In Defense of NaNoWriMo

For those unfamiliar with the term, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. In the words of the founders: National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Now, let me first off say that I don't do NaNoWriMo. The philosophy of it is to write 50,000 words without editing, without looking back or pausing to regroup and revise. The motto is '30 days and nights of literary abandon'. And since I'm sort of more of the 'control freak' school of writing than the 'literary abandon' one, my personal brain would explode if I tried to write that way. But tens of thousands do participate in growing numbers every year–and love it–and find it fuels a love of writing that lasts all the rest of the year.

Yet this year, for the first time, I'm seeing SO many articles and blog posts and opinion pieces criticizing NaNoWriMo. Why? Is it just because it's gotten bigger and more people are aware of it? Are we all in crummy moods because every time we turn around there's another article about how the publishing industry is melting down and no one is buying books anymore? I don't know. But even I–a non-NaNo-er–feel like I should come to it's defense.

First off, I've seen the argument that writing a book this quickly without looking back is inevitably going to lead to a bad book. Which, honestly and for most people, is probably true. But writing is re-writing. No writer that I've ever met or heard of writes a sparklingly perfect first draft. My own first drafts are hideously, embarrassingly dreadful. Yes, if you're seriously pursuing publication, a NaNoWriMo book is likely going to require huge revisions before it's ready to start sending out to agents. But that's true of any book, NaNo-ed or otherwise. And what if you're not looking to get published? What if it's just for fun?

That leads me to the criticism that I found much more disturbing: I just read an opinion piece saying that writing should not be a hobby that's picked up one month of the year and then put down. What? Why not? I'm never going to make a career out of running or dancing or embroidering or cooking. But I'd be kind of annoyed if a professional athlete or prima ballerina or chef started telling me I couldn't enjoy any of those things as a hobby. Writing is just like any other form of creative expression–shouldn't there be room for people to pursue it in every degree of intensity and in every way? If you have stories twitching at the ends of your fingertips asking to be told, why should it matter whether your goal is to write full-time as a job or whether you pick it up one month of the year just for fun?

Writing is my dream job, and I'm so, so lucky to get paid to tell myself stories I'm passionate about. Even though I don't participate, I love it that NaNoWriMo gives other people the incentive to tell their stories and experience the thrill of seeing their words on the page. Anything that gets this many people excited about writing and books and creates so much positive energy around the process can only be a good thing, I say.