NaNoWriMo — or National Novel Writing Month — is an event that happens annually throughout the month of November. NaNoWriMo is a non-profit organization that challenges and supports participants as they work toward the goal of writing 50,000 words of a novel in a month. Starting at 12:00 a.m. on November 1st and going until 11:59 p.m. on November 30th, this challenge is one that thousands of people step up to take on every year.

I learned about NaNoWriMo back when I was in middle school. My English teacher brought it to our attention and challenged us all to give it a shot. At that time, I wasn't as interested in literature and writing as I am now. But the idea stuck with me. Since then, I've attempted to write those 50,000 words a few times but I've never quite made it. Sometimes, it was school that got in the way of finishing the goal, and other times, I was just too overwhelmed with the holidays and family obligations that occur during the month of November. Despite those obstacles, I always came out at the tail end of November having written more words than I'd started with, which is a victory in itself.

This year, I decided to do NaNoWriMo again. At the time, it seemed like a recipe for failure; I'd recently started my senior year of college, I was balancing a writing job, running my own blog, and knew that I would be busy traveling for the holidays. Despite all this, I was excited and determined to write 50,000 words of my novel and thought that was the ultimate prize for this challenge.

However, as I threw myself into the challenge and the organization, I realized that writing a novel wasn't the only thing I was getting out of this experience. The community of other writers I met throughout this month, all of whom were steadily chipping away at that 50K, were an added element I hadn't realized would be so helpful, impactful, and supportive.

The NaNoWriMo website hosts all different forums and threads so the participants are able to communicate and help each other through the rough spots of their writing endeavor, whether those rough spots be lack of motivation, plot troubles, or any other number of questions or conversation they want to have in order to continue moving forward toward their goal. This community is an amazing one — thousands of people all working with stories unique to themselves but moving toward the same goal of getting their words down.

It's a unique experience and one that I found immensely helpful throughout the month. To have so many people available to help me through a challenge full of pitfalls, moments of discouragement, and doubts was so touching and motivating. I spent a lot of the time discussing my concerns and victories of NaNoWriMo on Twitter (using the hashtag #NaNoWriMo) and found an even larger group of supporting writers on there. Having so many people (friends, family, AND other writers) cheering me on made me all the more determined and hopeful as I continued to write.

Now, with November officially over and NaNoWriMo finished, I'm thrilled to report that I won! I wrote 50,148 words in the month of November, for the first time since I took on this challenge years ago. I've accomplished a lot this month and I'm excited to continue working on this story. Hopefully one day I'll see it sitting on a shelf in a bookstore. But until then, I'll continue writing and finding support in the community I've found through NaNoWriMo!

If you'd be interested in telling your story, keep NaNoWriMo in mind and join us next November to take on the challenge!