I’m writing this now in hopes that I will remember it come October.

I’m not going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I am going to try to not do it ever again.

Reasons why:

* It’s hell on my wordcount. Seriously. I might put out 60-84K during November (The year I did 84K, I forgot about Christmas…), but then I don’t put out almost anything at all for December and January. I’d much rather do a steady 25-30K month

* I forgot Christmas. I neglect life stuff. I neglect spouse stuff. That’s ridiculous.

* I was doing it because everyone else is. There’s no reason I can’t pick a project and do 25, 30K on it, playing along with everyone else.

(warning, the below is a bit grumpy)

* being on the Nano forums was in no way audience- or friend-building. It’s often seemed a room of narcissists talking over each other; the art forums are often piles of entitled brats complaining about the free work they’d getting.

* I’ve had constant trouble with the local NaNoWriMo group. It’s never been direct confrontation, but I’ve found write-ins in other regions to be far more welcoming, far more conducive to writing, and far more comfortable. And I don’t really want to drive to the next region.

I like the concept of Nano. I like the sprints, I like focusing on one project for a month. I do like the sense of achievement, but for me, getting to 50K always seemed a little slim. “Yes, I can do this. Okay. Now what?”

But I don’t like the two-month hangover, and I don’t like the sense of isolation and frustration that comes with trying to deal with the rest of the Nano community.

So I won’t be doing Nano this year.

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