It's almost Nanowrimo time again!

An author friend often asks me why I do Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) every year.  He quite rightly points out that I write every day anyway - so why do I need the pressure of a fifty thousand word deadline by 30th November?

I'll tell you why I am committed to Nano'ing every November. 

1. Writing is a lonely pursuit. Although many people are writing and believe they have a novel in them, very few are confident enough to talk about it.  That all changes every November. I love the write ins and the forums.  They make writing just that little bit less lonely and more of a social pursuit - for thirty days every year.  I also have friends who I have met purely through Nano and may only have a virtual friendship with.
2. It's a chance to take a gamble and write something new.  If it turns out badly I've only lost a month from my other writing projects.  I have found the best way to approach Nano is with the barest of an idea, maybe a picture or book cover, and just write, write, write. It doesn't matter what comes out, it doesn't matter if I think it is any good or not.  The only thing that matters is getting to fifty thousand words.
3. I'm grateful to Nano.  Without it I might have more half finished books littering my flat as I kept skipping from project to project, waiting for the one that would be instantaneously amazing.  Writing isn't like that; it's hard and your first draft may suck.  What Nano taught me is the important thing is to finish a draft, without that last sentence you have nothing.  Once it is done you have options, without it you just have lots of good ideas you can't be bothered to finish.

I'm not sure what I will write yet.  I've been looking at pre made e book covers as I want to publish on Smashwords as I go (I've done this for the past couple of years).  I'm tempted by a few random ideas.  One thing is for sure, I won't know what to write until I start tapping away on the first of November and writing doesn't get more exciting than that.