NaNoWriMo: Pros and Cons

Yay, or Nay?

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As a writer, there is no way you haven’t heard about the drama with NaNoWriMo over the last year. While I am not one for drama, which is perhaps why I’m writing this post, to begin with, the accusations and drama were hard to ignore. That’s why I’ve been seriously debating whether to participate in NaNoWriMo’s 2024 challenge in November.

The answer I came to is that I won’t be doing the Nano challenge. For those of you who don’t know, though I doubt many writers don’t, Nano has been around for quite some time. The challenge is to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

I wrote my first book during Nano in 2016. Nano gave me the courage to become a published author. While I haven’t won the challenge every year, I have participated every November since that time.

However, when I take on a challenge such as this, I want it to be all about the writing, not about the drama. Nano is no longer just about the writing.

There are pros and cons to leaving Nano. I weighed them carefully and concluded that I would be better suited, and more comfortable writing somewhere else. Luckily, there are many, many options out there to take Nano’s place, and I’m going to try one of those challenges come November.

I would be interested in hearing the opinions of other writers on Medium. Are you sticking to Nano this November? If you are, I’m not judging. There’s nothing wrong with sticking to what you know and love! I loved it at one time as well.

So, are you doing Nano this November? If not, let me know what challenge you’re considering being a part of in the comments!