NaNoWriMoing Again

For the third year in a row, I have decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month, or “NaNoWriMo” as the hip kids call it. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, which comes out to 1,667 words per day.

I’ve had several friends ask me why I participate. Shouldn’t I just write on my own? Why does it have to be for a thing?

Those are completely valid concerns. The problem is that life is busy. Work, family (especially with a nine-month-old in the house), etc., and when are you supposed to have the time to actually get any writing done anyway? 

You have to make the time, of course. There is no getting around that fact when you are not making your living at it.

The reason I decided to participate at the eleventh hour, was because my schedule has finally started to slightly clear up. This was directly related to Brittany’s work schedule finally normaling off (at least for now). I brought the idea of participating up to Brittany and she told me I should go for. “If nothing else it is a good motivational tool.”

She, as usual, is right.

That’s the reason I’m participating. I haven’t been writing regularly over the last several months, and I need the kick in the pants. NaNoWriMo’s official site has a tracker with handy graphs that show right away you if you start to let your goal get away from you.

But isn’t a novel written in a month going to be garbage? 

That is highly probable. 

But I think that is missing the point. If you want to be a good writer, you have to write all the time. This just brings us back to the point of it being a motivational tool. 

I’m not expecting this to end up being some amazing piece of literature. What I’m really hoping for is to come out more skilled than I entered, and use those skills to get back to the other book I started and have let languish. 

So if you are aspiring writer who has been looking for a good motivational tool, I highly recommend giving NaNoWriMo a try. You’re only one day behind, and that’s not too hard to claw you way back up from. Even if you don’t meet your goal this year, there is always next time. 

And hey, the real point is to just get writing anyway. So what are you afraid of?Chicken.

Check out my NaNoWriMo Profile here.

2 November 2011

• Tags
• NaNoWriMo
• writing