre.  Even in the forbidden ones.

This time, I'm going to be a rebel.

I decided to write a memoir.  Not of my experiences in our area's major flood of 2011, which I used as background for the fictional memoir I wrote in NaNoWriMo 2012.  No, this time I'm planning to write a real memoir.

I grew up in the Bronx.  My neighborhood transformed from lower middle class to slum by the time I escaped. (It still is a slum).  And then, in my 30's,  I was a city gal who decided to move to rural Arkansas.  My spouse (then, and now) came along for the ride.  Ever wonder what happens when New York City collides with Arkansas?  Or maybe I'll spend most of my time in the Bronx.  I'm a "pantser" (meaning I don't do much, if any, planning) so we'll just have to see what flows out of the laptop.

I don't know that anyone would ever want to publish my memoir.  I haven't been on drugs.  I didn't grow up during a war.  I didn't fight in a war.  My parents didn't belong to a religious cult.  I didn't grow up with the Gypsies.  I've never been to Paris.  I've never battled cancer (and, may that continue). There isn't anything that special about me that would attract a publisher.

Or is there?

I really don't care.  After all, I'm a rebel!