but it's essentially a writer's challenge to write a 50k word novel within a month, November 1-30. This doesn't include editing: just your first draft of the book must be at least 50k and written within the month, though you are allowed to have a pre-prepared outline, notes, etc.

The point of the challenge is simply to get people interested in writing to do so, giving them some time of competition-style goal. The official communities actually have things like word trackers, peer review groups, discussion boards, and all kinds of cool things, as well as opportunities for authors who are near-by to one another to get together for mutual support.

It's a really, really great thing.

Melanie E.