What is NaNoWriMo?

The Young Writers Program of National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a novel by midnight, November 30. The word-count goal for our adult program is 50,000 words, but our Young Writers Program allows participants who are 17 years old and younger to set reasonable, yet challenging, word-count goals.

The only thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: you will be writing a lot of strange stuff, and some of it will be just plain bad. But that’s a good thing! For 30 days, you get to lock that inner editor in the basement, let your imagination take over, and just create!

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants of all ages are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel.

In 2007, over 100,000 adults participated through our main site, and 14,000 young writers participated through our Young Writers Program.

So, to recap:

What: To meet your word-count goal, and write a novel from scratch in one month’s time. You will be able to enter your chosen word-count goals in your profiles starting September 1.

Who: You!

You should sign up on the Young Writers Program site if you are:

• 17 years old or younger participating on your own.
• In a K-12 teacher-lead class that is participating in NaNoWriMo.
• An educator facilitating NaNoWriMo in your classroom.

If you are 13 or older you can choose to sign up on the main site at www.nanowrimo.org. Just know that you will have to write 50,000 words since the adult site doesn’t allow you to set your own word-count goal.

Why: The reasons are endless! To write freely without having to stress over spelling and grammar. To be able to talk about how cool our novels are any chance we get. To be able to make fun of real novelists who take far longer than 30 days to write their books.

When: You can sign up whenever you’d like to add your name to the roster of budding young authors and to participate in the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach your word-count goal by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the celebration begins.

Still confused? Just visit the How NaNoWriMo Works for Young Writers page! If you are an educator, visit the How NaNoWriMo Works for Teachers page.