If you've spent any time in the writing community (or you just have that wacky friend who's always writing down what you say to use as dialogue) you may have heard of something called NaNoWriMo, otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. During November, writers from all over the world band together to write and complete their own individual novels in the span of one month.

I'm sorry, an entire novel in one month? How?

Here's how it works. Each writer has the goal to write 1667 words each day of the month and by the end of the 30 days, they will have completed a 50,000 word novel. This is the equivalent of writing a five-page paper every day for a month. I completed NaNoWriMo last year, and my final product ended up being around 160 pages.

However, I did not do it alone. NaNoWriMo is not a solitary event, it is an online community that provides free writing and plot resources as well as access to a writing community. During November, they have virtual and in-person writing sit-ins where participating in NaNoWriMo can encourage each other and work in community with each other. They also have word sprints available 24 hours a day on Twitter, where they set a timer and have writers share their word counts at the end of the time period. These saved my life during November last year, it made me feel like I was racing other people to get my words completed. Additionally, they provide a downloadable spreadsheet for writers to keep track of their word count and stay on track. The organization is non-profit and works tirelessly to support writers at all levels of skill.

Do people actually do this?

Yes!

In 2019, 455,080 writers hailing from six different continents completed their novels in the month of November. There are groups locally who work together, even one here in Bismarck!

Interested in building a writing community?

Check out NaNoWriMo.org for more information, plot and character resources, and an online community. Here at UMary, we have groups doing NaNoWriMo as well. For more information on that, or if you just want some writing friends, contact the UMary Creative Writing Club.