NaNoWriNO (for me, at least).

“Are you doing NaNo this year?”

I’ve been asked this question dozens of times in the past couple of weeks. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has sort of become a juggernaut for writers over the years. The goal is 50k words blurped into a file over a month. I’ve tried to do it a couple of times, and now I just flat-out know better to say no.

Why?

Because I’m too busy writing to…eh, write. LOL

More power to anyone who wants to participate. Sometimes, it’s the kick in the pants a writer needs to get motivated to BICFOK.*

In any given month, I’m usually bogged down by edits and writing anyway. I average over 100k new words a month.** Not always on the projects I’m submitting to my publisher, because I bounce around different projects as needed, or if I get blocked in one, I switch to another. At any given time, I literally have dozens of projects in progress.*** That’s not counting the editing hell I’m in with my self-pubbed stuff for The Great Turning series. (Self-inflicted hell because I keep making huge revisions and changes.)

Look, word of advice–do NaNo or don’t do it, fantastic. But if you do it, do NOT beat yourself up if you don’t make your word count. Seriously. You have a life and probably a job that pays your bills, and a family to think of. Remember, you are NOT an “aspiring writer” if you’re actually WRITING.

Writers write.

Are you writing?

Good, you’re a writer. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.

And please, for the love of everything holy, don’t finish your book at the end of the month and slap it up on KDP and declare it “done.” You need to go through editing and revisions first.

*- Butt in Chair, Fingers on Keyboard

**- Do NOT compare yourself to me. Keep in mind I am a full-time writer, a trained speed touch-typist, and I have a caffeine addiction, much to the dismay of my cardiologist. Plus Hubby takes care of literally pretty much everything else around home. I’m BICFOK an average of 12-14 hours EVERY DAY. I frequently do not take days off, or only take a few hours off, part of a day. Even when I’m driving, I’m still writing in my head.

***- Scrivener. I write all my books in the software, then compile to Word to send to my publisher. Every series has its own project. It allows me to keep plot lines and character information at my fingertips.

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