Novelists sometimes say their story already existed before it was written down.

November is the time for aspiring novelists to finally put pen to paper.

This month is National Novel Writing Month, also known to avid writers as NaNoWriMo, an annual writing frenzy put on by The Office of Letters and Light, a nonprofit organization that develops free creative writing programs for children and adults around the world. The Office of Letters and Light's programs are "Web-enabled challenges with vibrant real world components designed to foster self-expression by building community on local and global levels," according to the site.

NaNoWriMo challenges writers to write a 50,000-word novel in one month. More than 200,000 people participated in 2010, including Elon sophomore Alice Sudlow.

"I don't remember the exact statistic, but I think roughly 17 percent of last year's writers passed 50,000 words. I was one of them, and I have the shirt to prove it," she said.

The tight timeframe and seemingly insurmountable goal of 50,000 words causes many people to give up or just not finish by the Nov. 30 midnight deadline each year.

"NaNoWriMo was brutal and grueling, but loads of fun," Sudlow said. "It was tough to write 2,000 words a day on top of all the other assignments for actual classes. I think the hardest part was knowing that no matter how hard I worked one day or how late I stayed up one night trying to bring up my word count, I would have a break of just a few hours before I'd have to do it all over again."

Cody Greene, senior and editor-in-chief of Colonnades Art and Literary Journal, Elon's literary magazine, doesn't think it's possible to finish a novel in a month.

"What you can do in a month is get some ideas on paper," Greene said. "I doubt that getting something polished, worth reading and frankly artistic is something you can do. What NaNoWriMo really is, is a great opportunity to write a lot."

NaNoWriMo has its own website where writers can track their progress, get support and meet other writers. The community is also encouraged to host and attend write-ins, which are marathon writing sessions, in person at coffee shops and libraries.

Sudlow joined the NaNoWriMo website to keep track of her progress and get support.

"My favorite forum was one particularly set up to break writer's block," said Sudlow. "People posted random sentences, phrases, situations, quotes, characters, whatever, and anyone was free to steal an idea, provided they then posted one themselves. They also send out emails with pep talks from authors and encouraging videos from the Office of Letters and Light several times a week."

Sudlow wrote a fantasy adventure story titled, "Three Black Dots." The main character recieved a pink envelope with three black dots on it in the mail. Leading to other elements like dragons and the possible destruction of the world.

"(I wrote fantasy) mostly because I felt that would be easier," she said. "If I got stuck, hey, it's fantasy. I could make literally anything happen. That freedom was useful on several occasions but if you actually want to write a good book, it's not a technique I recommend."

Greene said he writes mainly short fiction, typically nowhere near 50,000 words.

"I haven't participated," he said. "It's a pretty huge commitment and while I'm pretty cozy with my ability for short fiction, longer forms are still a little daunting."

It took associate professor of English Drew Perry five years to write his first, and recently published, novel, "This Is Just Exactly Like You."

"A novel certainly can't be written by me in a month," said associate English professor Drew Perry. "But that doesn't mean it can't be done by somebody else."

Perry said that to be successful in NaNoWriMo, writers must dedicate a significant amount of time to devote to their pursuit.

"Block out regular time at a regular space and try one's level best to avoid any and all distractions," he said.

English professor Tita Ramirez also had advice for students participating in the program.

"Make sure to write every day and try not to worry about editing as you go," she said. "Work just as hard as you can on producing a first draft, knowing that you'll revise next month. It would be a great exercise for learning how to keep the critic at bay and just produce work"