November is National Novel Writing Month, and this is where it all begins. When it all begins, is one second after midnight on the morning of November 1st, and it all ends exactly thirty days later, during which time you are challenged to write your very own novel of 50,000 words or roughly 175 pages. Yes, they're talking about you.

The bad news, which is that you've never written anything more challenging than a shopping list, is considerably offset by the good news, which is that your novel can be utterly dreadful. That's not the point. The point is to write, and get to 50,000 words, by the very last second of the very last day of November. And if you upload your novel to this site and get it validated for length, you're a real novelist.

You'll need to write using your computer, so don't get 175 pages of notebook filled and then realize it's supposed to be a computer file of some sort. Aside from that, there aren't many rules. You can write alongside your friends, or on your own, as long as you're the sole author. And it's entirely a matter of quantity, not quality, just as long as you write. You mustn't start writing the book itself until the right moment, though you can have rough ideas beforehand.

Hundreds of thousands of people get into this, so you won't be on your own by a long way.

After it's over, you might want to carry on with rewrites at a more sensible pace, and look for a publisher, and get into the writing business seriously, or you might want to forget it ever happened, and delete the file, it really doesn't matter as long as you participate.

Hmmm ... 50,000 words ... just a few of my average-length reviews, then ;-)