By Katie Sittig-Boyd
Staff Writer

With the beginning of November comes a month of cold, dreary days: what better time to write a novel? National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it is most commonly known and abbreviated, gives writers worldwide the chance to write a novel in thirty days.

Officially, the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words of fiction in a month, though some participants write memoirs or creative non-fiction instead. The emphasis is on getting aspiring novelists to produce more writing than they ordinarily do, since many writers dream of writing a novel someday yet never actually write anything.

One of the best parts of NaNoWriMo is turning off what NaNo participants refer to as “the internal editor.” This is that nagging little voice that sits in the back of a novelist’s mind, convincing them that everything they write is terrible and needs to be edited immediately. While editing can certainly be valuable, it is equally important not to become bogged down in minute sentence-level details when there is a larger story out there waiting to be explored.

The frantic atmosphere of NaNoWriMo forces writers to produce words at a rate of approximately 1,700 words per day, which leaves most novelists with hardly any time to edit at all.

Some writers plot out their novels rigorously beforehand, while others allow the insanity of the month to dictate the direction of their stories. Within the NaNoWriMo community, they are referred to respectively as “planners” and “pantsers” (so called because they are likely to “fly by the seat of their pants”).

I have participated in NaNoWriMo for the past six years of my life, and every time my stories have gone in directions I never expected. I tend to fall into the “pantser” category, though I do at least decide who my characters are before November begins.

My noveling attempts have been successful as far as wordcount goes, and my focus has actually shifted: rather than striving for 50,000 words, I try to write the story as thoroughly as possible. For me, NaNoWriMo is an opportunity to produce a workable first draft of a novel that I can then later rewrite if it’s interesting enough.

Over its fifteen years of existence, NaNoWriMo has developed a strong online community. Its website is complete with user profiles and forums for participants to discuss their noveling triumphs and woes. There are forum threads for writers to discuss their characters, their plot development (or lack thereof), and exchange tips and tricks for reaching 50,000 words.

In addition, the organizers of NaNoWriMo send out pep talks to urge novelists to keep writing. Published authors often contribute pep talks to spur on the NaNoWriMo community; in the past, authors such as Neil Gaiman, Tamora Pierce, Gayle Forman, John Green, Holly Black, Audrey Niffenegger, Lois Lowry, and Simmons alumna Kristin Cashore have written pep talks.

For some writers, NaNoWriMo is just a fun experience, an excuse to let loose and write for a month, and they are then perfectly content never to touch their stories again. Others have actually published their NaNoWriMo novels. Marissa Meyer’s book “Cinder,” Rainbow Rowell’s “Fangirl,” and Sara Gruen’s “Water for Elephants” all started as NaNoWriMo projects.

There is actually a Boston-based NaNoWriMo group, NaNoBoston, which meets biweekly throughout November for “write-ins,” which are usually two-hour chunks of time dedicated to writing as many words as possible. They also have a Twitter feed, which supplies followers with a daily writing prompt and a “word of the day” to inspire writers who might be stuck in their noveling efforts.

NaNoWriMo is a great chance for novelists to let loose and write. Who knows what the month will bring? Insanity, certainly, and possibly a dire lack of sleep, but every frenetic second of November is absolutely worth it. To those brave WriMos dedicating their lives to a month of madness, go forth and good luck!