National Novel Writing Month: A Daunting Task

Full-time college students take on writing a 50,000 word novel in one month, for fun.

-by Alia Murphy

As November approaches, thousands of writers like Michelle of Shirley, Massachusetts, prepare to sign up for National Novel Writing Month, an annual commitment to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an organization made to inspire novel writers around the country. For years, NaNoWriMo has pushed these aspiring writers to their limits by giving them a seemingly impossible task: writing a 50,000 word novel in just thirty days.
Michelle, a student at Fitchburg State College, was successful in her first year, and will be participating for her second consecutive year. In November of 2006, she completed her 50,000 word novel by the deadline of November 30th. She, among thousands of others who completed their novels, received a certificate as an award. “It’s a difficult task. If you complete it you should definitely be proud of yourself.”

Michelle had always maintained an interest in writing, and when she discovered NaNoWriMo through an advertisement on Yahoo!, she decided to go for it. “I was never determined enough to do it, and when I saw this ad, I thought it would be a cool way to try it.”

While NaNoWriMo may seem to be an extremely difficult task, especially to those who are not writers, the novel writers are willing participants, and enjoy the project. “It’s a lot of fun. You definitely build communities with the other people that do it.” In fact, while I was interviewing Michelle, another student who participates in the project overheard the interview, and engaged in conversation with her.

The website, www.NaNoWriMo.org, acts as the meeting ground for the participants. Here is where they sign up and record their progress throughout the month of November. Also, the website allows the participants to communicate with each other about their novels and any problems they may be having. It is a way to inspire writers to follow their ambitions while they are given support and structure.