Hello! It is 1st November and the beginning of National Novel Writing Month 2021 or NaNoWriMo21. I can’t believe it is already this time of year again. It is wild to think that this time last year, I was gearing up to start my contemporary novel. Fantasy wasn’t even on the cards for me at this point. And I would soon quickly realise that I don’t belong in the contemporary writing space – at least not at this stage of my writing journey, and that fantasy is a much better fit. This time last year, I also hadn’t written a full novel! It reminds me of how much I have accomplished this year, even when I feel like I haven’t.
So – the big question: Am I taking part in NaNoWriMo 2021? In short – I still don’t know.
In my latest writing update, I spoke about the amount of words I would need to write in order to finish my current project before NaNoWriMo. Well, fun fact, I haven’t actually worked on that piece since that writing update. Work got hectic and I haven’t been feeling too well, so writing got pushed to the side. It may even be the case that I won’t reach my end of year goal either.
I am at this stage where I don’t know whether I need a break from the project and then return to it at a later date, or if I need to push through. I think after work today or on my lunch break, I will sit down and try to see what I gravitate towards. I don’t want to start a complete new project, which I know is cheating a little bit, but if I do decide to commit to this then I will either be working on my Rapunzel Retelling or my Mermaid project.
Right now I think I might be leaning slightly (very, very slightly) more towards working on the mermaid project – it already has 23,807 words in it that I wrote very quickly in April (I think it only took me ten days to write those words). But, part of me is scared that if I put off my rewrite for my Rapunzel Retelling more then I will lose out on my momentum. However, part of me thinks that has already happened short term, but not long term. I haven’t been able to push through and work consistently on my Rapunzel Retelling since starting my rewrite in May of this year.
I thought that maybe after writing this post I would know whether or not I am taking part, but right now I am still none the wiser. If I do take part this year, then I will have a writing update go up every Sunday, like I did last year.
If you have any advice on what I should do now that I am finally admitting I am in a bit of a writing slump, I would really appreciate it.
If you want to be buddies on the NaNoWriMo website, then you can add me: here.
Good luck to everyone taking part! I can’t wait to read/hear about your journeys!
Kira Jeanette 
I’m not- only because I don’t have books I am working on now that require that length
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That is fair! It’s a lot of words
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I’m taking part this year, as I have the past 11! (Or 13; I can’t remember.) I find it freeing even when you’re in a slump–there’s something really special about the mammoth word count that forces you to have to push past a lot of lethargy/self-doubt/burnout that put you in a writing slump in the first place. I hope that helps with you, and that you get out of your slump either way!
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Eleven years?!?! Or even thirteen?!?! That’s amazing! Yes that’s what made me decide to take part in the end. It has been such a great experience finally seeing the word count grow
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I wish I remembered exactly how long, haha! I’m so glad you decided to take part. I look forward to it every year!
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The energy in the writing community is the best every year!
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I definitely need to officially join in for that next year haha!
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It is a great community!
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