Why on Earth are writers wasting their time on NaNoWriMo?

Stress and self-doubt become a sustained malaise during NaNoWriMo, so why do writers bother?

Every November, I attempt the National Novel Writing Month challenge (dubbed “NaNoWriMo” for fans of torturous portmanteaus). The goal: to write 50,000 words towards a single work of fiction in just 30 days.

I have had varying degrees of success.

In my first year, I won the challenge, writing essentially a Homeric fan fiction, which remains…