Generally, the month of November means autumn leaves, falling temperatures, and Thanksgiving. But for National Novel Writing Month participants, November means something else.

Municipal Liason Kat Seelig has participated in twelve NaNoWriMos so far. “We have lots of fun, I try to keep the writers on task as much as possible, and they’re a very easy bunch to keep motivated…” At this, several of the writers gathered in the Sea Tea Improv studio for the weekly Hartford write-ins start to laugh. “AND NOT EASILY DISTRACTED AT ALL, because this is a VERY SERIOUS EVENT and we all have HIGH LITERARY AMBITIONS!” she exclaims. The writers laugh hysterically.

Aspiring novelists who can’t make these write-ins don’t have to go it alone though. Writers are organized into regions and there’s an entire network of writers both online and off to communicate with.

“Connecticut has five regions,” Seelig explains. “When I started, Connecticut was one region, so we’ve had a lot of growth in the state as a whole. Our region stretches from Middletown to Enfield – the central corridor of the state – with regions on either side.”

Participants say the best way to experience NaNo is to just do it.

Municipal Liason Erin Chaffee says, “The whole point of NaNo is just to write and have fun. It’s not about reaching the 50,000, it’s about doing what you can with the time that you have.”

Participant Megan McFadden agrees. “The second week is the hardest…but once you power through that, you’re good.”

While it might take a little more work, there is still time to participate in NaNoWriMo 2013. For more information or to sign up, you can visit NaNoWriMo at www.nanowrimo.org.