NaNoWriMo Bad, Bad, Bad

Yes, that’s right. It is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) time again. That means lots of crazy writers–we’re talking thousands upon thousands–are all converging to try and write a novel of at least 50,000 words in one month. And that month would be November.

Have I done it? Yes.

Have I succeeded? Yes.

Have I failed? Yes.

Have I a pile of wonderful, exciting first drafts that are sitting around impatiently waiting for me to have the time to come back to them since creating them during NaNo? Yes. (This is the “bad, bad, bad” part of this post’s title.)

Will I be doing NaNo again this year? Sadly, no.

Will I write at all in November? Heck yeah. I just don’t have the time to commit myself to 50K on something new. And “commit myself” is the right phrase. We’re talking creating serious mental issues if I try to do it this year. Plus then I’ll have ANOTHER first draft of a lovely story picking at me to become a lovely, edited novel for someone else’s eyes.

This is so, so true!

What, you may ask, is the lure of NaNoWriMo? For many it’s watching that little word count thermometer rise and rise and rise until it hits the 50K mark. It’s addicting really. It releases a little something inside that kicks the internal editor right on its sorry little behind. The words come flying out. The story soars and floods the page. It is exhilarating. It’s a challenge too. And for some, there are the bragging rights as well. To say you wrote a novel in a month. Well now. That’s really something!

Wanna give it a go? NaNo has a lovely support group/writers group on its website. And lovely badges to post with pride. And many other gadgetry goodness that will for sure have your hot little hands rubbing themselves together.

Enjoy!