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Every November tens of thousands of would-be novelists take up the challenge of National Novel Writing Month in the attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. As National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, enters its 9th year, let's take a look at this literary phenomenon.

It has been said that virtually everyone dreams of writing a novel at some point in their life. Whether it's the first time they read a Hardy Boy's mystery or Tom Sawyer or Paradise Lost (well, maybe not Paradise Lost), everyone comes to a point while reading that they say to themselves, "I could have written that." For me, the dream started at about eight years old, the first time I read Alfred Hitchcock's The Three Investigator's series. Most people eventually abandon this dream, along with the dream of being President and an astronaut.

But as evidenced by the steady growth of participants over the years, NaNoWriMo proves that not everyone gives up the dream. It may lay dormant for long periods, but the pull is always there, like a siren calling them toward some distant literary rocks. For me, a harmless web search for writing sites in 2005 brought 30 years of dreaming, wishing, and procrastinating crashing into the scary reality of possibility.

When I first found out about National Novel Writing Month during that web search in October of 2005, I though it was the craziest idea I had ever heard. I had been dreaming of writing a novel since I was a kid, and had been working on one novel off and on for more than 10 years, and these lunatics were suggesting that you could write one in 30 days? I checked out the website, more to prove to myself that it was a ridiculous notion than with the idea of participating. I was completely wrong.

Chris Baty started NaNoWriMo in 1999 in San Francisco with 21 participants. He claims it was partly to have something to do and partly as a way to get dates. By 2006 over 79,000 people participated, with just under 13,000 completing 50,000 words in 30 days.
The basics of the "contest" are simple. During the month of November, you write a 50,000-word novel, which comes out to roughly 175 pages. On a daily basis, this is 1667 words per day, which sounds a lot less frightening than 50,000. You must start from scratch (no trying to complete something you've already started), and you cannot, or at least should not, edit any of what you write before you finish; Baty says if you do not silence your inner editor, a legion of guilt monkeys will descend upon you. The

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