As you may be aware, November is NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month (see http://www.nanowrimo.org/). All over the world, writers – many of them with families to tend to and day jobs to hold down – have been furiously penning their novels, with the aim of reaching a 50,000-word total by the end of the month. They’re exhausted, they’re consumed by the process, but they’re determined to get the bare bones of their books done on paper right now.

It’s a winning formula, and many authors who’ve gone on to publish books successfully happily confess that the novels began during NaNoWriMo. The project allows authors the opportunity to really immerse themselves in the book and push through a short burst to break the back of the job of writing a novel. For many authors, NaNoWriMo is the very antidote to procrastination, and it can move them past writing blocks and doubts that are standing in their way. In addition, there is a school of thought that advocates writing a first draft quickly, without allowing the inner editor to have a say; they believe that, creatively, this can lead to the best work.

But is this kind of speed writing a recipe for madness or for creative genius? At the end of the month, would you have the foundations of a novel to be proud of, or incoherent ramblings – the fruit of a burnt-out, pressurised mind?

Personally, I don’t think I would feel comfortable writing quite that quickly. I like to have the time to do background reading or take a walk on the beach to clear my mind mid-chapter. But I do enjoy being able to immerse myself in my writing, and I can see the benefit of letting the writing flow, and then coming back to edit later on. I think the keys to success must be meticulous planning of the narrative in advance – of which I am always a proponent – discipline during the month, and then a willingness to revise and rewrite and edit extensively.

When you have an idea for a novel and a plan, the task of writing can stretch out before you like a daunting mountain to conquer, and getting something, anything, down can do much to assuage those feelings of worry. But I think once you’ve proven to yourself that you can write – you can write a number of words that equate to a book – you can be kinder to yourself.

Life informs writing. NaNoWriMo is deliberately only a month long, and most participants write on top of the activities of their ordinary live. But full immersion for too long, and I think writing may become affected. We write about people, about the world. And if we exit the world for too long, shutting ourselves away to write about our impression of the world, locked away in our minds, then we risk becoming too detached and that isolation coming through in the writing. Balance, then, is key. A little life, a little writing. Steady as she goes.

If you’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo, I offer you hearty encouragement – not long to go now; go for it! Ultimately, any impetus to writing is something to applaud and celebrate.