National Novel Writing Month: Can You Write a Book in a Month?

It’s that time of year again. The time of year where writers can challenge themselves to write an entire book in a month for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). 

A year ago, The Cyclone Chronicle sat down with its student authors and briefly touched upon NaNoWriMo in Pen to Paper: Centenary’s Student Authors. This year, let’s take a deeper look at NaNoWriMo and what it entails.

History of NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo hasn’t been around for long, only about 26 years. It started in 1999 with creator Professor Chris Baty and a dozen of his friends taking on a challenge to write an entire novel in one month. 

Baty continues to serve as a board member of NaNoWriMo and is a professor of writing through Stanford University’s Writer’s Studio. He has also penned two books on writing: No Plot? No Problem! and Ready, Set, Novel. 

Originally NaNoWriMo took place in July, but in 2000, Baty switched the month to November. Why? Because authors could take advantage of the chilly November weather, hunker down indoors, and write.

Now, for the eagle eyed readers, you may have noticed NaNoWriMo started in 1999 but has only been around 26 years. What happened to that missing year? Sadly, in 2025, the official NaNoWriMo organization shut down due to financial struggles. Those struggles stemmed from public backlash for allowing AI submissions into the writing challenge. 

The official NaNoWriMo run by Baty allowed writers to submit their work to their website to become a winner. There was no cash prize, just a title that a writer had in fact beat the challenge and became a winner.

However, just because the official NaNoWriMo is gone, that doesn’t mean it's completely out of the picture. Instead, the November tradition lives on in community-led events and other non-profit organizations like Novel November. 

If a writer still wants to challenge themselves to NaNoWriMo, they don’t need to even submit their work anywhere. It could just be a little personal challenge for themselves, which is something a lot of people do.

The Challenge

NaNoWriMo is the challenge to write a whole novel in 30 days, but what counts as a novel? According to the rules of NaNoWriMo, a novel is 50,000 words, which means a writer has to write at least 1,667 words a day during the challenge. For some that goal can be reached in an hour and for others it could take all day, it depends writer to writer.

The great thing about NaNoWriMo, however, is that it’s incredibly customizable. Many people modify the challenge to make it harder or easier depending on their writing goals. Some people decide to use NaNoWriMo as a way to get out of writer’s block and not necessarily write a whole novel. 

Some write 500 words a day, while others stick to the challenge with 1,667 words a day, and others go above and beyond to 10,000 words a day. No matter what the author chooses, they’re still writing, and that's the whole point of NaNoWriMo.

The Winners

The winners of NaNoWriMo have a lot to say about it. Let’s start with Elizabeth May, co-executive managing editor of The Cyclone Chronicle, who’s now been doing NaNoWriMo for six years. In those six years, she has written five books during the challenge and plans to start her sixth this NaNoWriMo. 

May writes at least 1,667 words a day during the challenge and doesn’t pay attention to her total words, meaning if she writes 2,000 one day, she doesn’t lessen the amount she needs to do on other days. She has a few tricks she does throughout the month that keep her moving. 

“I never stop to reread or edit what I’ve written, that’s December’s problem. In November I just write and don’t stop,” said May.

May also uses writing tool callofwriting.com. This tool forces the writer to continue to write until their set goal is reached, otherwise all their work will be deleted. May uses this tool outside of NaNoWriMo as well. 

To learn more about her writing process, you can visit a three part interview about her here.

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Next up is Carmella Vitel, Centenary Alumna. Last year was her first NaNoWriMo where she took on a slightly less vigorous challenge of 500 words a day. 

“I attempted NaNoWriMo, but I wasn't able to finish it. I got around two weeks in,” said Vitel, “But attempting NaNoWriMo was very fun and very challenging! I’m more of a spontaneous writer and had a hard time sympathizing with the saying that writing is a muscle until I attempted NaNoWriMo! Your writing gets better the more you do it and the more routinely you do it, and I think NaNoWriMo is perfect for that, even if you don't make it the whole month.”

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NaNoWriMo is a challenge anyone can do if they put their mind to it. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or new to the craft, you can make NaNoWriMo what you want it to be this November.

Need some inspiration to get started? Contact previous NaNoWriMo winner Elizabeth May at elizabeth.may@centenaryuniversity.edu for tips or pointers. 

Happy writing!