Why I’m Not Writing A Whole Book Next Month

It’s almost November, and (before its demise last year), this is traditionally the time in the amateur writing world when a bunch of hopeful folks band together and try their hands at NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. Now, we’ve all heard about the controversies surrounding NaNoWriMo no longer being a thing. I’m not here to rehash those. I will say, however, that I’ve tried my hand at it a few times over the years, and was never able to reach the goal – write 50,000 words, aka a complete novel, in 30 days. 

Some folks are getting together and creating their own versions of NaNoWriMo this November. But, personally, although I am currently drafting a manuscript, I’m not trying to keep this tradition going. It may work for other people, but here’s why I don’t want to write an entire novel in a month.

November Is The Worst Time To Try And Write A Book

Clearly, we all have busy lives. But when it comes to a month when most people have less stuff going on, and they might be able to devote their free time in that month to writing a book, November ain’t it. Just because the first three words in “November” and “novel” are the same doesn’t mean it should be the time when everybody comes together and collectively tears their hair out. 

For one thing, those of us in the USA have a major national holiday at the end of the month, Thanksgiving. And even if you’re just popping over to Grandma’s house for dinner, it’s still a day of productivity you’ll probably lose, which could be crucial in a month when you’re trying to write an average of 1,700 words per day. More days could be lost if you’re cooking or traveling for the holiday, too. Students usually get a whole week disrupted by Thanksgiving. 

Even if you’re not in US, you might be prepping for another big holiday, Christmas. And even if neither of these dates make any dent in your schedule, November is cold, gray, and dreary for many of us. It’s just not the most motivating time of the year.

50,000 Words Is Usually Not A Complete Novel

Although the goal for NaNoWriMo was always to write 50k words in a month, they also touted this as some magic number that would get you a completed manuscript as well. The fact is, while any work over 40k words is technically considered a novel by the publishing world today, most novels come out far longer than 50k words. 

Hell, in the Fantasy and Sci-Fi genres, readers generally expect a book to be twice as long as the word count NaNoWriMo gives as a one-size-fits-all complete novel. Even in other genres of fiction, 50k is considered a pretty short book, outside of quickie romances, Lit Fic, or fiction written for middle-grade readers. Telling aspiring authors to just write 50k words and call it a day, or try and squeeze their story into this word count, can be frustrating and present a pretty unreasonable expectation.

Pressure Often Produces Unusable Work

One thing I’ve heard, time and time again, from writers who do/did NaNoWriMo is that they would meet the goal, maybe even have a complete book on their hands when December 1st rolled around. And when they read back over their work, it was totally incomprehensible. 

Being forced to write nearly 2,000 words every day for a month is a tall order, requiring at least a couple of hours of dedicated writing time. Actually planning what you’re going to write requires even more time, which many people are already strapped for. So, a lot of folks pants their way through November, just writing whatever comes to mind to reach the word count goal, and hoping a story is there when the dust clears. That usually doesn’t happen, and a lot of times the editing required to get a coherent story out of the mess that was vomited out isn’t worth it. Maybe, just maybe, it’s not such a good idea to try and force yourself to write an entire book in a month?

Writing A Whole Book In A Month Is Not A Reasonable Expectation For Most People

When discussing productivity goals for writers, people like the throw out a quote from Stephen King, about how you should strive to write 3,000 words per day in order to “make it”. Well, NaNoWriMo is/was only asking for about 1,700 words per day, so that should be a breeze, right?

I’ve said it on this blog before, but maybe Stephen King’s advice isn’t applicable to most people’s lives. King’s very first book was a hit, which enabled him to make writing his full time job. And even he admits that he could devote so much time to writing because his wife did all the housework and child-rearing. Most of us don’t have these luxuries. 

Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t get a whole book out in a month’s time, like “everyone else”. As I’ve said, 50k words probably isn’t a whole book, and even if it is, cranking out a bunch of words just to meet a word count goal does not a good, publishable story make. If you want to set a writing goal for yourself, do something that’s more applicable to your life that you can realistically accomplish in a month’s time. Maybe you’ll complete an outline of your book idea, or write the first ten chapters? You don’t need to hold yourself to someone else’s standards when it makes you miserable.

It’s Not Fun To Try And Write A Whole Book In A Month

Enough parts of the writing process are a drag for authors. Some hate editing. Some dread the beta reader process. Most of us don’t like having to market our books. The one thing that should be fun is the drafting stage, and when that’s placed in a pressure cooker with a deadline, it sucks the joy out of telling your story. 

If you want to recreate NaNoWriMo because you like the camaraderie of accomplishing your writing goals with a group, great! But why keep the crappy old parts of traditions going? Listen, I think the spirit of getting off your butt and doing some writing with friends is a great idea. But you don’t have to write 50k words, or finish a whole book in a single month, and it doesn’t have to be one of the busiest, dreariest months of the year, either. Set yourself a smaller goal that you can accomplish, if needed. You’ll feel better about it when the month is over, and your hard work pays off.