Last night, I gave an “Intro to NaNoWriMo” talk at a local library. It’s nearly NaNo time, friends! 

For those not in the know, NaNoWriMo stands for “National Novel Writing Month.” It’s a month-long event that takes place every November, and your goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

Whew. That’s a LOT of words.

I first participated in NaNoWriMo in 2011 and have done it six times, “winning” five (that one year I had emergency surgery halfway through the month, so hitting 50k words was just not happening).

This year is a special one, though: the twentieth anniversary of the event, which began in 1999 by founder Chris Baty and 21 of his friends. NaNoWriMo has grown to over 300,000 active novelists in over 90 countries. How AWESOME is that? I would love for an endeavor I begin to gain a tenth as much traction. I’m so proud of the staff at NaNoWriMo for getting the (nonprofit) organization to this level. It’s a huge achievement,  and I’m thrilled to be a small part of it every year.

It being the twentieth anniversary and all, now is the perfect time to dust off your favorite pen or writing program and dive in. If you’ve wanted to do NaNoWriMo before but never have—or this is your first time hearing about it—there’s no time like the present!

So, why would you want to do something as crazy as attempting to write 50,000 words in one month?

First of all, writing a novel is HARD. Getting your first draft down and out in a blitz of creative energy is awesome, and having such a deadline silences your inner critic pretty fast. You just don’t have the time to listen to her, and that’s one of the reasons NaNoWriMo exists at all: it encourages you to quiet that editor inside of you and Just. Write. Put words on the page, and you can edit those words later into a coherent and comprehensive story.  

Another, almost more valuable, aspect is the community of it all. Nowhere else will you find as many writers undergoing the same challenge as you; nowhere else will you find so many people who understand what you’re going through. There’s nothing quite like it, being surrounded by your peer group all experiencing the same thing. 

How do you get involved in this crazy event?

You go the NaNoWriMo website, sign up, create a project, and start writing. You go in and record your word count every so often, then “validate” your 50k words at the end for the win, if you manage that stratospheric feat. That’s all there is to it! There’s so much more you can do, like participate in the forums, the regional word wars, meeting up with your local writers, etc. But as far as have to do, writing is pretty much it.

There’s a little secret to NaNoWriMo that I need to let you in on: it’s not about the word count, at the end of the day. 50,000 words is an arbitrary goal, one that’s meant to give you an external deadline and create a challenge.  And, boy, is it ever a challenge!

BUT. NaNoWriMo is about so much more: It’s about creating a writing habit for yourself, shutting off your inner editor and just letting yourself put words on the page, and creating community. 

Most people who start NaNoWriMo don’t finish, and by “don’t finish,” I don’t mean “don’t hit 50k.” 

I mean, they stop. 

They give up.

They stop writing.

And that’s the only way that NaNoWriMo defeats YOU is if you stop writing because you’re discouraged. Because you won’t hit that arbitrary goal Chris Baty and friends set for themselves 20 years ago. 

So, embrace NaNoWriMo, have fun, and strive for that 50k. You have it in you! But if you don’t this year for whatever reason, that’s okay. Just write. And participate in the community, because that’s where the true magic of NaNoWriMo lies.

Have you ever done NaNoWriMo before? What was your experience like? Did you develop a consistent writing habit or fall back off come December 1? Share in the comments below!