Why I NaNo, even though I've never finished

So this year my sister said to me, “I’m not even gonna pretend I’m gonna do NaNoWriMo.”

Well, I started my NaNo on Nov 2, and I have yet to break 10,000 words - but the 8500 or so I’ve written is more fiction than I normally write in ANY month.

And that is why, even though I’ve never made it to 50,000 words and don’t know if I ever will, I try every year. Because the 2000, 8000, 10000 or 20000 words I actually get through are more than I do any other time of year. And I feel like each time I do it, even though my word count has actually gotten lower in recent years, I get closer to something, some intangible place wherein I am a writer.

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Nov 26, 2008

Posted in: Essays

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I acknowledge that I live and work on unceded Lumbee, Skaruhreh/Tuscarora, and Shakori land. I give respect and reverence to those who came before me. I thank Holisticism for the text of this land acknowledgement.

We must acknowledge that much of what we know of this country today, including its culture, economic growth, and development throughout history and across time, has been made possible by the labor of enslaved Africans and their ascendants who suffered the horror of the transatlantic trafficking of their people, chattel slavery, and Jim Crow. We are indebted to their labor and their sacrifice, and we must acknowledge the tremors of that violence throughout the generations and the resulting impact that can still be felt and witnessed today. I thank Dr. Terah ‘TJ’ Stewart for the text of this labor acknowledgement.