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NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month, commonly abbreviated as NaNoWriMo or NaNo, is an annual online writing challenge that begins November 1^st, and ends November 30^th. The challenge? To write 50,000 words of your own ongoing or new novel.

How to Join

NaNoWriMo is free to everyone. You can join by signing up on nanowrimo.org, just click the big blue “Sign Up!” button and fill in all your information.

The Website

The NaNo site has multiple uses. Firstly, you use it for yourself to keep track of your novel. On the NaNo website, you can create an info page for your novel that will appear on your profile. This contains the title of your novel, the genre, the cover (if you have one), and if you so choose, a short synopsis and excerpt from your novel. Once November rolls around, you'll be able to paste the actual content of your novel into the site itself. This is not so anyone can read it, but rather so the website can keep track of your word count. Remember: you want to hit 50,000 words! Another great thing is that NaNo supplies you with personal stats that allows you to keep track of how many words you should write per day. This is especially helpful if you fall behind on writing every day.

Another use of the website is to chat with fellow writers. You can access the profiles of others and see their novel info. If you so choose, you can add them as a writing buddy and check up on them regularly. You can also, as the website calls it, Send NaNoMail to other users – in layman's terms, private message them. There is also a forum for you to post on as well.

Another great thing NaNo does is called Local Events. When you sign up, you can set what region of the world you are in. Sometimes NaNo will host different events for fellow writers to come and meet up, so always keep your eye out for any events happening around you! They also do something else called Come Write In. It's another way to meet writers, and also a place for you to sit and write your novel if you so choose. These happen at different libraries, bookstores, and community spaces around the world. You can find a list of confirmed Write Ins here, or by signing in to the NaNo site and clicking Local Events > Come Write In.

If you want others to know you participate in NaNo, they even have a store! There you can buy teeshirts, posters, mugs, books to help you plan out your novel, and more! I have one of their books I purchased myself off a separate website, and I will say it's very helpful.

Finally, another use of the website is for donations. Running a website like NaNo can be tough, so every year thousands of dollars are donated by other users to keep things running smoothly. NaNo keeps a proud display of how much money they have raised. As I type this, the amount donated is at $372,315.24. That's a lot of money!

The Stats

While the amount of money raised is impressive, so is the amount of participants NaNoWriMo sees every year. According to their website, NaNoWriMo 2012 saw 341,375 participants. This summer alone, Camp NaNo – the summer version of NaNoWriMo – saw 44,919 Campers. This November will make the fifteenth year NaNoWriMo has been open.

Another amazing stat is that over 250 NaNo novels have been traditionally published. Some recognizable names include Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and Marissa Meyer's Cinder.

That All Sounds Cool … Now What Do I Get When I Win?

Because this is more of a challenge than a contest, there aren't that many official prizes. According to the Wikipedia page of NaNoWriMo, those who reach the 50,000 word mark receive a printable certificate, an icon to be displayed on the web, and their name included on the winner's list. However, CreateSpace – an online self-publishing tool through the popular website Amazon – teamed up with NaNo in November of 2008, and offered the winners a free, paperback proof of their manuscript. In 2011 (and though not listed on Wikipedia, I believe it was also offered last year as well) CreateSpace offered all winners five free, paperback proofs of their manuscripts.

Other than that, knowing you have written some, most, or all of your very own novel is a prize enough. Take pride in knowing that you have done something your friends may not be able to say: you wrote a novel. In one month. It's unbelievable! And if you're really feeling it, you can buy yourself a nifty winners teeshirt from the store.

So How Does This Tie In With Mibba?

Because Mibba is a creative writing site, I believe NaNo ties in with our community a lot. Many users, myself included, take part of NaNo every year. About now, you'll see blogs pop up with mentions of NaNo novels. There is also a thread here on the forums dedicated to NaNoWriMo 2013.

Not only that, but many Mibba participants of NaNo go on to publish their stories here, on this very site.

To Wrap Everything Up

If you are interested in NaNoWriMo, I suggest you take a look into it. It can be very fun, but also very challenging! Also, I hope this article helps clear up any confusion some users may have, if they are unsure about NaNo altogether. If you do end up participating – well, good luck!