Despite taking my writing career seriously I have never participated in NaNoWriMo . . . ever.
I’ve signed up to the website, but that was years ago. I don’t exactly know why, but I suspect that in earlier years I didn’t have the courage the try something and then fail it. Or maybe that I hadn’t worked out how to plan and maximise my time. I’m still a bit disorganized.
Nowadays I don’t think I need to be prompted to write my stories like this. I’m mostly capable of sitting down and pushing myself to vomit out that sea of text. I mean I should be disciplined enough by now.
My greatest writing achievement (besides self-publishing and completing a creative writing degree) is that I wrote about 115,000 words in 57 days (that book is still on the backburner). I didn’t need NaNoWriMo to prompt me. It was the urge of a new bitching story that brought me in.
So will I fail to start it next year? Most likely.
Stephanie Haggarty 
Nano worked really well for me the first time, when I didn’t have any process to speak of. Since then, it hasn’t always aligned with the projects I’m already working on. So I’m not someone who wins every time. I do think it’s a good place to talk to and meet other writers. I usually start, but if the timing is off, it’s more social than anything else.