(And can you say it five times fast?)

November, historically, has been a very busy month for me, so I have never yet participated in National Novel Writing Month – although I was intrigued by the notion that you could write an entire first draft of a novel in one month. This year, my November has more free time in it, so I’ve taken the plunge and signed up for NaNoWriMo.

OK, let’s be honest. I didn’t sign up in the past because I was also completely intimidated by the idea of producing an enormous amount of wordage in one month. Of sticking to a daily schedule and meeting a daily word count. I’m still intimidated. I tend to write as ideas overtake me, which means I am not especially consistent in terms of a writing schedule. When I’m deep in the throes of a writing project, I can write for hours and hours. At other times, on other days, I do not write at all.

Can I really do this? I guess we’ll see.

Fortunately, NaNoWriMo allows you to decide on your own goals. Thus, instead of the 50,000-words that seem to be the default monthly objective, I established a more modest – yet still insanely ambitious – goal of 30,000 words, or 1,000 words a day. Even 1,000 words a day will be a challenge. A thousand words is A LOT.

I have a genre in mind – a thriller. I know who my main character is. I have a vague story arc mapped out, and some key events ready to help move the story forward. Is that enough? Help!

Have You Done NaNoWriMo?

I need to hear from writers who’ve participated in this initiative. If you are one of these brave souls, I have questions for you:

~Did you achieve your word count goals, daily and for the month?

~Did you find this kind of speed writing helpful, or not helpful? Did you end up with a piece of writing you could refine and develop into a full-length novel, or did the pressure to write quickly result in a bunch useless drivel? Were you able to publish or self-publish what you started during NaNoWriMo?

~Would kind of preparation did you do for NaNoWriMo? Did you develop a detailed outline? A list of fully-fleshed characters? Or…did you fly by the seat of your pants (which is largely what I’m going to do)?

And finally,

~Would you/are you going to do it again?

Or, Do You Think NaNoWriMo is Nonsense?

Is this approach gimmicky? Not the way real writers should practice their craft?

Whether you love NaNoWriMo, hate it or don’t care about it, I’d love to hear your opinion.

Comment away.