NaNoWriMo Update

Here we are, almost a week through NaNoWriMo, and I'm sitting here writing a blog post.

For those that don't know what I'm talking about, November is National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo.

If you are me right now, you are currently very behind. You work weird hours and had trouble getting anything written. You were out of town, and now you have a one-day weekend to make up for it. You will also be at YALLFest next weekend, so RIP writing time.

You are obviously not me. But, these may be some issues you've run into. I know I'm having a lot of trouble this year with my new project. Last year I drafted Iron Curse during NaNo. Granted, my first draft was like 52k words (lol so short for a fantasy). But still, I got the draft done. And I was so proud of myself (I still am).

Right now, I'm distracted. There are things going on online. And my current book is a Beauty and the Beast retelling and I can't help but think, "Could this be me dealing with shit that got way out of hand?"

So when I sit down to write, I can't concentrate on what I want to write. I concentrate on all the bad things about my WIP that can be fixed in later drafts, and this is a real problem. I'm sitting here talking with my friends saying that maybe I shouldn't even write this novel, even though I was so excited about it to begin with. 

And the thing is, I don't see how anyone could possibly construe this as rep of another culture (if you don't know what I'm talking about, bless you and know that you are better off not knowing). I'm not basing my characters on anything, and yet I see something that is seriously one of my worst nightmares happening to someone I admire. Someone I have spoken to and find very kind, intelligent, and reasonable. 

So my Beauty and the Beast retelling? I don't know what to do. If I have some characters seen as monsters, even though they really aren't, I'm afraid of what kind of backlash will happen. Even though these characters (at least to me) are obviously not even completely human.

I'm being told to write my story and get sensitivity readers. But the author I speak of above had them. She had many sensitivity readers, and none of them mentioned the problems she's being dragged through the mud for. So I'm asking this question:

What do I do? I almost want to scrap this story altogether, even though I love it. I'm 6k words in and I'm lost.

Also, if you are opposed to the author I speak of, that's fine. I'm not here to talk about her, and you can dislike her if you want. I'm not here to police anyone's reading habits. Please don't leave me hateful comments for a serious question.