Will NaNoWriMo Help Me This Year?

Every year, I have to think about whether or not I want to, or need to, participate in NaNoWriMo.

Will trying to write 2500 words a day help me finish that damn novel or write more short stories or an entirely new novel?

Over the past few years, my success rate has been hit or miss. One year, I had an entire short story collection. Another year, a few thousand words for the damn novel. I don’t always complete the 50,000 word goal. Sometimes that actually makes me so anxious, I get paralyzed. Sometimes I don’t care about that ultimate goal and use the almost daily writing to just generate things that aren’t total garbage.

So, my thoughts stray to what is my goal ultimately. Should I even have one? I have to be honest I am getting kind of burnt out on trying to write and submit and the getting rejected over and over.

Maybe I will just take a break this year. Or maybe my compulsion to participate and complete the 50,000 words will override that. I guess we will see when the first comes if I do or not.