It is November and English and writing nerds alike are excited for one thing: National Novel Writing Month. Starting back in 1999, National Novel Writing Month is a challenge for people all around the world to do one thing: write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days.

That’s intimidating, right?

But people still manage to do it! In 2019 alone, 455,080 writers participated. This challenge has even led to several books that many will probably recognize, such as “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen and “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell.

Each year on Nov. 1, thousands of people begin writing their new novels. None of them have to be professional writers. Anyone can join because anyone has the possibility of becoming a novelist.

The challenge, which has been shortened to NaNoWriMo, officially became a nonprofit organization in 2006. It supplies year-round programs that support writing fluency as well as education. Their website, nanowrimo.org, serves as a social network for writers, allowing them to create their own profiles, organize project libraries and find writing buddies.

NaNoWriMo also hosts real-world writing events in cities such as Mexico City, Seoul and Milwaukee. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the organization partners with libraries and community centers for such events.

NaNoWriMo’s goal is to “provide the structure, community and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals and build new worlds — on and off the page.”

NaNoWriMo also has its own shop on its website, where participants can buy things from shirts to mugs to inspirational pep talk books for writers. There’s even a group noveling kit that one can buy to keep track of a group’s progress with their novels. It even includes a whole bunch of stickers to use and a Writer Emergency Pack, which can provide useful ideas to help a writer when they are stuck on a story.

Who knows, maybe the next best-selling novel will be finished by the end of this month.