Important Disclaimer

In 2023, news broke of alleged grooming within the NaNoWriMo forums and the NaNoWriMo board’s failure to protect under-aged writers. Many writers and volunteer forum moderators have since parted ways with the organization. For more information, click here to view indie author Raven Oak’s write-up on the controversy.

Want to challenge yourself to write with consistency and commitment?

Consider joining this year’s NaNoWriMo challenge. Short for National Novel Writing Month, this annual event challenges participants to write 50,000 words of fiction in the month of November, an average of 1,667 words per day.

Every year, over 500,000 writers worldwide take part in this online and in-person event — and that number continues to grow. What makes NaNoWriMo such a popular affair?

The community surrounding this annual writing challenge certainly doesn’t hurt. Online forums, pep talks from published authors, and regional write-ins allow writers to connect and encourage one another. Factor in the host of social media conversations that spring up around the challenge, and, in many ways, NaNoWriMo has become an exclusive cool-kid club for writers — one that anyone around the world can join.

NaNoWriMo also provides writers with some much-needed motivation by gamifying the writing process. At NaNoWriMo.org, writers can publicly share their challenge progress, earn awards for achieving particular project milestones, and receive prizes should they achieve their goal of writing 50,000 words of fiction.

Think you might like to participate in this year’s event? Joining the challenge is simple:

#1: Create Your NaNoWriMo Account

To become an official participant (or “wrimo”), first create an account at NaNoWriMo.org. Fill out your profile, check out the challenge FAQs, and add fellow participants as writing buddies. 

#2: Announce Your Novel Project

To officially take part in this year’s challenge, be sure to “announce” your novel via your NaNoWriMo profile. You can then add your project’s title, genre, and synopsis. Only your writing buddies will see this information.

(Note: Writers typically can’t announce their novels until late September.)

#3: Start Writing on November 1st

Participating in NaNoWriMo is easy. Simply begin writing in your writing app of choice on November 1st. As the month progresses, log into your account to update your progress, gain participation badges, and check out the forums. 

When you’ve written 50,000 words, you can claim your official winner crown and prizes by “validating” your word count via the NaNoWriMo website. Just be sure to fit your words in before November 30th.

Confused? Click here to read some of the NaNoWriMo.org FAQs.

Winner prizes often include discounts on writing apps such as Scrivener, Campfire, Novlr, and ProWritingAid, as well as free access to writing courses via sites such as The Great Courses and Writing Mastery Academy. Don’t forget your winner badges and certificate, too!

Why should you participate in NaNoWriMo?

To say that becoming a wrimo changed my life would be an understatement. The early years of my writing journey were turbulent, to say the least. Despite focusing on the same project for more than two years, I’d failed to finish a first draft, constantly rewriting and overhauling my story’s plot each time doubt sank its teeth. 

It wasn’t long before I began to fear that I wasn’t “good enough” to be a writer, and that fear quickly activated a dreaded sense of resistance. No matter how much I longed to write, I just couldn’t seem to sit down and make words happen. I was terrified. 

I’d considered giving up writing for good when I discovered NaNoWriMo in the summer of 2014. For me, this challenge seemed the perfect gauntlet for proving my creative mettle. If I could write 50,000 words of fiction in a month, then I would know the writing life was for me. 

On November 1st, I settled into my desk chair with a dogged sense of determination and wrote, and wrote, and wrote. The words were awful, but I didn’t care. I was writing. And by the time November came to a close, I’d finished my first draft. I’d written over 50,000 words of fiction. 

But that isn’t all that NaNoWriMo helped me accomplish. If you’re ready to revolutionize your writing life, then here are eight additional ways that I — and more importantly, that you — can benefit from participating:

#1: Learn to Push Past Resistance

No one ever said that writing is easy. For many, simply getting started can be the most difficult hurdle. Fortunately, there’s no better challenge to teach you how to push past resistance and write than NaNoWriMo.

With 1,667 daily words to pen, you don’t have time to waste. Don’t be afraid to get a little desperate. The keener you are to win the challenge, the easier it will be to sit your butt in your chair and get words on the page.

#2: Develop a Writing Routine

There’s nothing like the need to write over 1,500 words a day to help you carve out time to write. If you’re anything like most wrimos, then you’ll likely need to sneak in a little writing during odd hours and in odd places, too. 

Track your daily writing during this time, and you might just discover when and where you do your best work. Take advantage of these conditions to forge a writing routine you can carry within you into December and beyond.

#3: Conquer Writer’s Block

“Writer’s block” is a scape-goat term that many writers apply to any number of issues that inhibit their ability to write, including resistance, creative burnout, developmental story issues, and a lack of clarity concerning what to write next. 

The challenge of NaNoWriMo ensures that you won’t cry “writer’s block” when these issues arise. Once again, you simply don’t have time to waste if you want to win. Instead, you’ll take a moment to figure out the issue at the heart of your “block,” then find ways to resolve it so you can get back to writing ASAP.

#4: Build Creative Momentum

In learning to overcome resistance and other pesky writing issues, you’ll get more words on the page than ever before. This progress will lead to a sense of accomplishment and creative momentum that you can carry into your writing practice long after NaNoWriMo comes to a close.

#5: Curb Unnecessary Editing

The purpose of a first draft is to get your story out of your head and down on paper. Yet many writers fiddle with word choice and sentence structure as they draft, completing unnecessary edits that inhibit their productivity. With so many words to write each day, NaNoWriMo will quickly cure you of this habit.

#6: Make Serious Progress on Your Project

Though word count standards range from genre to genre, an average novel is roughly 75,000 words long. If you write 50k during NaNoWriMo, then there’s a good chance you’ll draft more than 50% of your manuscript in the month of November. Talk about exciting progress!

#7: Find a Sense of Community

Writing can be a lonely endeavor, especially if there are no suitable writing groups in your local area. Fortunately, there’s no better time to jump into the online writing community than during NaNoWriMo, when you can connect (and, let’s be real, commiserate) with writers across all major social media platforms and in the official NaNoWriMo forums. 

#8: Cultivate Creative Confidence

It’s hard to feel inadequate in your writing ability when you’re cranking out 50,000 words in a month. By the time you finish NaNoWriMo, there’s a good chance you’ll have cultivated a bit of creative confidence.

By the end of the month, you’ll know with certainty that you are a writer — and, more importantly, that nothing can stop you from getting your stories down on paper. Keep writing, my friend.

Can you see how this annual writing challenge can empower your writing life? 

If you aren’t sure whether this challenge is right for you, have no fear. All word count goals and projects are welcome. In fact, so many writers pursued their own projects and goals over the years that NaNoWriMo even created a special “NaNo Rebel” virtual badge. 

Of course, with the holidays just around the corner, November can be a tough month for many writers who wish to participate. If you find that you simply can’t carve out the time to participate in November, there’s no need to feel as though you’re missing out. The NaNoWriMo team also hosts several “Camp NaNo” events throughout the year, typically in April and July.  

No matter when you participate or what project (or aim) you pursue, allow NaNoWriMo to serve as your personal creative gauntlet. At first, you may struggle and doubt your ability to succeed, but keep pushing. With every word you write, you’ll gain confidence and momentum. You’ll grow in your craft and your commitment to your practice. You’ll become the writer you want to be.