I took part in my first NaNoWriMo challenge in 2014. I was still finding my feet as a fiction writer, even though I had been writing fiction since 2008. But that first NaNoWriMo, I was determined to develop my daily writing routine. Challenging myself to produce a decent word count every day seemed like a good idea.

During NaNoWriMo 2014, I hit the required 50,000 words by day 11. I had finished drafting that novel by day 16, and it clocked in at over 65,000 words—still missing all the action scenes. By the end of that month, I had written in the order of 95,000 words, scenes that formed the guts to three different novels in my high fantasy series (which is still sitting in the metaphorical drawer).

Since then, I have taken part in every single NaNoWriMo and CampNaNoWriMo event, and I am now the municipal liaison for both the Christchurch, New Zealand and the New Zealand Elsewhere regions.

Yes, I am a fan of NaNoWriMo.

But as I've become more comfortable with my writing habits, I've noticed an ethos that seems to accompany many NaNoWriMo participants that can actually be damaging to a long-term writing career.

There are some writers who take the 50,000-word-count challenge to extremes, trying to write 50,000 words in one night. No joke. In my home region of Christchurch, New Zealand, there is always at least one who forgoes sleep to achieve such a crazy feat.

In my opinion, the writers who do this are not simply crazy, but are missing the point.

The focus of NaNoWriMo has become so wrapped up in word counts that many participants seem to have lost sight of the original intention behind NaNoWriMo—to write the first draft of a novel.

It's time to shake up the word-count mindset and give renewed life to the original idea by changing the measurable goal.

Are you with me?