So you want to write a book?

Now is your chance to write a 50 000-word novel with a “fun, seat-of-your-pants” approach to novel writing.

November is “National Novel Writing Month”, and thousands of people from around the world are taking the opportunity to become real novelists.

This is how it works:

You write a 175-page (50 000-word) novel, starting on November 1 and finishing at midnight on November 30.
The only thing that matters is output. Not quality. That’s because the purpose of this exercise is to get you to write, to get past the fear of the effort and time that you assume it would take to write a book. Your expectations are lowered (for this exercise), so you are more likely to take risks and actually write something.
You do not edit. Editing is for December!
You submit it for a word count, and if it is above 50 000, you are added to the official list of winners, and wear your title of “novelist” with pride.

As the organisers say:

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration and — when the thing is done — the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

Last year, 13 000 participants completed a novel (out of 79 000 entrants). As the NaNoWri website says: “They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors and middle-school English teachers. They walked away novelists.”

There are at least 180 South Africans on the NaNoWri forums, so you won’t be alone.

So sign up, start planning your outline and add “novelist” to your CV!

(Also, leave a comment if you are joining the challenge!)