It’s not about Nanowrimo, really

I expect that you’re all heartily tired of me posting about Nanowrimo by now.  If so, feel free to skip this post.

I’ve been thinking a lot about writing in general as well about Nanowrimo.  And I think that the issues I’ve been having with Nano have nothing to do with Nano at all.

I truly do enjoy doing Nano.  I like being part of a group all striving towards the same goal.  I like the competition.  I like being “given” the freedom to just churn out words without editing, to be able to explore new words without overthinking everything.  I think Nano is an awesome thing, and I admire everyone who has a go at it, whether they make 50k or not.  You’re all awesome, whether you’re an established writer who’s churning out a draft or if you just want to play in the word mines for the first time and see if you *can* do it.

In retrospect, Nano couldn’t have come at a worse time for me.  Not only do I have baby brain and late-pregnancy exhaustion, I’ve also had workmen in the house for most of this week.  Plus I only finished a draft of another novel last week – something that always requires some time in between just refilling the well before I can tackle another big project.

So.  The plan is to take a step back into another mode of writing.  To refill the well by reading a lot, to do some planning and outlining of Never (I’m seriously contemplating writing a full outline and synopsis this time, just because it’s something that I haven’t done before and I’m curious to see if the process works for me).  I may still do some writing, and I will very possibly do a good deal of posting about writing process.  I just want to take it as it comes for a little while and stop stressing myself out about it all.

Mirrored from Stephanie Gunn.