Yes, it’s that time again. November = National Novel Writing Month! So, sharpen your pencils or warm up your computer keys—and start that novel now!

Maybe you’re a short story writer who has always wanted to try a novel-length piece… Maybe you’ve finished a novel and have been dragging your feet getting started on the next one… Maybe you’re a freelance writer and have always wanted to try your hand at writing a novel, but you’ve been reluctant to step out of your comfort zone and put it on the page… Well, now is your chance.

Check out www.nanowrimo.com and sign up for the challenge. Pledge to complete a 50,000-word novel in 30 days.

Impossible you say? It sure sounds like it, but many writers have taken the challenge and made the word count by the midnight deadline on November 30th.

Go to the NaNoWriMo site and you’ll find plenty of encouragement when you join the community of writers in the forum.  (But don’t spend so much time posting that you let yourself get behind!)

If you are on the fence about whether you think you can meet the challenge, try NaNoWriMo anyway. The worst thing that can happen is that you have a jumpstart on writing new material for a future novel.

The 50,000-word count does look a little intimidating, but if you break it down, it really is doable.

(I did do a little rounding up with the math, but this will get you to the deadline with a few words over the 50,000.)

Take a look at the numbers in this bite-sized breakdown:

If you plan to set aside time every day and write seven days a week for those 30 days, you need to write approximately 1,667 words per day. That works out to be approximately 3.6 pages if you single-space, or about 7.1 pages if you double-space (estimation based on an average words per page of 469/235 respectively).

If you want to keep your weekends open for hot dates and nights out with the girls, or to fulfill your soccer mom duties and church responsibilities, you’ll have to crank out more words in your five-day writing week: approximately 2,273 words per day. That means you’ll have to do 4.8 pages a day single-spaced, or 9.7 pages double-spaced (also based on an average of 469/235 words per page respectively).

Of course, make sure you check your word-count function before you hang up your writing hat at the end of each day, but the numbers above will give you an idea of how to look at the 50,000 words “bird-by-bird.”

10 Tips and Tricks to Make It to the Nano Finish Line:

1. Lock your internal editor out of your head and don’t let her return until December 1st—absolutely no exceptions.
2. Give yourself permission to write horrible dialogue and purple prose—you can clean it up later. Just get the ideas on the page.
3. Don’t waste time going back to read what you wrote the day before, or your internal editor will sneak in through the back door you just opened.
4. Be a slave (the fun kind—with fluffy handcuffs) to your minimum daily word count.
5. If you go over your minimum daily word count, do keep going while you are in the flow, but don’t push yourself to the point of burnout or you won’t want to show up at the page the next day.
6. Don’t let anyone read your novel in progress! Negative comments or even helpful suggestions will switch you from creator mode to editor mode. Don’t go there.
7. Don’t censor your ideas. If it seems like an implausible plot to have a 90-year-old great grandmother take up skydiving 6 months before her 91st birthday, let her! You may be surprised where your characters take you if you let them decide where they want to go.
8. Do find a little way to treat yourself every day for reaching your word count—it establishes positive reinforcement in your mind.
9. Be proud of yourself for taking on the challenge.
10. Remember NaNoWriMo is supposed to be fun!

GO! We’ll see you at the finish line!