Tuesday, October 25, 2011

To Nanowrimo or not to Nanowrimo...

Now THAT truly is the question.


For the uninitiated, NANOWRIMO is the acronym for National Novel Writing Month, an annual event that takes place every year in November.  During NANOWRIMO, writers sit down and write for 30 days, allowing themselves to write badly so long as they hit their word count.  At the end of the 30 days, if you've worked religiously, you will have completed a 50,000 word novel.

I've done this several years, but this year, I'm asking myself whether or not I want to join the movement.  Here's the pros and cons:


CON:To reach the 50K goal, I'd need to write about 1660 words a day
I'd need to start from scratch with a new idea and I already have 13 novels waiting to be finished
I can't edit as I write (this is tough for me)
I'd need to write every day, and so far, that hasn't happened for me.

PRO:
Participating in NANOWRIMO might help me to make it a habit to write daily.
There's a lot of support from other writers participating in NANOWRIMO.
I'd have to learn to give myself permission to write badly, knowing I'd edit it when done, not stop the novel momentum now.
If I manage to turn off my internal editor, I could be more productive

At the end of the month, I'd have a complete novel.


Decisions, decisions.  Clock is ticking.  I have just 6 days to decide!


~ Stephanie

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