Today marks the start of National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) when millions of people take on the somewhat crazy task of writing 50,000 words in the month of November. That’s about the length of The Great Gatsby, but don’t let that marker intimidate you! The book you write for NaNoWriMo doesn’t have to actually be The Great Gatsby.

If you’re an aspiring author, NaNoWriMo is an opportunity to challenge yourself to do something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet—get that first manuscript down on paper. If you’re a published author like myself, it’s one of the best ways I’ve come across to produce a huge amount of editable work in one fell swoop.

This month, I’m going to be creating a series of videos about my experience with NaNoWriMo, tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way, and some writing advice that might be useful to you if you’re following along.

Here are two videos to get you started:

I’ve also created a new section of my site under For Writers called Writing Your Book. There you’ll find an ever-growing collection of videos, articles, and more helpful content to get you going or motivate you to push through your draft.

Good luck, and do let me know how your book writing experience goes!