NaNoWriMo

It's November, which is one of my favorite times of the year. Why, you ask? Because, it's NaNo time, baby!

NaNoWriMo badge from the site

What's NaNo? It's short for NaNoWriMo which is better known as National Novel Writing Month. The goal of NaNo is to write a novel (in any genre) in 30 days. What counts as a novel? For NaNo, 50,000 words is considered "winning". You could write 'ninja' 50,000 times and win, but where's the fun in that?

NaNo helps forge bonds by hosting write-ins were us anti-social creatures of the keyboards meet in public, in libraries or Panera Breads, across the world and do what we do best -- WRITE. Encouragement is key during NaNo. We all band together and cheer each other on to reach that 50K mark. For 30 days, we live and breathe writing, and boy, is it a rush like no other.

The writing is rough, unpolished, and full of typos. But to see those words fill up the blank page before you is amazing. It's pure, unfiltered imagination.

If you're an aspiring author, join in. It's free and at a daily goal of about 1,667 words, you, too, can write a novel in month. I've done it since 2007 regardless of what's going on in my life - high school, college, work, illness - and I've never regretted it.

NaNo's not about the win - it's about the journey. So, dust off that typewriter, that keyboard, or buy a brand new pen and notebook, and join in. I'm doing it. Why aren't you?

Learn more about NaNoWriMo and even sponsor this great organization here.

Want to track my progress? My author's page.