I’ve done something for National Novel Writing Month each year since 2019. That first year was the only time I’ve “won” by getting to fifty thousand words, but I’ve always appreciated the exercise and change of pace required to make a reasonable attempt. November is just around the corner, so it’s time to consider my plans for this year’s effort.
For the past two weeks I’ve debated whether committing to NaNoWriMo is even a good idea. This year has been busier than anticipated, and November—normally a pretty good month for uninterrupted work—will have one, maybe two trips that would make daily writing difficult. There’s contract work I do on the side that needs to be completed and various daily responsibilities that have increased from my first NaNoWriMo. The largest change compared to 2019 is that I have a social life. I play softball once a week; we go to bar trivia with friends; Erin’s lab typically has a happy hour; and even without all that I still live with my wife and want to spend time with her.1I did very little with other people while living in San Diego, so there was ample time to hang out at Panera and let the words flow.
I have sufficient reasons to opt out of NaNoWriMo this year, but I’m going to give it a try anyway.
Though my aspirations to be a writer have mostly been quelled, I still enjoy the process and want to practice getting words on the page. NaNoWriMo is largely a tool for hobbyists or committed amateurs to force a draft out of themselves. It’s a “real thing” that provides an excuse to squirrel away extra time to write for the month in a way that wouldn’t necessarily be as easily supported for an entire year. Erin is understanding when I have a project I want to attempt, and I’m willing to find the extra time—by waking up earlier, using some of my lunch break, and not watching as much YouTube—to not egregiously affect other responsibilities.
Another consideration is my yearly theme. My focus is on creating habits and precedents for a future full of change, and while I may have some Novembers in the future similar to 2019, it’s more likely that they’ll be at least this busy moving forward. Is it fair to allow myself to be intimidated by the prospect of giving something a reasonable try because life is busy? Doing so doesn’t scale well, particularly given the stakes. There are times where saying no is important, and I’ve done a good job of paring down some of my extracurricular tasks while taking the time I need away from group activities to complete my work. That’s been a positive application of my theme, but focusing on NaNoWriMo as an opportunity for growth is also consistent with how I want to approach life.
This project is not about getting to fifty thousand words. That goal is there to show how one can make significant progress by chunking out daily work into achievable units, but truly it’s an excuse to just write. I consider NaNoWriMo a success if I write significantly more during the month than I would have otherwise, and write something every day.
I plan to focus on The Last Question. A group of friends have been playing the game with me this year, so it’s time to revisit the world I started creating and flesh it out. For NaNoWriMo 2021 I wrote three short stories detailing character archetypes. Two years later I still have three more I’d like to write. In addition there are several shorter “tales” I have a starting point for that I’d like to make progress on. Finally, there’s writing to do for the game itself, mostly in the form of side quests we’re now in a position to explore.
I will update the NaNoWriMo page with any live links to PDFs I’m willing to share, and will attempt to track word counts across the various projects detailed above. I’m excited and nervous to try this again, but I feel ready to fearlessly attack the blank page.
- 1I did very little with other people while living in San Diego, so there was ample time to hang out at Panera and let the words flow.