NanoWriMo Anyone?

So it's almost November again.
For most that means falling leaves, pumpkin flavored everything and Thanksgiving. For some though, it means NanoWriMo is here again!

I participate every year. I have never won.

I want to win.

This year, I'm not sure I will participate. I have so much going on. Moving. Therapy practically every day for middle kiddo. Legal work, and writing with my writing partner.

But, I'm dying to rewrite my first novel into something saleable. I love the story. But honestly, I didn't do it justice the first time round. I didn't have the craft of writing down then. I think if I rewrote it entirely--not just moved bits around, I could do the story justice. And I'm so, so tempted to do it for Nanowrimo.

The whole bit--replotting the story arc, the character arcs, and then beginning it all over again.

I want to do it so much. But I'm a bit intimidated by everything else going on. NanoWriMo is hard. And it never seems like my life is quite empty enough to have the necessary time. Don't get me wrong--I love that my life is full.

I guess what Im getting at is I didn't have enough time last year, or the year before and I won't have enough time this year or the year after.

What counts is sitting down and doing what you can. Even if it makes you a loser.

So, NanoWrimo anyone?

I think I'll do it, and will post my progress here on my blog.

Why not?

Cheating on your WIP

I don't know about other writers out there (perhaps I should do a poll) but sometimes I feel like I'm cheating on my work in progress.

It goes like this:

I begin with an idea. Its a fun idea, an exciting idea, an idea that makes me smile, that makes my heart go thump. I love the idea, so much, that I commit.

I sit down with the idea, and plan. I improve the idea, I try turning it into something more. A story.

I commit further, actually putting time in, and writing an opening scene. By now, i'm in love. I think I've never had a better idea.

So I write another scene and another. But sooner or later, somewhere down the road, I lose that obsession. I still love the idea, but not with a burning passion. I'm aware of its flaws by now. Its no longer this shining ideal of a thing I place on a pedestal at the beginning of the process.

I keep working at it, plugging along. I love it, but I'm not In Love with it.

And then another idea comes along. And this one, well, it really is the ideal I think it is--I'm sure of it. So I cheat. I don't abandon my first idea. I still work with it, advancing the story, continuing to commit to it with every new scene.

But--I have a story on the side. One I'm In Love with--at least for the time being.

This happens over and over until...I end up where I am right now, working on 4 stories actively, and have one story set aside for the time being.

I do think that its helpful to me, to have several stories going at once. It gives me a break when necessary. And lets face it--thinking of your story as a shining ideal when you first write it is a bad choice. Because it's going to need lots or rewriting and edits before it shines. That's the nature of writing, and having multiple projects allows me to give the WIP the time it needs to sit, so I can look at it objectively.

Does anyone else cheat on their WIPs?
Does it help or hinder your story telling?