I have a NaNoWriMo problem but I may have found the solution

NaNoWriMo Hoodies Are Heaven (Photo credit: smittenkittenorig)

Guys, I’ve been having a problem. A NaNoWriMo problem.

See, I love NaNoWriMo. You know this. I love it so much that I became an ML and I donate MANY hours of my very little, precious time to bringing others the best NaNoWriMo experience that I can.

I love being an ML. I love shepherding people to finally finish their novels and I know the members in my awesome area appreciate all that I do. It’s an absurd amount of work but it’s worth it. It’s stressful but rewarding.

But I’ve just got this problem. I look forward to NaNoWriMo every year but it’s different now then when I was just a participant. It’s so much work getting all the events set up, going back and forth with libraries to set up partnerships, writing all the emails, forum posts, pep talks etc, answering the ridiculous volume of emails that range from tech help with the NaNo website to “Why do we write?” questions from people having some kind of life crisis, buying prizes for the write-ins and everything else that the start of November fills me with as much dread as excitement. And between the, “Crud, did I book the right day for the…” and the “I can’t promise that bully from school won’t be at the write-in but I can…” and that “You can write a novel, I believe in you because…” something has gotten lost.

It boils down to: I do so much prep for NaNoWriMo that I never get to do any prep for my yearly novel anymore and I spend so much time making sure that the month goes smoothly for everyone else that my November writing becomes less than secondary.

So, when the calendar switches over to November and I’m at these write-ins I did all the work to set-up, when I set down to write I end up just poking around at old projects instead of start something new.

I have a lot of writing to do. I’ve got a ton of works in progress, so many that it feels irresponsible to start a new novel until I get a few of my older projects polished and published. It’s somewhat inevitable when your writing switches from hobby to career but, still. The last few years, I’ve spent NaNoWriMo plodding through rewrites or adding words onto already started projects because I felt like I should get them done and it’s just sucked a lot of the fun out of it for me. NaNoWriMo is about the joy of a first draft under a ludicrous deadline, writing with no clue of what will happen next, discovering your story as you go. I’ve lost sight of that and turned it into “that month when I just add 50k words onto whatever is around.”

The year I finally gave myself permission to stop plodding along with Wife Novel and write Mistress Novel was one of the best things that ever happened to my writing career. It started off this frenzy of writing and publishing that got me farther in a handful of years than I’d gotten my whole life. Which is why, even though my writing To Do list is insanely long, I’m giving myself permission to start a completely new novel this year, even though I’ve got barely 1/4 of an idea for one.

I’m doing it to get my writing mojo going again.

I’m doing it to make NaNoWriMo fun again.

But, most of all, I’m doing it to solve my NaNoWriMo problem. To remind myself that this month is about the wild fun of discovering a new story and being under such a tight deadline that you ignore everything else and just WRITE instead of worrying about your writing career as a whole. To embrace the fun of a new story over the measured detail work of editing and rewrites or the frustrations of the publishing world.

Is it a stupid idea to attempt this my first year doing NaNoWriMo as a mom when I have less time than ever? Maybe. Or maybe bringing the fun back is exactly what I need to get through this insanity. Either way, I’m going in head first pantsing with a brand new novel and I have NO idea where the story is going to go.

That counts for the story I’m writing as much as the one I’m living. 😉

How about you? What are you writing this year?