WRITE A NOVEL IN 30 DAYS: Could you do it?

We've all heard of speed reading, speed walking and speed dating but have you ever heard of...speed "novel writing?"

This November is National Novel Writing Month where writers, and writer wanna-bes, are challenged with the unbelievable task of completing a novel in 30 days.

In the spirit of a Morgan Spurlock documentary, only without all the calories, writers participating in the event must achieve a body of original work with a final word count totalling no less than 50,000 words in 30 days.  Official rules state that all writing must take place between the dates of Nov. 1st and midnight on Nov. 30th in order for the participant to be considered a "winner" and officially earn the title, and all accompanying bragging rights, of "novelist."  

More on National Novel Writing Month, after the jump:

With a slogan like "quantity over quality," it's no surprise that amateur and professional wordsmiths from all over the world have been signing up to compete; attracted to the idea that what they say isn't as important as the act of actually saying it.  

*Nanowrimo Fun Fact:
Composing a novel 50,000 words long in 30 days amounts to approximately 1,667 words per day. 

Since its inception in 1999, hundreds of thousands of people have flocked, and occasionally crashed, the nanowrimo website to participate in this marathon-style of writing which is simply an ingenious way to eliminate procrastination while stimulating productivity in aspiring writers. 

The method is brilliant in its simplicity: the difficult timeline forces insecure future novelists to focus entirely on the physical act of completing the project, allowing them virtually no time for self doubt and failure.  While the final product may be a lengthy piece of dribble composed entirely of nonsensical run-on sentences not fit to recycle into toilet paper, it assists a writer in the hardest part of writing: getting started.  It's up to them whether or not they merely cross a number off the bucket list or decide to finally add the title "writer" under the heading "occupation" on their insurance paperwork.   

Also known affectionately to social media sites as "nanowrimo," the month long writing challenge was founded by Chris Baty and 20 of his novelist-hopeful friends in 1999.  With the collective dream of becoming bull wrestling, womanizing Hemingways; Baty and his writer buddies started "noveling" that first year for the daunting challenge and hard-won glory of actually writing and completing an entire book in one month.  

But, as the years went on and the popularity of "the little idea that could" skyrocketed, Baty and his original crew of 21 writers expanded to eventually include over 200,500 participants and 37,500 winners in 2010.  

In addition to being the nerve center of the operation, where word counts are logged in and novels are verified, Nanowrimo.org is also an open forum where a community of authors are able to meet and support each other throughout the entire month of November both online and at scheduled events organized in their respective locations.

Philadelphia, where Nerdsburgh's headquarters are located, has its own chapter that lists up to 2 to 3 scheduled "write-ins" a day around town.  Locals can find a more detailed list of events in their area on http://www.nanowrimo.org/ or Philadelphians can follow @nanodelphia on Twitter.

While this writer did not participate in Nanowrimo this year, I look forward to sweating it out at the keyboard in 2012.  Until then, break a leg challengers and we here at Nerdsburgh look forward to tracking your progress at the end of the month!