NaNoWriMo Challenge: draft a 50,000-word novel in November

Do you dare to write a 50,000-word novel in 1 month? That's what NaNoWriMo is all about. It's a writing marathon that takes place every year in November. The goal is to draft a 50,000-word novel during November.

With this article, I'll start a new blog and a series of articles on creative writing, with tips to reach the goal of 50,000 words without dying in the attempt.

In this first article, I'll introduce you to the event, with the most frequent questions that first-time participants usually have. I participated twice in 2015 and 2016. I learned a lot during this event, and in these articles, I'll tell you everything so that you don't make the same mistakes as me.

Who can participate?

Literally people from all over the world and of all ages! There are no restrictions.

Do I have to write in English?

No. Although the website is in English, the event is global. People from all over the world participate in all languages. In the NaNoWriMo forum, you'll find sub-forums for each region (regions can be countries, cities, or continents, depending on the volunteers who have volunteered to "create" those regions).

Who are the judges of the event? Who checks that everyone reaches the goal?

Nobody. There are no judges. There's no one to check anything. The way to measure progress is from the event website. The users have to enter and indicate how many words they wrote each day. Everyone who reaches the finish line (that is, everyone who has written at least 50,000 words) is considered a winner.

But then anyone can cheat and say they wrote 50,000, when in fact they didn't write anything!

Yes. Since no one controls this, it becomes a personal challenge. That depends on your honesty.

Are there prizes for the winners?

Yes. The prize is the completion of the draft of a 50,000-word novel that can then be published. Ah, you mean "prizes" in the traditional sense of the word! In that case, no. NaNoWriMo is not a contest. The only prize is the satisfaction and the experience of having managed to write a novel in 1 month. Isn't that enough? You should be proud to have in your hands a book written by yourself. You have achieved something that most people will never do in their entire lives!

What can I write in NaNoWriMo?

You can write what you want. Although it originally emerged as a novel-writing marathon, it's open to all kinds of texts. If it's something that can be expressed in words, then it's welcome at NaNoWriMo. Nevertheless, the organizers recommend that you participate with a novel the first time. "To break the rules, you first have to know them."

50,000 words in a month? But that's impossible! How is it done?

Having to write so much in such a short time, you cannot expect your writing to be perfect. What you'll write will be the first draft. But don't worry about it, you just write. Write, write, write, write, write as if your life depends on it. Write without thinking; the "writer's block" concept does not exist here. Don't correct or edit anything. Don't worry if your writing is full of errors, or if you think you're writing pure nonsense. You'll have time to review and correct later, but for now, your only goal is to reach 50,000 words. That's 1667 words a day. If you can write that amount in one day, then you won't have much trouble. This is all about "quantity over quality."

Don't fool yourself. You're going to write a lot of crap, but that's the most fun of all!

I don't like to participate alone. I want to find people with whom to share experiences. How do I do?

As explained before, the event is divided into regions. Usually, the regions are countries, but in the case of the United States, since it has a huge number of participants each year, it's divided into states. Each region has one or more Municipal Liaisons. They are the leaders and coordinators of the event in each region and are in charge of motivating the participants in their region to achieve the goal. You'll find the regions in the NaNoWriMo forum. When registering, you must fill out a form where, among other things, you must specify your region. Then, in the sub-forum for that region, you'll find the Municipal Liaison(s) and all the other participants.

Additionally, Facebook groups and Discord servers are also usually used for the convenience of the participants, but this is not official and depends on the Municipal Liaison of each region.

It should be clarified that the Municipal Liaisons are volunteers and don't receive financial compensation; they do this work for the love of art. Without going any further, I applied for Municipal Liaison of the Argentina region (the country where I live), together with a colleague, in 2016, because in 2015, due to unforeseen circumstances, there was no Municipal Liaison for my region, and that's why the event was more boring for us. Trust me, things are a lot more fun when there are Municipal Liaisons who organize weekly events and encourage you to keep going.

I have my doubts, but I want to try. How do I do?

To participate in NaNoWriMo, you must register at http://nanowrimo.org and submit your novel.

You can find more information here, on the official page: http://nanowrimo.org/en/whatisnano

That's all for now. In the next article, I'll explain the main strategies to write so much without dying in the attempt.

Do you like to write? Would you like to participate? What do you think about this event? I'd like to know your opinion, so feel free to drop a comment.