November Writing Extravaganza NaNoWriMo

It's November, and many MANY people are involved in the sometimes fun/sometimes arduous adventure of NaNoWriMo. This acronym stands for National Novel Writing Month. November is that month with the challenge to write 50,000 words in one month.

NaNoWriMo logo

You think, How silly! Well, maybe. It can often kick start a profitable project, as it did for Carol Buchannan and Craig Lancaster (I name these two of many because they’re fellow Montanans), or merely push a wanna-be writer to use words (and words and words).

NaNoWriMo also has benefits that don't involve personal writing.
Since it's inception in 1999 in a small region of the California coast, it has become an international organization with participant numbers increasing each year. As a nonprofit organization (established in 2006) it partners with schools and libraries projects, especially to aid youngsters appreciation of language and writing.

The public concept of mega-writing might seem cute or masochistic, but NaNoWriMo is a valuable part of the literary community.

Learn more: at Wikipedia and the NaNoWriMo site.