NaNo - what?

National Novel Writing Month. The philosophy is simple: on November 1st this year, roll up your sleeves, steal someone's laptop, apply seat of pants to chair, and spew. Keep spewing till you have a novel of 50,000 words written or November 30th happens, whichever is earlier. If it's the former, you have bragging rights for life: the unique privilege of dropping the words "my novel" into casual conversation. If you're short a few thousand lines, well, at least you tried.

All you need to know is on the NaNoWriMo site. And some guy called C. A. Bridges has tricks to share:

"
I crossed the 50,000-word finish line on November 30 with half an hour to spare, although I'm not proud of how I did it -- I decided my main character was suffering from traumatic flashbacks and I copied the entire first chapter over again.

This year I'll be ready. All those years of shamelessly padding school essays have not been wasted, and I'll be using these techniques as I confidently sit down at 12:01 November 1st.

-- Never use contractions or acronyms. If space aliens are using their forehead lasers to destroy teams of bikini-clad supermodel scientists, have them explain that 'laser' stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation with every shot, right up until the fighter pilots from National Aeronautics & Space Administration blasts them.

-- Devise a protagonist with interesting quirks, such as the obsessive habit of reciting Kipling's "Gunga Din" -- 573 words, including annotations -- during times of stress. This can really up the old word count, especially if they stutter.

-- Famous quotes can jazz up a book. Consider starting each chapter with a relevant Shakespearean play.

-- If you write anything at all in November, use it in your book. Anything. Shopping lists, business memos, petitions for constitutional amendments, ransom notes, anything. Copy all of your unwanted e-mail and give it a chapter title.

"