NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is an event put on by a non-profit with the same name, in which a bunch of writers get together and write 50K words of a novel by the end of the month of November, or 1667 words a day. It’s a great way to have support, hold yourself accountable while writing, or to have that first draft of your novel knocked out in 30 days.
I did it last year and won (meaning that I wrote 50K or more before 30 days was up!) and I was looking forward to doing it again this year. After some heavy contemplating, I realize that it makes absolutely no sense for me to do NaNoWriMo this year, which really sucks! I really wanted to do it and I’ve changed my mind a few times, but I’m staying firm in my decision. Here’s why I’m not doing it, and what I’m doing to stay active as a writer in the meantime:
