What is NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is an event in which participants try to write 50,000 words of a novel to "win." It takes place in November and is hosted through a website online. (nanowrimo.org)

To join, all you have to do is get an account on the website (which does require members to be at least 13 years of age. There is an alternative for those under the age limit, though. ywp.nanowrimo.org) An account requires a username, password, and email address. 

Once you have an account, you need to "announce a project." This lets the site know that you are participating in NaNoWriMo. You don't need to do NaNoWriMo to join, and you don't even need to write to join, but I cannot stess enough that it is a site for writers, and has a large community built around writing. So if you're not planning on taking up writing, this is not going to really be up your alley.

If you do join NaNoWriMo, then you can still do other writing outside of it. The site allows you to make goals other than the official NaNoWriMo one and the Camp NaNo ones.

If you're interested in writing and need a boost for accountability, then this is a great resource to check out as it is free, and the only cost is optional. (There is an online store on the site that sells merchandise.)