Writing Community: That writing month thing

I've never considered doing NaNoWriMo seriously. (Do I need to expand that for people? Is there anyone reading my blog who doesn't know about National Novel Writing Month?) It doesn't work well with my writing style or with the shape of my Novembers, but just as I appreciate the folk traditions around Christmas without being Christian, I like the idea that there's a "writers' month" where people of all sorts are talking and thinking about the process of tackling a large writing project. And either experiencing what the reality is like, or at least getting a better understanding of those realities.

Writing can be such an isolating occupation. It doesn't have to be, but unlike many other activities it can be performed in complete isolation. So even the passive knowledge that, for this one month, such a vast number of people are tackling the process of turning the stories in their heads into actual words can be comforting.

I salute you all: the blitzers, the word-counters, the plodders, the "isn't every month novel-writing month?" folks. And an especial shout-out to the IWriSloMo folks, if any of you are still around.

I have my own commitment: to write something every single day (the same as I do every month) and not only to make my chapter-a-week goal despite travel and holidays, but to fit in at least one extra chapter (maybe two) this month to try to get back on track. (This commitment is something of a cheat, since I've already started writing bits of my second chapter for this week, although I'm saving the smoothing and filling-in of both for the weekend and just working on the quick-and-dirty parts at the moment.)