To NaNo or Not to NaNo

 October 19, 2017

To NaNo, or not to NaNo–that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous publishers,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And put an end to them by not writing. . .
‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.  (adapted from Hamlet’s monologue)
 

To think that five years ago I had never heard of NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. Now it has become as much of a holiday for meas Thanksgiving. NaNoWriMo – a month given over to writing a novel. With writers throughout the country, I look forward to the month and make plans that I hope to execute starting November 1.

Last year I had set out to NaNo but failed in the endeavor. I just wasn’t ready to write that novel, or any novel at that point. Instead I worked on a non-fiction book I had been putting off.

Now as November approaches, I wonder whether I am ready to write another novel. I just finished the first draft of my latest novel and sent it off to beta readers. Maybe I need to take time off to rest and let the creative juices stew for a while. Or maybe I can jump into the next novel in my series which is in some ways a continuation of the previous one. I can work on that one while the other is being copy-edited.

What I will do, I don’t know yet. Like that great Dane, Hamlet, I can’t make up my mind. But I’m sure that eventually it will become clear to me.

What about you? Are you going to NaNo this year?