More NaNoWriMo Thoughts

Okay, NaNoWriMo is now over, so I’ll give my unvarnished(and possibly offensive) thoughts on what I consider to be a bunch of hoity-toity virtue signaling rather than something good for writing.

For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for Nation Novel Writing Month, and it happens every November.  The idea is for folks to start a new project and write 50,000 words by midnight on November 30^th.  In order to accomplish this, a writer must write an average of 1667 words a day.

Now maybe this helps spur some folks to find the motivation they need to get to that book project they’ve always talked about.  Lord knows that I’ve had my own challenges with getting off my ass and writing on my newest novel.  However, I dislike NaNoWriMo for a number of reasons.

For starters, any book worth its salt requires thought and planning.  Yes, as I wrote Salvation Day or Akeldama, I managed 4000-5000 words in a single session, which is more than NaNoWriMo requires, but I didn’t write every day.  Sometimes I outlined.  Sometimes I corrected previously written work.  Sometimes I just needed a day off.  Whatever it was, while I could’ve reached 50,000 words, I think the quality would’ve suffered.

Second, if you need a specific month to finally write, are you really a writer?  Shouldn’t you be writing regardless of what the calendar says?  Or are you just looking for kudos from your friends as you make the cut?  And do you stop writing just because December is finally here?  It just feels so forced.

Finally, I dislike the pretension around NaNoWriMo.  Some say we should be encouraging each other, and I’m all about that, but I’ve found so many use it as an excuse to brag, and I despise that.  A good writer doesn’t need to brag about it, but rather should just do his or her best and write the best story possible.  But NaNoWriMo seems like a dick-measuring contest among writers.  Yes, we usually write for ourselves, but mostly because we like the story and want others to enjoy it, not to be self-righteous and tell other writers how awesome we are.

Of course, I am awesome, but bragging about it is unseemly.  ;-P