Why I Won't Be Doing NaNoWriMo in 2015

[aldersprig]

I'm writing this now in hopes that I will remember it come October.

I'm not going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I am going to try to not do it ever again.

Reasons why:

* It's hell on my wordcount. Seriously. I might put out 60-84K during November (The year I did 84K, I forgot about Christmas...), but then I don't put out almost anything at all for December and January. I'd much rather do a steady 25-30K month

* I forgot Christmas. I neglect life stuff. I neglect spouse stuff. That's ridiculous.

* I was doing it because everyone else is. There's no reason I can't pick a project and do 25, 30K on it, playing along with everyone else.

(warning, the below is a bit grumpy)

* being on the Nano forums was in no way audience- or friend-building. It's often seemed a room of narcissists talking over each other; the art forums are often piles of entitled brats complaining about the free work they'd getting.

* I've had constant trouble with the local NaNoWriMo group. It's never been direct confrontation, but I've found write-ins in other regions to be far more welcoming, far more conducive to writing, and far more comfortable. And I don't really want to drive to the next region.

I like the concept of Nano. I like the sprints, I like focusing on one project for a month. I do like the sense of achievement, but for me, getting to 50K always seemed a little slim. "Yes, I can do this. Okay. Now what?"

But I don't like the two-month hangover, and I don't like the sense of isolation and frustration that comes with trying to deal with the rest of the Nano community.

So I won't be doing Nano this year.

Comments

[finch]

I am not sure I know how to not do Nano, but these pretty much all apply to me. Hmm...

[aldersprig]

I know the feeling. My plan is to do something like a half- or quarter-nano to sate the joining feelings. The local-visits have been so awful that I don't have to worry about missing those.

[finch]

I'm going to try doing a half for Camp Nano and see how that works out for me.

I had a really good local group before I moved and that was itself a reason to do it but I feel like I never really managed to click with my group up here no matter how many write-ins I go to.

[rootsofthestories]

Yeeeeah, this is entirely accurate. I love the concept of NaNo so much, it's just in execution it kind of flops for me.

[aldersprig]

I tried to find "have a life and have nano" resources last year, but the closest I found were "In October, make freezer meals for November."

[rootsofthestories]

Yeeeeeah, that's a problem. I don't so much need that as I do the ability to not get a massive hangover after pumping out ALL THE WORDS! in November. Because oh how I fall apart in those months.

[inventrix]

I've basically quit doing NaNo myself, but for completely different reasons. XD Then again, I think our motivations for doing it were pretty different to begin with.

[aldersprig]

(I have quite a few Nano icons...)

What were your reasons? *nosyface*

[inventrix]

Hmmm, can't quite recall the order, but primarily:

- Learn how to write a first draft.
- Learn how to finish a book.
- Build a habit of writing every day.

I've pretty much learned everything I can from NaNoWriMo about writing drafts and completing projects (and let me tell you, I have learned a LOT), and it turns out it doesn't really help me with the third point because I burn out at 2k a day fairly quickly.

Also, doing NaNo again at this point really requires me to start a new book, and to be honest I would rather keep working on what I have at the moment.

[aldersprig]

hrrm. First year I wanted to see if I could write 50K in a month. Second year I wanted to see if I could write 50K on the same project. After that, I was running out of ways to challenge myself but I don't like being left out.

Although finishing a _book_ would still be nice.

[inventrix]

Yeah, being "left out" was never really an issue for me. I saw it (see it) purely as a fun educational opportunity and writing exercise, so once I got everything I could out of it, I didn't really have any reason to keep trying other than "try to write 50k in a month". Which I've realized by now that I don't really care about any more.

Doesn't Edally count as finishing a book?

[aldersprig]

Hunh, I guess it does. It's a short book, but it's a book.

[inventrix]

Technically, 50k is a short book. 8)

[aldersprig]

Yeah. Edally's at about 64K as written in November.

[inventrix]

fehhhh I slightly misunderstood your question as "what were your reasons for doing NaNo" but you got the answers to both anyway.

[aldersprig]

Well, I DID want to know your reasons for doing nano!

[mortalcity]

I had to quit a few years ago for some of the same reasons (every now and then I still think about doing it or Camp NaNo and have to kick myself). I like the idea of it, and I found several of my best friends through it, but it is just not good for me. I feel like it teaches a lot of bad habits and thought patterns, and is in general best for people who only want to do one big project a year.

[aldersprig]

I've tried to avoid a lot of the worst habits - the throwing slop on paper sort of stuff, the letting it eat your whole life and telling your spouse & pets to feck off until December - but it's still life-devouring.

I'm going to keep doing Camp Nano, because I can say "okay, gonna do 15,000 words this month on xx," and that's fine.

[inventrix]

As an alternate viewpoint here: learning how to make myself write something, even if it is complete crap, is the most valuable skill I personally learned from NaNo.

[finch]

I'm writing this now in hopes that I will remember it come October.

We should start a Not Doing NaNo support group to hold out against the peer pressure of Most Of The Internet. It always seems like either everyone is doing NaNo aside from the handful of people complaining about NaNo.

[aldersprig]

Sounds good to me! Yeah, i don't really want to turn into one of the Nano Sucks people. Just.. not doing it.

[kay_brooke]

I personally found that once I'd "mastered" getting 50k words in a month (or really in 2-3 weeks because once I'm in that mindset it's not difficult) NaNo became kind of pointless. I totally hear you on the community aspect. I stopped going to the NaNo forums for much the same reason, and my local group is downright embarrassing (often being kicked out of places for being loud and disruptive), which takes away the one aspect of NaNo that was still valuable to me (because it's awesome to meet up with local writers, except when those writers have the maturity and impulse control of a group of hyper five-year-olds).

I'm not sure if I want to give up NaNo completely, even though realistically I've been doing it just "unofficially" for years. So I guess I already have, in a way.

I hadn't much thought about it, but this post did sort of lay bare a lot of reasons why I haven't found NaNo that interesting the past few years. Something to chew on, I guess.

[aldersprig]

I would love a group that talked enough to worry about being loud and disruptive!

Ahem, that being said, yeah, it would be nice to meet with local writers that wanted to socialize. I looked into my local college's writing group before panicking and running away *cough*

[clare_dragonfly]

I'll try to remember this and remind you if you talk about doing Nano again ;)

I may be the only person commenting here who still plans to keep doing NaNo and is happy with it! But that's cool. I love doing it, and the community I've found has always been great.

2015 will be the first year I'll do NaNo and have a full-time job at the same time. That will be fun. I'll see how life-devouring it is. I mean, I don't mind not talking to people in the least, and I'm probably averaging 1200 words a day or more right now, so it won't be that much more.

[aldersprig]

You can put out words like nobody I know except maybe Micah!

I found that writing something, only just a bit, every morning helped me get through writing while working.

[fayanora]

I never do NaNo. I've always known it would never work for me. I wouldn't have the energy, and trying to do it would probably make me want to do anything BUT write.

[aldersprig]

It's definitely not for everyone. I learned a lot from it, but now I'm done.