What is NaNoWriMo?

Happy November! The first day of November means you’ll probably start seeing a bunch of posts or news articles about NaNoWriMo, if you haven’t seen them popping up already. But what is NaNoWriMo? Here’s a quick primer for those who may not know, and maybe some inspiration for those who already know but haven’t yet participated.

The goal for NaNoWriMo, also called National Novel Writing Month, is for as many participants as possible to complete a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. That’s right–50,000 words in 30 days. That comes out to about 1,667 words per day, or 69 words per hour, or 1.15 words per minute.

NaNoWriMo is designed to help aspiring writers find the inspiration and community to get their novels out there. Just one month of commitment, along with thousands of other writers, and you can have the first draft of your novel ready to go. To help participants, the organization offers writers the ability to earn writing badges online, to meet up with local NaNoWriMo groups in person and to listen to encouraging pep talks from renowned authors. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and get started on your 1.15 words per minute. As NaNoWriMo says, the world needs your novel!

To learn more, you can follow NaNoWriMo on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. If you didn’t know, you can also follow Books on the Wall on Facebook.