You've been thinking about a book idea for a while now but just haven't sat down to write it; or maybe you are just suffering from a lack of structure/accountability and that is holding you back from getting your words onto the page. Whatever has been holding you back from writing, November is the month to get the stories out of your mind and onto the page because next month is when writers from around the world have the chance to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

NaNoWriMo has been going on, every November, since 1999. Anyone can join the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel between Nov. 1 thru Nov. 30. Last year, over 300,000 writers of all ages and walks of life joined the challenge and over 50,000 of them met their word count by then end of the month. Some works created from this project have gone on to be traditionally published, such as Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder (check out the full list of NaNoWriMo's published authors here).

Each year, you can find authors mentoring the writers taking part in the challenge through "pep talks". This year's mentors include Daniel José Older, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Alexander Chee, Jenny Han and Maggie Steifvater.

If you are looking for that push, the accountability of a world-wide community, a writing challenge, and the chance to be rewarded for your hard work through out the program then you should definitely 1) check out NaNoWriMo; 2) sign-up and join the 2016 challenge; and 3) write your novel!

Remember, when you are done with your NaNoWriMo novel and want help getting into the hands and minds of the world, come back to LV Book Design and I will work with you to create a beautiful finished product that you will love. I'll give a discount to anyone who completes the NaNoWriMo 2016 challenge and wants to take their novels to the next level.

Best wishes and happy writing!