I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this year.
I participated for the past two years and performed – well, kind of dismally. I could go on to diss the event for being unrealistic, but I know a lot of people write well during NaNo. Well, it isn’t for me. I do so want to finish one of my works in progress, but it’s not going to happen in a month, and most certainly not a November month.
(Before I get to the fun part, I must mention two scraps of beef I have with NaNo:
a. “National”?? Well, which nation are we talking about, exactly, because I am in South Africa. Can we change it to International? Universal? Whatever.
b. The whole fundraising thing. I don’t know. I thought it was just a fun worldwide thing and then I learned there is a donation request and ugh… I don’t know how I feel about it exactly but it changes things, I think.)
Moving on: THERE IS A NEW SOCIAL NETWORK AND IT IS ALL ABOUT WRITING LISTS.
The best “review” for The List App is actually on BookRiot, so you should actually just read that.
Essentially, it’s like Twitter but without the 140 character limit and with bullet points and numbers and STUFF.
Also, thus far, the company is intelligent and entertaining and the trolls and bigots are yet to arrive (I’m sure they might arrive in due time, sadly).
Let’s not kid ourselves: it’s another avenue for procrastination but MY GOSH IT’S AWESOME.
So I’ll be doing a list a day for the month of November. Currently the app is on iStore only so if you own an Apple device, do join me there! So far I’ve written three most thrilling lists (hah), one detailing my admissions on call on Friday night.
Hope to read your lists soon! 😉
Whispers Unto the Aether 
Hmmm. I have to respond to your two comments regarding NaNoWriMo…
1) National, as it started out as an American thing. We can’t blame them that the rest of the world thought it was a great idea. Sure, they could change the name, but InNoWriMo just doesn’t sound right.
2) NaNoWriMo is a non-profit. In other words, no one makes money from it. On the other hand, websites cost money. A lot of money. Hosting a website at the level they’re doing is incredibly expensive. Initially the founders did it out of pocket, and in their free time. Now the hosting and bandwith costs alone would bankrupt most people, not to mention that it’s become so big that now there are actually people working for NaNo full time.
Participation is completely free. Donations are not required to participate, but they are still needed so the website can keep on existing and NaNo can take place again next year. Besides, a sizeable chunk of their income they again use themselves to run literacy and writing programs during the rest of the year for children who otherwise wouldn’t have that opportunity.
Considering all that, forking over ten bucks (even at the current exchange rate) for a little halo on my profile pic is the least I can do to say thank you and give something back. It’s the cost of one book, so that tens of thousands can be encouraged and equipped to write their own, and have fun doing it.
I completely understand your points – I was actually being a bit rhetorical about the whole national part. Agree that InNoWriMo doesn’t quite have a ring to it. I also do know that it’s non-profit and that participation is free – but it did change the tone of the whole thing for me. Neither of these make me not want to do NaNo; they’re just incidental thoughts. I’m not doing NaNo because Novembers are just way too busy for me. I still think it’s a good initiative; just not something that fits into my life right now.
Yeah, November is actually a terrible month for this. Why can’t it be in June, when we’re stuck indoors in the cold with plenty of time to write?
I wanted to do NaNoWriMo but is seemed like so much work , I much rather prefer lists 🙂
It issss a lot of work. And aren’t you going into exams now? Definitely not a good time to write a manuscript of 50,000 words!
Yes I am ! If it’s going to be November every year then I guess i’ll never have time to do ;( at least until I graduate that is.
NaNo takes place in the worst possible month :’) I find that I struggle to write and complete projects due to poor planning or a total lack of it. If this is maybe something you struggle with too I would highly recommend “First Draft in 30 Days” by Karen S. Wiesner. It’s a great book and since you’re doing it at your own pace you don’t necessarily have to write it in 30 days – it’s impossible when you have a full-time job.