I’m a writer. I spend the little free time I have writing for my own projects, and sometimes, it is difficult to motivate myself to put more effort into the craft instead of wasting time on the Internet. That is why I am a frequent participant in NaNoWriMo.

If you’re not a writer, this term may be foreign to you, and that’s fine. NaNoWriMo is a month-long event typically held in November, and writers all around the globe push themselves to force out 50,000 words. While this number may seem like a lot, it’s usually enough for a novella or a short novel, but it gives writers the platform they need to strive for their final word count.

This event is held online on the NaNoWriMo website. Through the site, participants update their daily word counts and keep track of their progress. The website also contains numerous forums and guides from successful authors to help the aspiring writer pull themselves out of their slumps.

What is the reward for doing this? After all, managing school, friends, family, jobs, and your writing is no simple task. But the answer is that there is no physical gain from this. If you complete NaNoWriMo by the end of the month, all you have to show for it is the first draft of your manuscript. To some, that might not be a worthwhile reward for all the stress you’ve put yourself through that month. To me and many other writers, it is all we’ve ever wanted.

It takes a lot of energy out of a creator to force yourself through the beginning stages of your project, and with NaNoWriMo, it encourages you to remain on schedule while feeling encouragement from the rest of your community.

NaNoWriMo doesn’t just occur in November either. The sister site — Camp NaNoWriMo — is up and running in April and July. The main task remains the same, but in Camp NaNoWriMo, you have the opportunity to be sorted into a cabin with other writers with a message board that allows you to communicate with one another. That is what I’m in for this April.

April is probably my busiest month of the year. Between juggling all of the responsibilities I already have, I’m also preparing for finals and writing the papers that are due by the end of the semester. Honestly, adding NaNoWriMo to the plate isn’t the smartest move. But I was encouraged to join again by a few friends of mine, so I will wind up attempting again this month. I can’t say whether the results will be good or not, but there will be an attempt.

One of the positives of Camp NaNoWriMo is that you can change your word count to something more manageable. Right now, I have it set to 30,000 words, but knowing me, that number will lower in the next couple days when I realize the mess I’ve gotten myself into.

Usually, you go into NaNoWriMo with some sort of a plan, yet I have none. I have a half-finished novel, a novel that has yet to be planned, and a chaotic schedule to work with. We’ll see how this goes!

If you have any interest in participating in NaNoWriMo in the future, feel free to poke around the main site (http://nanowrimo.org).