I wouldn’t be so harsh. It’s normal to try your best as a parent and still be overwhelmed or feel like you aren’t as perfect as you should be. It’s especially hard as a brand new parent, before you learn what to worry about and what to let be, and the ‘tricks’ Nancy knows come with years of experience. This is also kid #3, so she’s got two kids worth of practice! He’s there, he’s showing up, he cares, and he’s trying. In a world filled with parents who don’t make any effort at any of those, he’s not demonstrating any shortcomings.
Agreeeeeeed. For the first two weeks: “Yay for you! You built a lovely little daily writing habit! Doesn’t it feel great?” Last two weeks: “And now, prepare yourself for GOD MODE”. Many, many NaNo writers have been lost to the swamps of Thanksgiving…(bows head for moment of silence).
True. But the underlying goals – to establish a writing habit, build community with other writers, and gain the self confidence to just produce 50K words (quality notwithstanding) – often lead to better writers. Plus you come out with (hopefully) a finished first draft, one of the hardest tasks to accomplish. Editing and polishing into something resembling ‘good’ come later! It’s a great challenge for beginning writers. None of us were good when we started out. :-)
I wouldn’t be so harsh. It’s normal to try your best as a parent and still be overwhelmed or feel like you aren’t as perfect as you should be. It’s especially hard as a brand new parent, before you learn what to worry about and what to let be, and the ‘tricks’ Nancy knows come with years of experience. This is also kid #3, so she’s got two kids worth of practice! He’s there, he’s showing up, he cares, and he’s trying. In a world filled with parents who don’t make any effort at any of those, he’s not demonstrating any shortcomings.