National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) begins its eighteenth year on Nov. 1, with a kickoff event at Dragon’s Lair Comics and Fantasy on Oct. 31 from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.. NaNoWriMo is an internet-based creative writing challenge where prospective authors set out to write a 50,000-word manuscript in 30 days. Students under 18 can join the Young Writers Program (YWP) and pick their own word count. AP TAG English and creative writing teacher Mr. Scott Chalk encourages his classes to participate in the challenge, and sets aside time in class for his creative writing students to do so.

“I try to encourage [writing] a novel in one month because I’ve seen so many students and myself write the prologue and chapter one and then it fizzles out after that, mainly due to time constraints,” Mr. Chalk said. “Since creative writing’s an elective, the students should be able to choose what they want to write, and I try to give at least a handful of students an opportunity to work on their novel for a whole month, maybe feel what it’s like to be a writer, to be that committed to something.”

Students interested can register for free on the NaNoWriMo website.