1. There are always the takes. Real writers don't need NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) to write.
Counter: The qualifications for being a writer are...*checks notes*...writing. If you write in November (or April or July) you are a writer. If you write other months, you are a writer.
2. November is a bad month.
Counter: It may be. I think having a ridiculous non-day job goal during a busy period of my day job actually kept me balanced. But if it's a bad month for you there's camp in April or July. There's people all over the internet running writing challenges about any time you can think of.
3. People can't write anything decent at that pace.
Or: Drafting processes vary, but I actually do better at that pace. I've tried writing faster and had mixed results. I've written slower and the draft quality is not better. Knowing this about yourself is useful data, but the only way to know is to try.
4. Most people never finish their NaNo book.
So, this is probably true. But, the stats for drafts when you gather folks up and start asking around are dire. I know these days it seems that everyone has written a book. They haven't. Lots of people started. Less people finished. This is a feature of projects that require a lot of time and energy. Not everything works out.
5. I can't not edit.
Counter: Those of you who know I am a fan of messy first drafting know this is not my process. But if yours works better with constant editing, then cool. Do that. Work the way that works best for you. (PS yes, I have tried this method. Neither of those drafts ever got finished.)
6. I hate zoom/discord/slack/Twitter/etc.
First let me gasp. (I kid.) But if you hate the various virtual meetup choices being offered, you are welcome to plan another. And you could also just write and not meetup. (I know, gasp.)
7. I'm a long term NaNo fan, NaNo got me my first completed draft, and several of my published works were NaNo of Camp NaNo projects. Not all of them were. And not all of my NaNo projects turned into something that had promise. But each of those projects was worthwhile to me to embark on. And I learned about my process. If it isn't for you, you don't have to join. But if it is, it might be a lot of fun.
