Nanowrimo—why or why not?

I’ve written on Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) before. If you’ve hung out here for a few years you know that I participate every year. But why?

I knew I wanted to do a blog post on nano today, and I was trying to figure out what to write. What it is that you want to know. What you would ask me if you had the chance (and you can ask me in the comment section below. I’ll answer you!)

What I originally homed in on is why or why not to participate in Nanowrimo. Some writers have very strong opinions on the matter. Some people love nano. Some people hate it. Some people keep trying it and giving up, some try and succeed, and some wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.

My reasons for participating in Nanowrimo and in some of the other events that Nanowrimo has hosted over the years (Script Frenzy, Nanowrimo for young people, and Camp Nano) have changed over time.

My stats? I have been doing Nanowrimo and other hosted events for ten years. I have written 2.4 million words during these events. Where I originally found it difficult to get out the requisite 1,667 words per day (the number of words required to write 50,000 during the month of November,) that is now a laughably small number of words to me. I have written up to 13,000 words during a write-in day. I have written 6,000–8,000 words per day in a month where I…