For those hardy (or adventurous... or both) souls who would like to closet themselves away for most of November to write a novel, it's here again... NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH!

According to the official website, NaNoWriMo is the largest writing contest in the world. Anyone who gets to the end of November and then uploads their 50,000 words to the website to be validated is a winner. That's right: no prizes for being the fastest, or the best... if you complete 50,000 words in November, you're a winner.

More Details...

(Everything that follows is straight from the horse's mouth - the NaNoWriMo website!)

• No Judges.
• No Prizes.
• Winning Manuscripts Deleted.
• Appeal Remains a Mystery.

Not true. All it really takes is a deadline - a very, very tight deadline - and a whole lot of coffee.

Welcome to National Novel Writing Month: a nonprofit literary crusade that encourages aspiring novelists all over the world to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. At midnight on Nov. 1, 150,000 writers from over 90 countries - poised over laptops and pads of paper, fingers itching and minds racing with plots and characters - will begin a furious adventure in fiction.

By 11:59 PM on Nov. 30, tens of thousands of them will be novelists.

NaNoWriMo is the largest writing contest in the world. In 2008, over 120,000 people took part in the free challenge. And while the event stresses fun and creative exploration over publication, more than 30 NaNoWriMo novelists have had their NaNo-novels published, including Sarah Gruen, whose New York Times #1 Best Seller, Water for Elephants began as a NaNoWriMo novel.

Around 18% of NaNoWriMo participants "win" every year by writing 50,000 words and validating their novels on the organization's website before midnight on Nov 30. Winners receive no prizes, and no one at NaNoWriMo ever reads the manuscripts submitted.

So if not for fame or fortune, why do people do it?

"The 50,000-word challenge has a wonderful way of opening up your imagination and unleashing creative potential like nothing else," says NaNoWriMo Founder and Program Director (and ten-time NaNoWriMo winner) Chris Baty. "When you write for quantity instead of quality, you end up getting both. Also, it's a great excuse for not doing any dishes for a month."

If you would like more information about National Novel Writing Month, or would like to talk to participants from NaNoWriMo chapters in your area, please visit our website at www.NaNoWriMo.org, or contact press@nanowrimo.org.