Why I Am Pausing My Edits To Do NaNoWriMo

As November approached I was really struggling with whether to do NaNoWriMo or not this year (National Novel Writing Month). I have participated before and didn’t complete the challenge. I have really wanted to make this year be the year I went all the way with it and then I started running behind on my current book. I’m at the midpoint of my developmental edits and feeling a little stuck. But I felt like I was supposed to stay on this book to the end and so NaNo felt out of the question.

On Instagram though, my friend at Pens and Prosecco gave me some advice: if I wasn’t on a deadline, do NaNoWriMo. And so I listened. Once making the decision, I realized that committing to this month of writing 50,000 words, wasn’t just an avoidance tactic.

I need a slump buster

I’m not going to lie editing a book is hard. Freaking hard. And while I’m making progress and feeling good about it I have also found that I need bigger longer breaks in between editing than I do in between drafting. And so I’m hoping to get a little bit of my mojo back by returning to writing just for one month in order to participate in NaNoWriMo.

I’ve never won it before

I’ve participated before, but have never hit 50K. I want to overcome the challenge and to know that I can complete it. And so while yes I know I can try it in another month and yes I could wait for next year, I don’t want to. I want to have the community support that November brings and I’m feeling really charged up about it right now. So why not?

I’m writing a prequel to the novel I’m editing

I think that exploring the backstory in-depth for my current novel can help ease some of the difficulties I’m having editing. There are tie ins and questions and character development moments that I think will be richer for exploring the past.

I’m trying to establish a new, more aggressive writing habit

Though the NaNoWriMo pace isn’t always a sustainable one, I am looking to ramp up the amount of time I am giving to my writing. And I feel like this challenge can help establish a routine and shed some excuses in preparation for that.

I never intended to published my first book without my second book

Since I am choosing to go the indie path I am dedicating myself to the strategy many, many authors before me have followed which is to not launch with only a single book. So while yes this is a detour for my current project the two were always intertwined both strategically and story wise.

And okay, maybe I’m playing a little avoidance

Fine, I’ll admit that I’m allowing NaNoWriMo to be a little bit of a distraction from the struggle of finishing my first novel. There I said it. But they will both get done that much I am certain of.