November is National Novel Writing Month

"Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap."


November is National Novel Writing Month. It is a "fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."

The website NaNoWriMo is packed with well organized information, support and inspiration. There are FAQs and a forum for peer support. Groups are set up by region, and you will even have the chance to meet with fellow writers in your area.

The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel by November 30th. Quality does not matter. Quantity is key. This website's goal is to motivate writers to write every day, no matter how they feel or how busy their lives are. It helps to push writers out of editing and rewriting and fussing over the details such as flow or plot consistency. A writer is his or her own worst critic. Him-hawing over the finer points can be done at any time, but if there isn't enough to him-haw over there will never be that novel you've always been meaning to write someday.

Make someday this year!