To NaNo, or Not to Nano? Thoughts on Accountability and National Novel Writing Month

To NaNo, or not to NaNo, that is the question. To be honest, I have deep, personal issues with accountability. I try to hold myself accountable a lot, but without outside assistance. Yes, my way is ripe for failure, or at least a lot of self-incrimination, but I consider myself fairly self-disciplined in most areas. (Just don't let's talk about dieting.) Inviting others to be aware of my accountability is something I just rather dread.

I have done the "NaNo thing" without signing up. I have used it as a guide to starting or completing projects. In fact, my latest book Paint Me Althena which just released last August, is the result of a busy November 2011. But to log in, sign on, tell the world, "I'm going to do this!" sends shivers up my noncommittal spine.

So, back to my question. To NaNo or not to Nano? Well, I did it. I braced myself, logged into the site, and filed my name among the scads of others out there to do the work. I even joined two Facebook groups to sink myself into committal a little deeper.

Now comes the decision on the project I'll write. I have two in mind. You know, you're supposed to start NaNo from scratch. I admit cheating a little here. Both novels I'm dipping into will be well over 50,000 words at their conclusions, so my goal is to log in those 50,000. This will still require a lot of further plotting and fleshing on my part, so I don't feel like it's much of a cheat. My biggest problem now is to decide which one to focus on.

November is

National Novel Writing Month.

In 30 days, 50,000 words is a novel.

Can you do it?

www.nanowrimo.org

 

How about you? Are you "committing" this year? Have you done NaNoWriMo in the past? What do you think of National Novel Writing Month? I'd love to hear of your successes, failures, and future plans.

Write on!

Desert Breeze Publishing has lowered all their ebook prices, even on new releases.

Paint Me Althena is now only $3.99.