To Nano or Not to Nano, That is the Question

It’s seven days till the big day — the first day of National Novel Writing Month, which is basically Christmas for a lot of us writers who love to participate every year (like me), and I am wibbling on what to do, like my fellow Turtleducker Kit Campbell talked about in her blog recently. Normally, because of work, I’d say no way, or sign up and attempt it and maybe write a few hundred or thousand words and call it “a valiant effort,” and feel like I tried, but damn, the experience was lost, again, because I couldn’t fully participate like I wanted to. It’s been this way for a long time. I can tell you already that I have an editing job hitting at the end of November. Not too bad, but…I have an ongoing job that got put off a bit due to some extenuating circumstances that needs to get done, preferably before this one hits. I have assorted author assistant things happening that are the usual things, but they take time too. It’s all part of my work, which I love, so this isn’t a complaint by any stretch. It’s just…I’m still trying to carve out the time to write more consistently. I can’t seem to manage it. I am hoping I hit upon the sweet spot, that method that’s been eluding me for literal years since I started my business…so I can maybe do something this Nano. It won’t be 50k like it used to be — even if I didn’t have my business, my wrists can’t take it — but even 10k would be fantastic.

So my expectations are super low. But I don’t want the stress. I am also dealing with poor health, as usual, and holiday stress coming up, and some other things weighing me down. The poetry thing is happening, and I’d like to continue submitting as well to the end of the year. So altogether, is NaNo a good idea?

And what would I even write?

I had a few ideas. A Bound sequel, since Bound is an anthology and I’d love to have the readers who enjoyed Bound have something to pick up. Unfortunately, the idea is solid, but some parts are not, and I want it to be more solid before I try writing it. I need it to be as clear as possible so I can just write it as quickly as I can. The other idea is Survivor, my psychological horror. It’s been languishing. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to really dig into it. But…the rewrite outline is also proving to be challenging. So…I dunno. I don’t want to do another rewrite after this. Another idea was poetry. Truly rebelling! Twenty poems in thirty days or something. And finally, Dark Song, a very dark, enemies-to-lovers, female/female romance I want to write for another possible anthology — trying out yet another outlining method. I had a brainwave last night that really tied some stuff together and I feel very confident about this one. So, four ideas. No clue which one to work on.

Then I was reading over my old blog and noticed that I did a “NanoRevMo” one year – NaNo Revision Month. And I worked on two books plus some poems, I think. What if I did a sort of free-for-all month where I wrote whatever the hell I felt like writing? Might be hard to track, possibly, but might work. Because I want to work on it ALL. And time is ticking, and I can’t decide. I know some writers work on multiple projects, and I used to back in the day. It might help keep my muse engaged…

I just don’t know. I’d like to do something. Just to keep my hands in it. I hate not participating. NaNo is magical, and special, and the few times I did miss? It sucked.

So that’s what I might do, or I might choose something last minute, I dunno. Anyone have any advice? I might ask my cards for their advice, lol. Maybe they have some wisdom to impart.

With my luck? They’d just tell me, “the answer lies within you,” lol.