Welcome to NaNoWriMo! What It Is and How You Can Start Writing a Novel
The idea of writing a novel may sound romantic and exciting, but in reality it’s a pretty daunting proposition. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to those in the know) and you might be thinking about joining the hundreds of thousands of people who seek to complete the writer’s holy grail—a fully written, 50,000-word manuscript—within a month. Yes, it can be done. Read on. Started in November 2000, the competition has grown from 140 participants to more than 400,000. Not every NaNoWriMo author writes a classic, but a few bestsellers that began during NaNoWriMo include Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. If you’re on the fence about NaNoWriMo, or worried you won’t…