Katie Bartlett, Author

It’s that time again!

November is the month when writers come together in partnership and feverishly try to finish a 50,000 word novel in a month. 50,000 words. Thirty days. That’s 1666.67 words a day. No big deal, right?

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. The focus is not so much on the quality as the quantity, which has its value. Sometimes you just need to get words on the page (a.k.a. the shitty first draft) so that you have something to edit.

The goal: On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel. Many a novel has come out of NaNoWriMo, but to be clear, November is about writing the book. Don’t submit as soon as you are done. We need a new challenge to be DaDecEdMo, where we take the month of December (or longer) to edit. Remember – the first draft is always “shitty” or a work-in-progress. The beauty of any story is in the editing.

I’ve done NaNoWriMo before, and I’m trying it again this year. Once you create an account and sign in, you can link with fellow writers. You can track progress and get inspired by the productivity of others. Feel free to find and befriend me. I need all the inspiration I can get!

Find out more about how NaNoWriMo works.