Every November, thousands of writers around the world sharpen their pencils and get ready for a month-long writing challenge called the National Novel Writing Month, more widely known as NaNoWriMo.

The challenge entails writing a 50,000-word draft for a novel within 30 days, starting on Nov. 1 and ending at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 30.

Chris Baty, a freelance writer, started NaNoWriMo in the San Francisco Bay Area in July 1999 with 21 participants. Fifteen years later, NaNoWriMo has grown into an international challenge, last year attracting more than 300,000 writers from six continents.

This year, NaNoWriMo expects around 500,000 participants by its end, and so far, NYUAD students are among the participants who have registered on the official website.

According to its website, the process is simple and open to anyone  “who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.” Writers can register on NaNoWriMo’s official website to keep track of their writing progress, receive recorded speeches and discuss their progress with fellow writers in online forums. This year’s speakers include James Patterson, Lev Grossman and Ralph Peters.

At the end of the month, participants who reach the 50,000-word goal can upload their novels to validate the word counts and achieve their winner status.

About 250 novels from NaNoWriMo have been published, some by traditional publishing houses and others by independent press. Some of the well-known novels include Sara Gruen’s “Water for Elephant,” Hugh Howey’s “Wool” and Jason M. Hough’s “The Darwin Elevator.”

During November, NaNoWriMo participants have access to many resources that help with their novel writing process. More than 600 Municipal Liaisons around the world help organize offline events for writers in different regions; the Middle East’s Municipal Liaison is based in Dubai.

Some NYU Abu Dhabi students are participating in the month-long writing challenge.

Freshman Laura Waltje, who is attempting NaNoWriMo for the second time, believes that the challenge gives her the freedom to explore new characters and develop her storylines.

“I hardly know where a story is going when I start it … I start with an idea that I’m excited about,” Waltje said. “It’s good to sit down and write 2,000 words a day, since it’s more than I would have written otherwise.”

Waltje’s NaNoWriMo project is a novel about memory in which the main character pieces together the many fragments of her lost memory.

“[The writing process] lets me experience her life and figure [out] what it all means,” Waltje said. “I wouldn’t necessarily use [the current draft] in the final novel, but it is a great start.”

The prospect of experiencing new situations that she would never be able to live through herself was a main motivation to finish her draft, said Waltje.

Some found NaNoWriMo more challenging. Freshman Asyrique Thevendran, another participant, decided to put his science fiction novel on hold after a week and a half. Between his assignments and other extracurricular commitments, Thevendran was unable to find time to write the requisite 2,000 words every day.

“[The writing process] was going [relatively] well, but my assignments took up most of my time,” Thevedran said. “I wasn’t able to write [for] four days, which means I was 8,000 words behind.”

To support NaNoWriMo participants, NYU Abu Dhabi’s Writing Center has organized write-in sessions throughout November. The session runs from 6 to 9 p.m. everyday at Sama 501.

Having attended one of the Writing Center’s NaNoWriMo write-in sessions, Waltje said that the small number of participants and the atmosphere helped her concentrate.

“We drank tea and wrote,” Waltje said. “It’s easy when you’re with other people who are focused, so it reminds yourself that you’re here to write.”

Not many students participated in the write-in sessions, however. The daily session consists mostly of Writing Global Academic Fellows, possibly due to students’ different writing preferences and the heavy academic workload that many students bear.

“I do write better [with] my own with background music,” Waltje said. “So writing together with other people isn’t always ideal.”

Despite the difficulty in juggling academic work with creative writing, many appreciate the healthy pressure, the cooperative atmosphere and the chance that NaNoWriMo provides to fit novel-writing into their everyday schedules.

“Working on my novel is a great break from writing my academic papers,” Waltje said.

“Writing together and having friends push you along is a really good way to move forward,” Thevendran added.