It comes back every year like a herd of migrating gophers, NaNoWriMo also known as National Novel Writing Month or Dreaded November.
(I know, I know, gophers?…Stay with me anyway)
I’ve tried it before and burned out after a glorious but short-lived effort. It seems that every November I have more on my plate than I can manage and have to pass. Yet I’ve heard those stories of people who went the whole distance, successfully ending up with a manuscript of sorts in one single month. Then, I imagine, they have to go into rehab for their caffeine addiction and sleep for the next six months.
This year is no different. I have three kids now and should be hunting freelance work. Can I really try to reach some insane writing goal each day? And just how insane would that goal be?
Don’t try to answer that, I’ve got the numbers all ready for you.
The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel from November 1st to November 30th. That means 1,666.67 words a day. The ‘666’ part is no accident.
Say I do it. Say I somehow, due to some miracle, manage to do it successfully…would the manuscript require so much editing that all my hard work would be for naught? I did see that someone who had done NaNoWriMo had self-published the result. They shall remain nameless but trust me when I tell you it was not a really good thing.
So this year…do I attempt it or do I keep my hold on reality which is, admittedly, a little tenuous at times? Visiting writers…are you doing WriMo? Comments welcome!
