There are writers who anticipate the month of November with both excitement and trepidation.  If you’ve never heard of NaNoWriMo before, you’ve only recently entered the realm of writing.  If you’re one of those people sweating out producing 1,667 words a day this month, don’t worry, I’m not going to take up a lot of your time.

NaNoWriMo is kind of like Christmas:  there are people who want to sell you things to make your season successful.  From templates to calendars, peddlers in the industry promise to help make your attempt at writing 50,000 words in one month more attainable.  And when you’ve finished, there’s more things they can sell you to polish your work.

Call me a Grinch, but technology doesn’t make you a better writer.  Oh, I suppose it might be nice to have a digital editor that points out grammatical errors and misplaced punctuation, but technology can never match soul.

Just as no program can compose a piece of music that would bring a lump to your throat, technology can’t produce a story that keeps you turning the pages (or swiping the screen).  Sure, the technical elements are important, but a writer’s voice can never be duplicated by a machine.

How do you develop that?  Well, NaNoWriMo is focused on the gritty, dirty part of just getting those words down on screen (or paper, if you’re really old-fashioned), but the concept is still there:  Keep writing.  And keep reading about writing.

I, however, am going to stop writing this blog now so you can stop reading.  See, I told you I wouldn’t take up a lot of your time….