Image Source: http://nanowrimo.org/
As November rolls closer, I’ve come to decision time. Should I participate in NaNoWriMo again, or take a break? For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is basically a contest or challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
Last year I did it for the first time. It was a a blast. Sure there were times of stress, or having no clue what to write about. There were times I just stared at my computer screen with no clue what to do. I think I even had to write on an ancient laptop for part of it because mine had crashed. But still I look back on that time as a great experience.
But this year, I don’t have an idea to write about. Instead I see a pile of old work that needs revising. Should I really start a new project that will also need editing? I’ve toyed with the idea of making any revisions I make to an old novel count towards my goal of 50,000 words. But I know I don’t need to write a whole book with my revisions, I just need a couple of new chapters and some changes in the ones I’ve already written.
However, as I was glancing through blog posts today, I saw that one brave writer is going to try NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. And it got me thinking; yeah I have plenty of excuses, but the main reason to do this is because it actually gives me a reason to sit down and write. So maybe I’m not writing a new story, maybe I don’t have a detailed plan, but I can still join in with all the other writers out there and actually give a big effort for one month. And who knows what will happen.
So that’s my plan for now. I may end up with several short stories, and some new chapters for my unfinished book, or I may find a whole new novel developing, but I’m not going to make excuses and not write anything. The least I can to is try.
Any other writers out there who are on the fence about joining in, I’d encourage you to hop on the writing train. And if you’re that person who’s never finished a novel but wants to, I’d encourage you to give NaNoWriMo a try.
NovelSisters 
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