Auburn library hosts writers participating in November novel challenge

Fifty-thousand words in 30 days is roughly 1,667 words per day.

November in Alabama isn't just about turkey and football. Throughout the month, the Auburn Public Library has hosted participants in the National Novel Writing Month program.

The goal of the program is to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days.

“This is our fourth year [hosting the program],” said Auburn Public Library Engagement and Outreach Librarian Ashley Brown. “We’re just here to support. We have coffee, water, snacks and we try to provide a quiet place to work on the novel.”

There are also workshops, raffles and writing parties — all to motivate the participants to stay on track.

On the 15th, there was a halfway-point “write-in,” where writers met at the library to work on their novels together in writing sessions. 

One writer was busily outlining the second half of her novel, which is about “real-life superheroes,” at the write-in. She said the sessions help her stay on track throughout the busy workweeks and fast pace of everyday life.

“It’s really a competition with yourself,” Brown said. “You’re trying to write 50,000 words in November. If you make that goal, you win.”

If the satisfaction isn't enough for some, winners of the 50,000-word National Novel Writing Month challenge receive online certificates, rewards and discounts for popular writing software. All writers have to do to become eligible is submit their novel to the National Novel Writing Month's website.