Lost in a Good Book

I find myself in a strange situation where for the first time since 2008 I don’t have a writing mission for November.

That’s not to say I haven’t been writing, I am currently trying to finish drafts left, right and centre (one finicky draft that is a roller coaster of success and solid, solid, brick walls); but my daily goals, my forums, and the feeling of comradery is gone as NaNo ceased this year.

I know there are articles all over the place about substitutes and other places that replicate NaNo or give you a goal to aim for but they aren’t the same I wail and whine.

I still love the idea of NaNo, I am almost two decades in and I like the achievement of my 50k. It also gets those pesky ideas out in a large lump and I can go back and look months or years down the track and polish, throw out, or steal from. Two of the drafts I’ve been working on recently both came from previous NaNo works so it’s reassuring to see that the pain, sweat, and tears of hitting those daily word goals (or frantically trying to catch up at the eleventh hour) were worthwhile.

I will be hitting my 50k goal come November 30, it will just be with less badges, less procrastination and idea hunting on forums, and less word count updates. I may have to create a fun graph to track my progress though because it’s a real motivator seeing that graph rise and rise or scare you if it plateaus for too long.

I’ve been doing this long enough that I feel confident my November tradition will continue but it’s hard not to feel a little sad at what we lost.