27 days

Some folks may be NaNo virgins so I'll lay out some general information for you. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, or NaNo) is an event that takes place over the course of November where writers across the world participate by writing a 50,000+ word novel in 30 days. NaNo is run by the Office of Letters and Light (OLL). The OLL strives to collect donations throughout the year in order to fund several literacy initiatives, the most important (to me) being the Young Writer's Program (YWP). YWP brings NaNoWriMo to the classroom, providing resources for teachers and students to participate during November right alongside the adults. Last year, the OLL collected books from participants that were resold in order to raise more funds for YWP and other programs. There are very few rules in the NaNo (and some were made to be broken... more on that later this month):

• Commit to write a 50,000 novel. That is 1667 words a day of original fiction with the intention of those words making up a novel in the end result. If you believe you're writing a novel, then we believe you're writing a novel too.
• This is a solo production. Co-writing is discouraged, unless each of you plan to write 50,000 words individually. Co-writing is highly accepted during April's Scriptfrenzy though.
• You must write a new story. Half-finished stories, continuing the "next" book in a series, etc. is discouraged. Here is why: you are way too attached to the story at that point and will be less inclined to write for the pure joy of writing. (This is the one that can be and is broken often.)
• Remember you are writing fiction! Fan-fic, erotica (all participating characters must be over 18), fantasy, horror, suspense... anything of that ilk goes. Non-fiction (this includes memoirs) is discouraged. Want to write your 50,000 words in a haiku series? Do it. A huge fan of iambic pentameter? Love it. Write what you love the way you love to write it, as long as it is original fiction.

27 days and counting!

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS