A Novelmber to Remember

That's no typo.

For the last 20 years there has been an Internet event for wanna-be novelists called “NaNoWriMo,” where lots of people would start writing a novel November 1st and finish the first draft by the end of November.

I think it’s inane name stood for “National Novel Writing Month.” But I always found it charming: that earnest enthusiasm! That utterly naive optimism that one could somehow commit 50,000 words to the page in 30 days!

Despite the odds, 600 novels that started during NaNoWriMo actually got published.

Did any successful novels get published thanks to NaNoWriMo?

That’s a trick question, of course: there are no successful novels. At least, novels that don’t feature women having pornographic sex with minotaurs or werewolves. As Rob Long’s agent told him when he declared his wish to write a novel, “if you need $800, I’ll give you $800.

Nonetheless, millions of aspiring novelists participated.