Now that you’re at the end, and either reveling in success or suffering in defeat, you’re in a good position to look back and decide if it was worth it. There are two sides of the story that I generally hear. The first is positive. It helps show people who don’t write that it’s possible to write a novel. It grants extra motivation. It teaches good habits. I also hear the opposite. It just burns people out. It tries to force people into a pace that some can’t handle and teaches them that they can’t write. We are already authors, we do this every day. We don’t need some stupid contest to show us something we already know.
So, what do you think? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Give your reply in the comments and lets see which side gets the better arguments.
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I say it’s good. It gets people who’ve wanted to write, but haven’t made it happen, a starting point. As a writer doing nanowrimo for the first time, on my fifth full-length novel, it was a fun way to get those last 50K done. Will it need editing? Of course, but they always need editing, regardless of pace. I thought it was fun.
I think it’s worth it, as long as writers understand the work doesn’t end when you reach the end of the month. It’s a great way to kick-start a project or, like Colette said, to help drive one phase of a project to completion. If I write 50,000 words and then stop, it was a waste of time. Or if I sit down Nov 1 and try to write without having done any preparation or brainstorming beforehand, and expect a polished draft at the end of the month, I’ll be disappointed.
So as long as we set the proper expectations, it’s a great thing.
This may get me excoriated, but I think NaNo is for pretenders. I don’t need a special month to write – I write because it’s something I love. Yes, there are those who can use it as a stepping stone to write more, but I’ve found that most write during NaNo, and then they put it away until the next one. It irks me when someone claims props because they did the 50,000 words yet failed to keep going.
It’s a beginning, not an accomplishment.