NaNoWriMo Maybe

I mentioned on twitter the other day that I was strongly considering doing NaNoWriMo, and have been contemplating my mental pros and cons ever since. So, I thought I’d outline a few, just to share my excitement and trepidation.

Pros for NaNo-ing:
*I like having specific goals for my writing
*Daily wordcounts tend to help me keep my momentum with writing and plotting
*I want to finish the next WIP by the end of 2013
*Being part of a group can be fun
*I made twitter-friends when I did JuNo this summer (yay, tweeps!)
*November is already a stressful month, why not do something creative while being stressed
*I have family support to do this (thanks, hubs!)

Cons for NaNo-ing:
*Hahahahaha! In November? That’s one of the busiest months for my day job
*The dishes haven’t figured out how to wash themselves. Neither has the laundry.
*I am already over-committed, especially at the beginning of November this year.
*I’m afraid I will fall behind…with everything.

Aaaaaand, this is why pros and cons are helpful. For instance, I feel relieved that these thoughts/worries that have been rattling around in my head are now out, in a list format, for me to see. And the cons are a relatively short list. Weird, huh? Given my anxiety, I was sure I’d have a dozen cons and I struggled to get to four. Granted, comparing the number of items on each list is only one way to come to a decision. Often, for me at least, it’s the weight of the item(s) that makes a difference. My last con, basically my fear of falling behind is pretty big to me and my family. Obviously, I would be scheduling (squeezing?) my writing around my day job, but there are parts of my day job that occur outside of normal hours. I think in order to truly stay on top of it, I would have to have a set list of things that would get done before I write. Sigh.

Paid work first, then the fun stuff.

As you can tell, I’m leaning towards NaNo-ing, just feeling my usual worry. What I realized though, the other night, is that I worry about a lot of these things anyway. I have yet to meet someone who feels that they are on top of their to-do lists. Well, maybe the retired folks I come into contact with. But otherwise, life is a series of agenda items, house cleaning, errands, and tasks. There is always more to do.

There are also DVRs…one of the items I didn’t mention above. It seems shallow to mention that my tv watching would have to be cut back in order to do NaNo, but it would. That’s probably a good thing. Other than a few shows I watch each week, as long as I don’t get a new series in (cough, Homeland, The Wire, etc.), in the next few weeks, I should be able to write every day and meet my personal NaNo goals. I’d love to put out there that I could write 50K in November, but that is only in an ideal sense. Maybe, maybe and I’ll try to do it, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m sure I’ll make great progress and that’s what matters the most to me.

So, ah…who’s going to NaNoWriMo with me this year? (Eek!) Share your pros and cons below. I’ll check in on twitter to cheer folks on. Good luck to all! Happy writing!

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