Writing is difficult - why am I doing this again?

The idea behind NaNoWriMo is to get you writing every day. And it is a good idea. Writing regularly is essential to finishing a book. In previous years this was never a problem for me. I could easily write every day, and lots as well. But I am really struggling this year. Let's take a look at why that is.

1. I am rewriting a book.
   Rewriting is never as fun and exciting as writing a new book completely from scratch. Rewriting also means having to improve the story, so I can't just spew out any old nonsense, it has to make sense as well.

2. I have a blog to maintain.
   In previous years I did NaNoWriMo alongside my full time job, but that was all. This year I am also maintaining my blog and as I don't want to take a hiatus from my blog I have less time to spend on writing. I am spread thin a bit.

3. Writing well is hard.
   Writing your first draft of a story is relatively easy. You don't have to worry too much about how well you write, as long as you get the bare bones of the story down. Writing well comes when you rewrite or edit. And that is the real nub of the problem. I want to write well as I am not prepared to rewrite again, nor do I want to have to edit too much afterwards.

And so I struggle on. I spend a lot more time thinking about what I want to write next and how I can best write my story. I really care about this book and want it to be great, so I am defying NaNoWriMo rules and edit as I go along. I know this means I might not actually win this year (which would really suck) but if I can get a good, solid second draft at the end of it all, I will be very happy.