NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, is November. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Details on the NaNoWriMo website.

This will be my fourth year of participation. It's a lot of fun and a great way to challenge yourself to do something a bit out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately, there's a bit of a snacking culture surrounding the whole affair, so I prefer to get my support from my 3FC peeps where we pointedly avoid unplanned snacking and still find a way to write 50,000 words in 30 days. We show the world that great feats can be accomplished without treats.

So, who's in this year?

Good luck!

I'm in! I participated a few years ago and managed to get 50k words done I'm planning out my novel in preparation for the 1st.

I can't wait to start!

I'm trying to wrap up the novel I started last year, so that I can work on the sequel for NaNoWriMo

How do they know if you aren't working on one now and sending in parts of it?

They don't? Although I guess one could find out by tinkering with the metadata of a word doc, but even that can be changed around.

I'm not sure what that is but couldn't you just change the date on your computer and resave the file? Also, you could retype it into new file and save it.

Metadata generally let's you know what program created the file, when it was created, etc. The ways you described are ways to get around it

They make it very clear on the website that the challenge is entirely based on the honor system.

You could copy someone else's novel or even 50,000 random words into their word counters and it would still "register" you as a winner.

But there aren't any tangible prizes, just "bragging rights" so if you cheat, you only cheat yourself.

Kaplods, I totally understand. I was just wondering if someone ever did that and how they would do it. Please tell me about your novel.

Good luck, you guys! I've completed NaNo in the past, and it was so much fun. Been looking to do it again, but between full time work and school and the gym, there's just NO WAY this year.

I'll be cheering you on though!

Going for it as a first-timer!

I so want to do this! Every year I say I'm going to and then I don't. It'll be nice to work toward something, I think! Now to come up with something to write about in the next week or two....

Good luck everyone!

I'm sure people have. In fact, even "diaries" and random musings are considered fair game (the definition of "novel" is left pretty open-ended. It can be a diary, a true story, a memoire... just about anything counts). The main "rule" is supposed to be "new material" so in the spirit of the event, I shouldn't use any part of the novel I started last November. I believe that a new 50,000 words would count if they didn't include any of 25,000 words I have already written (so my understanding is that I could decide to use my novel-in-progress, but I would have to get the word count to 75,000 words in order to count it).

My current Novel is a Young Adult werewolf novel. A little like Twilight, but more like Annette Curtis Klaus's Blood and Chocolate. The main character doesn't realize she's a werewolf until her first change at puberty (or that werewolves exist - or that the word is considered an ethnic slur among the hereditary shapeshifter clans). Soon after, she learns not only that werewolves exist, but that there are entire communities where everyone is or knows a shapeshifter (and where all the social rules and expectations are not familiar to her).

I'm going with a science-based premise rather than supernatural. In the book's world, shapeshifting is a recessive trait (or rather an assortment of complex genetic traits, both dominant and recesive). The plot centers around the main character (having been raised "human") trying to adjust and fit into a shapeshifter family and community, while navigating the normal challenges of adolescence.

I'm on a roll on my ongoing novel at the moment (38k or so), so I'm not going to start something new. I might try to write more than usual, using NaNo as inspiration to finish Part Two. I think I'm close to halfway through it, and expect to make a sequel for it too, so this story is going to be with me for a while. Also, I'm bad with consistency. I've had the basic idea for about 5 years, and have worked on it off and on for the last 4 years. I'd really love to get more consistent with my writing, and finish it, and it's sequel. It also doesn't help that I'm an "edit as you go" and "work on more stories at once" writer. lol.

kaplods, your novel sounds really good. My novel is actually about a werewolf too, but I use the word Lycan and Anthromorph instead, because mine takes place in a fantasy universe, so there's all kinds of different species and magic. It's been fun writing it.

Good luck, everyone!