Slain Dragons Aren't Fun

It's the 20th of November and I've just surpassed the 50K word goal for NaNoWriMo. I have 10-12K words more to write to wrap up the story but for all intents and purposes, I've won NaNoWriMo again this year. This is the third year I've participated in this fiction writing adventure and quite possibly, my last.

In 2009, I wrote over 50K words in just 14 days and didn't enjoy the process at all. I was 'in it to win it,' to borrow a popular phrase. The story I penned was one that had been rattling around my head for ages and I served merely as the scribe to my brain in getting it to paper. NaNoWriMo had always been a formidable opponent and I wanted to see if I could conquer it. It was a great feeling when I did but I still didn't like my story.

In 2010, I wanted to prove to myself that 2009 hadn't been a fluke, a case of beginner's luck. I had just an inkling of a story plot the day before the contest began and it was thrilling to watch it unfold, often in directions I hadn't planned. I didn't know how the story would end but I knew that I would win NaNoWriMo. The writing was flowing too well not to. I passed 50K words on the 25th of November and officially won a second time.

This year, I have written in the moment. I am plotting as I go, making decisions on the fly, and turning my characters lives upside down at every opportunity. I'm playing with story writing and breaking rules and writing recklessly because these are the only motivations I have this year. I knew on November 1 that I would win NaNoWriMo again. When I set my mind to do something, I just do it. I'm enjoying the nonsensical aspects of my story telling this year but overall, I'm not enjoying NaNoWriMo. 

If the goal were to write 100K words, I would need to step up my game a bit. If the goal were to write 50K words on a topic of someone else's choosing, with specific guidelines, that would be a challenge. If the goal were to write and edit 50K words of fiction suitable for submission to a publisher, that would be a monumental feat. But as it stands, NaNoWriMo isn't the behemoth challenge I once believed it to be. I've conquered it and now, the fun is gone.

It may be time to bury the dragon.

Comments

[Mark]

Congrats on being able to do this three years running. I tried it twice. The first time I managed 20,000 words, and it took me a year to finish the first draft of what became my first novel. A few years later I tried again and just got too bogged down in the details.
The concept behind NaNoWriMo is one I've decided to bypass from now on. I look to smaller challenges for short story writing and keep my novel writing to my own idea of progress.
Curious to know what type of fiction you write.