National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. The challenge: draft an entire novel during the month of November.

Why do it? For 30 crazy, exciting, surprising days, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create!

Participants begin writing November 1 and must finish by 11:59 PM on November 30. The word-count goal for our adult program is 50,000 words, but the Young Writers Program (YWP) allows 17-and-under participants to set reasonable-but-challenging individual word-count goals.

Novelists can write directly on our website (or in a separate document), find inspiration in our noveling resources, and tap a worldwide community of fellow writers for support.

The YWP also helps K–12 educators facilitate NaNoWriMo in schools, libraries, and community centers around the world. We provide virtual classroom spaces on our site, as well as student workbooks, Common Core-aligned curricula, and free motivational materials.

Learn more about our program and impact.

Step-by-Step Guides

• How NaNoWriMo Works for Writers
  
• How NaNoWriMo Works for Educators