I’m always commenting on Tarysande’s posts to agree in greater detail. It’s probably because we’ve known each other Too Bloody Long (TM).
One year I had to make the conscious decision to walk away from Nanowrimo. The novel I was working on was not coming easily, and I had to stay up into the early morning hours, when I focus best, to get my daily words written. But I also work a day job, and am now (sadly) of an age where I need sleep. The less sleep I got, the less functional I was. The less functional I was, the harder the words came, the later I had to stay up, the less sleep I got...
I think you can see where this is going. I had to walk away from Nano that year for the sake of my health. I felt like a failure at the time, but in retrospect it was absolutely the correct decision.
I have completed Nano several times. (My book Hollins Hill was a NanoNovel from many years ago.) I’ve done it by the rules. I’ve done it to work on finishing something already in progress. I’ve done it to work on many smaller works.I find it useful as a tool--sometimes. Use it--or not--as it works for you.
I have learnt, over the years, that many professional and successful writers don’t write at Nano pace. Or anywhere near Nano pace. Some don’t write every day. Many don’t start on page one and write through to the end. Some write really scanty first drafts that get filled out in editing. And so on and so forth. There’s no wrong way to write, as long as you are writing. It’s a matter of discovering what works for you and that particular project, because sometimes what works changes from project to project.
As an aside, if you’re like me and find one of the most useful parts of Nano are the word tracking tools, check out Pacemaker, which allows you to customize word goal targets to fit your schedule and work habits.
And what am I doing this month? I’m not sure if I’m doing Nano or not. I’ve been struggling creatively for a while now, and so I’m taking the month to work on something fun. If it turns out I’m within Nano targets, I’ll probably sign up officially; if not, I won’t bother, because at this point of time it’s not worth stressing myself. I need to take a break from the grind and just rediscover what I love about telling stories.
Besides, I’m not under contract or anything, so if I want to write about fictitious European countries, I bloody well can.
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