Palo Alto High School students are participating in the thirteenth annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to write a 50,000-word novel by 11:59:59 on Nov. 30.

NaNoWriMo is a “novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved,” according to the organization’s website.

Senior Zoe Zhang has participated in the event three times in the past, and successfully completed the 50,000 words twice.

“Since NaNoWriMo is about quantity and not quality, the first time I wrote 50,000 words I wasn’t worrying about a story, so instead I wrote journal entries and short stories,” Zhang said. “The second time, last year, I wrote an incomplete novel about different people’s stories and how they all intertwine.”

Senior Camille Hakansson is partaking in her first NaNoWriMo this year.

“My story is basically a fantasy story about identity,” Hakansson said.

Hakansson explains that NaNoWriMo gave her the motivation to write daily.

“I never [used to] have time or had gotten into the practice of sitting down and writing everyday,” Hakansson said.

According to the website, there were over 200,000 official participants in 2010 and more than 30,000 of these writers were announced as “winners” for completing the necessary word count.

“My main advice for future first-time NaNoWriMo-ers would to not to worry at all about the quality–plot, structure, details, etc. because the main reason people participate in NaNoWriMo is for the experience of writing a 175 pages,” Zhang said. “I also advise participating with a friend, for moral support and/or friendly competition. You’d both get to track each other’s word count and that’s what makes it fun.”