To NaNoWriMo or Not to NaNoWriMo?

November is almost here, which means it’s nearly time for thousands of us around the world to try (and likely fail) to write a novel in a single month. National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it is so clumsily abbreviated, is the yearly event that challenges authors and aspiring authors to write an entire novel in one month. But is such a feat possible? I’m not even sure NaNoWriMo, the nonprofit that organizes the event, believes so.

Consider that the average novel is around 90,000 words, with the science fiction and fantasy clocking in even higher at 105,000. (ProWritingAid). The NaNoWriMo event only challenges writers to put down 50,000 words in the month of November. In many genres, that’s closer to a novella than a novel. Still, 50,000 words is nothing to scoff at. I’ve had more than one novel draft die a quiet death long before reaching 50,000 words. So the real question here is whether there is value in attempting to write 50,000 words of a novel in a month.

I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo twice now, and neither time did I hit 50,000 words. In my first attempt, I petered out after only a few days. The second time, I survived all 30 days, but only amassed maybe 35,000 words, the quality of which was less than stellar. But seeing as I’ll be finishing the last class of my Creative Writing and English undergraduate program a week before November, I’m faced yet again with the temptation: to NaNoWriMo or not to NaNoWriMo?

Here’s where I see the upsides. (Keep in mind, these are all highly subjective.)

It helps with goal-setting.

NaNoWriMo sets a clear deadline and word count goal, roughly 1,667 words per day. I think most would agree that setting goals increases productivity, but when setting my own goals my brain feels free to move my goals as easily as I set them. I’ve found (at least on my second NaNoWriMo attempt) that having a formal goal set by a third party helps counter the procrastination center of my brain. The rules aren’t mine, they’re someone else’s, so they can’t be renegotiated.

It bulldozes roadblocks.

Most authors would agree there is value in writing consistently. Many espouse the virtues of writing every day. I’d like to add the caveat that there is value in writing the same project every day. There’s really no such thing as writer’s block if you don’t give yourself the option not to write. With NaNoWriMo, I can’t take a day off or work on another project that’s attracting my attention. Pushing a draft along even when I’m feeling uninspired has often resulted in breakthroughs. It has also resulted in wrong turns that I’ve had to later walk back, but I’d argue there’s still more value in writing and deleting than not writing at all.

It fills my sandbox.

Ernest Hemingway said “the only kind of writing is rewriting.” Not only do I agree, I don’t even like my writing until at least my second or third pass on it, if even then. First drafts are grueling for me. Every author has their own philosophy on first drafts, but mine most closely aligns with author Shannon Hale’s. At the risk of burying you in quotes, Hale said of her first drafts, “I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” Writing 1,667 words per day is shoveling a lot of sand. But at the end of the month, it leaves me plenty of material to build with.

And here’s where I see the downsides.

It emphasizes quantity over quality.

This is the glass half empty side of my argument that shoveling 1,667 words a day into a draft gives you a lot to work with in a second draft. Again, I love revising, but waiting until I’m 50,000 words into a draft to do any revising doesn’t work for me. I’m more of a two steps forward, one step back kind of writer/reviser. I need to reread what I wrote the previous day before I add onto a draft, and when I try to skip that step, my quality slips. With such a high daily word count quota, I don’t have time for much rereading or revising. The result is highly likely to be a 50,000 word draft that requires extensive revisions and rewrites.

The burnout risk is high.

I told you before, my first attempt at NaNoWriMo ended with a whimper. On my second attempt, I technically limped across the finish line, but nowhere near the 50,000 word goal. Writing 1,667 words a day is nothing… if you have absolutely no other responsibilities during your waking hours. But that’s certainly not the case for me or most aspiring authors. Fitting, or forcing, writing time into my daily schedule works some days but is absolutely overwhelming on other days. It can even cause conflicts at work or home, if you prioritize writing above your other responsibilities. I think a healthy life requires balance, and NaNoWriMo offers little.

50,000 words is not a novel.

I alluded to this at the beginning of my post, and the point remains. 50,000 words does not a novel make. There are some exceptions. Middle-grade novels and some romance novels can get away with relatively low word counts, but in my genres, horror and fantasy, 50,000 doesn’t cut it. Committing to a strenuous 30-day goal that doesn’t even result in a complete first draft begs the question: what is NaNoWriMo’s role in the novel-writing process? Do I keep writing 1,667 words per day into December or January until my novel draft is finished? Do I increase the goal to however many words per day I need to complete my draft in 30 days? Without some kind of caveat, NaNoWriMo feels like a race without a proper finish line.

At the end of the day, NaNoWriMo may work better for some than others, but I can only testify to how well it works for me. There are benefits, most significantly that it spurs me to write and keeps me writing, but it’s not a perfect system. I ended last year’s NaNoWriMo thinking it would be my last, but the kismet timing of my degree program coming to an end 9 days before this year’s NaNoWriMo has me reconsidering. What do you think? Is it worth the plunge or is that time better spent developing and reinforcing a more sustainable writing routine that works for me?