Have you ever seriously thought about becoming an author and writing a novel? What if that novel had to be written in just the 30 days of the month of November? It may sound like a tremendous goal, but it is a goal being set by 300,000+ participants during the annual National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo for short. NaNoWriMo is a ‘free of charge’ creative writing project that begins on November 1st and ends on November 30 at 11:59 PM. During this time period, participants, who can be anyone over the age of 13, work toward writing a 50,000-word rough draft version of their novel. The participants are not alone through this journey.
On NaNoWriMo’s website, nanowrimo.org, those that are taking up the challenge can interact with other participants in their region or online. If writer’s block becomes a problem, the website has plenty of resources for writers who need inspiration while writing. Participants often meet up to offer support and guidance to other writers in the challenge. On NaNoWritMo’s website, you can easily find local write-ins in the Pittsburgh area to visit while writing the novel.
After the thirty days of November are up and after the 50,000 word novel is completed, the novel can be submitted on NaNoWriMo’s website to be entered for prizes. Donors to this organization provide the gifts and prizes to those participants that win. There is no limit to the amount of winners of this challenge. Even if a 50,000-word novel does not win any of the prizes, many participants revise their rough draft version of their novel to publish. Some do not take the publishing route and save the story for themselves or friends. The ultimate goal of this challenge is to get people writing and motivate those who decide to write. Even if a writer has some writing done but does not have the 50,000 word requirement, the NaNoWriMo challenge is still a success since the participant started writing. Once November 1st 2015 comes around, seriously consider taking up the challenge and become a novelist.