NaNoWriMo 2022

It’s November now which means it’s NaNoWriMo time! Also known as the National Novel Writing Month. It’s the one month of the year (if you exclude the mini NaNo in July!) where writers around the universally agree to try to write 50,000 words in one month.

While that’s not technically novel length, unless you’re writing for children, it’s still a pretty impressive feat if you can manage it.

Let me restate the key issue here… If you can manage it. Many can’t. Many see it as a failure if they fall short, or abandon it midway, or simply underperform according to their own expectations.

This is not helpful, IMHO. And not how I approach this month or this campaign. I make my own overarching goal, try to be realistic in setting daily targets, and forgive myself – or my family! – if I fall short, or bail midway. Because the truth is, the fact that I started almost always means I’ve written more than I would have if I hadn’t.

So, instead of seeing this as a thing I will likely fail to complete, I see it as a bonus opportunity to write more, or edit more than I would have without.

My goal this year is to write the final scenes of my YA novel. This novel is also part of my PhD. With the leftover weeks, I’ll focus on the critical part of my thesis, setting goals each week.

Whatever happens, however much work I accomplish, the fact is, I’ll have done more because of my determination to play along with what is meant to be a community-minded, inspirational, and encouraging environment of creativity.

So that’s my NaNoWriMo. What will yours look like?