My Hasty Leap from the Wagon

I've come to realize that I've been a bit hasty in labelling NaNoWriMo as a writing challenge for amateurs. Upon my recent exploration of author's blogs, a great number of them mention NaNo, and how far they've managed to get in a day.

So, I'm chewing on my toenail polish when it comes to what NaNoWriMo is. It's a fun challenge for all kinds of writers, published and unpublished. It's probably just as hard for an accomplished writer to make a whole novel in 30 days as it is for the junior high student just getting into the game. To be fair, this was the first year I've heard of it as any big thing, but I should have been a little more considerate.

However, I stand by my decision of dropping out this year. My papers need work, and while I still have plenty of time, I find myself pushing my writing skills to the utmost just to get the page limit that I require. I've fairly good at BSing - at writing five words into a phrase that really only needs one, but I can only go so far without completely exhasperating my professors.

I received a letter (mass e-mailed) from Chris Baty of NaNoWriMo on November 1st, and while it was meant to be encouraging, it only helped to point out the reasons why I shouldn't be doing it this year. It was all about how I should feel entitled this mouth to let the kids drive themselves to school, to not cook, to let someone else walk the dog, do the chores, etc -- that's selfishness, and not one that I feel I can indulge in, living as I am with my parents and two sisters. My writing, which is important to me, is not as important to them, and the work around the house has to get done every month, November being no exception.