Every year in November there is a writing event I participate in: NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month.  Basically, the idea is to write a 50,000 word novel just in the month of November.  This works out to about 1,667 words per day.

There are some rules — such as it has to be fiction, you can’t have started any of the actual writing before 12:01 am November 1st, etc. — but for the most part it’s a casual contest in which everyone can be a winner.

NaNoWriMo is a national event, but a lot of local groups form during the month of November.  We get together for kick-off parties, write-ins, or even just social meetings where we talk about our novels, read excerpts, and have fun not writing.

These kinds of events are pretty hard to plan, though, as it’s difficult to keep track of everyone.  NaNoWriMo has a forum and a message system, but they don’t have any type of group management software, where the local group leaders could keep track of everyone more easily.  Team management software would basically allow them to keep track of local members, send out invitations and automated reminders, and receive RSVPs from members.  I don’t think we’d need a full-blown system, but it would sure help to have some of these features integrated into the NaNoWriMo website and forum!

Regardless, I can’t wait for NaNoWriMo to start this year.  I’ll have to figure out how I’m going to juggle all of my responsibilities this year and still find time to work on my novel — I’ve struggled with that the last few years — but I have confidence that it can be done!

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