Dear Geist,

Wait—a month of writing, with support, perks, prizes, meetups—is NaNoWriMo for real?

—Trina H, Prince George BC

Dear Trina,

It’s for real. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, a worldwide internet-based writing project—not a contest—and free to join. It runs on individual writers’ ambition to write that novel (50,000 words), and to write it in exactly one month, with peer support from all over the world. Local groups form; libraries and community centres host “write-ins”; writers tap in to local and/or online writing encouragement such as online prompts, forums, cures for writer’s block, pep talks from published writers, merch and lots more. Go here for more information, and—why not?—to sign up and write strong.

—The Editors