I’m not sure I’ve ever participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short, going on right now during the month of November). For one thing, I don’t write novels. Of course I realize you can write anything for NaNoWriMo. But more importantly, I’ve not been at a point where I’ve needed to generate materials for years and years. The bulk of my memoir was written in the early aughts. I did a pretty major revision of my next book in 2013-14, but still, a lot of that material had been generated in the years before. At times, I’ve flirted with the idea of working on an essay collection during NaNoWriMo, but the timing is always awful, right in the waning weeks of the semester when everything is just crazy.
This year I actually have a project that demands the generation of new material. It’s been so fun! I haven’t been in a create mode for so long. I write in the morning for about 30 to 45 minutes. Since I’m writing new material and I know that it’s a shitty first draft, the writing flows quickly. One skill I gained as a journalist was the ability to write quickly.
It’s my goal at the end of November to have about 35,000 words. When it’s all said and done, I think about 30,000 words will be good for the finished project. I want kind of a slim book to come out of this.
What is it, you ask? I’m not telling! Not yet.
Tell me about your #NaNoWriMo projects!
If You Have Five Seconds to Spare 
I’ve done NaNoWriMo in the past, but not to write a book. I used the opportunity to write about 56,000 words about my childhood and teenage years, mostly to get the memories on paper.
That’s great! It’s so important to write those memories.
I’ve never taken part in NaNoWriMo either, for similar reasons. I don’t have any major projects and I’m not a novelist (except in my dreams).To be honest, I’ve always struggled with how to say NaNoWriMo so this year I’m focussed on just pronouncing it properly. Your new project sounds exciting. I look forward to hearing more in due course.