The new NaNoWriMo website launches in a week. I’m running around like a headless chicken thanks to MLing, having a social life, trying to get other work done, and oh, being away last weekend and this upcoming weekend. This thing called a social life is really getting to me, but at least I’m getting it out of my system before Nano season officially begins for the masses.
What many people don’t realize is that Nano season begins much sooner for me. My brother contacted me about the family coming down to visit me this weekend for my dad’s birthday. The fact that my dad and I aren’t very close at all (the least close of all my family members) aside, I have an airtight excuse in being away this weekend. But it also happens to be Nano season, and as we all know, Nano eats my soul even more than usual during October and November. Not that it doesn’t during the rest of the year, of course, with many of my social interactions being with Wrimos, but the soul-eating definitely goes into overdrive and obsession during Nano season. You would think my family is aware of this since I did Nano as a high school student while living with them, but no, every single year they still ask what Nano is. At least my brother, who is like me in that he is Internet-savvy and geeky, has figured out what Nano is after all these years and even commented on it last year when Nano trended on Twitter. He still thinks I’m nuts for doing it, which is expected. My parents primarily care about my writing to get published and therefore rich. It doesn’t work like that, but that’s a separate subject altogether.
So how do I explain to my family just how important Nano is to me? They sort of know what Nano is but don’t really value writing unless it’s going to make me rich. You know, because all writers are rich, right?