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goal is to push through to the end, regardless of how bad much of the book will be. When you have conquered actually finishing this rough draft, you can then go back and edit. The way you "win" is to reach 50,000 words by November 30th.

NaNoWriMo 2005 was the breakthrough for me. Just knowing that there were thousands of people around the world hammering away at their keyboards at the same time I was made me feel less alone in the process, and having a set deadline helped me stick to the daily word requirement. After 10 years slogging away, starting and stopping, and never getting anywhere on my own, it pushed me over the top. On November 30, 2005 the first draft of my novel God, Guns, and the Perfect Chicken-Fried Steak was complete, with just over 51,000 words. In November 2006 I finished my second novel, The Candy Man, while finishing the editing of the first.

This method may not be right for everyone, but if you need a push, this is the way to go. There are forums and encouraging e-mails from Chris Baty, and all over the country local groups meet once a week during November to write together. In some ways, it's like a big party that ends not with a hangover, but with a finished novel. This year will also feature guest authors giving words of encouragement, the most notable at this point being Sue Grafton.

One word of caution, though. As with any writing class (and the contest is essentially a hands-on class on speed novel writing), there are benefits and drawbacks to NaNoWriMo. Writing a novel is a monumental task, especially if you have never gotten beyond page five in spite of years of trying. The daily word-count goal breaks the process down to a more manageable size. Refusing to edit as you write the first draft allows creativity to run amok, whereas re-working the same sentence on page one 50 times will kill creativity in a heartbeat.

It is also a great encouragement to know that thousands of other people around the world are writing at the same time you are. For some, simply writing 50,000 words is enough, no matter how bad the plot, dialogue, and overall quality may be. There are people who have taken part in nearly every National Novel Writing Month contest since 1999. For many, it is a month-long excuse to meet friends at Starbucks while pretending to hammer out a few hundred words. For some it's exactly what Chris Baty originally envisioned: a way to meet girls.

The danger is that for those who do take it seriously, the adrenaline of the speed-writing format can be so addictive, and the camaraderie so strong, that they cannot write any time except November. It's a great way to get past your first novel-length piece of fiction or as a jump-start if you're blocked, but writing is something that's meant to be done every day. It's a way of life, not something done on a seasonal schedule like duck hunting.

If only as a writing exercise, NaNoWriMo is something every writer should do once. But it is only a starting point in the journey, not a destination itself. If you're trying to finish a novel for the first time and need a push, it's a great route to go; just don't stop there.

Learn more about this author, Bruno Somerset.
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