In 1999, 21 writers in the San Francisco Bay area took part in a month-long challenge to write a novel of no less than 50,000 words. What started as a fun project for a group of friends has since grown into an event recognized internationally as National Novel Writing Month, and many students are getting involved.

Chris Baty, who has helped the event grow into what it is today, founded national Novel Writing Month, or NaNo. While less than two dozen writers participated in the first event, about 170,000 people attempter the challenge in 2009. Collectively, they managed to write over 2.4 billion words.

The event’s popularity growth can be attributed to the loose, fun nature that Baty and his colleagues inject into NaNo. The event is left open to all genres and writing styles, including fan fiction and novels in poem format. The goal is simply to get writers writing.

Michael Hubbard, a sophomore in electrical engineering, said that NaNo supplies him with some much-needed motivation.

“It provides writers with the support a lot of us need to get past the first obstacles of writing a story,” Hubbard said. “It gives us encouragement through peer pressure and a sense of accomplishment for what we do.”

In addition to giving writers the freedom to write what they want, NaNo also provides a strong community for participation. Authors can add one another as “writing buddies” and keep track of their progress. There is also a forum where writers can seek out advice, have parts of their novel critiqued, or find a healthy distraction from their own writing for a little while.

Alok Baikadi, a doctoral student in computer science, noted the importance of the community portion of the NaNo website.

“The social aspects of NaNo provide a couple different things,” Baikadi said. “They provide encouragement, competition and support.

Baikadi added that for competitive writers, there’s nothing better than a “word war,” a battle among friends to see who can write the most words in a given amount of time.

Even if writers don’t reach the 50,000-word minimum within the month, they can still walk away with new connections to other writers. The friends made through NaNo often remain important in other writing opportunities, especially if a writer tries again the following year.

Sujin Headrick, community manager for wikiwrimo.org, a database of NaNo information, has completed the event every year since 2002.

“The NaNo community is the nicest group of people you’ll ever meet,” Headrick said. “Everyone there is so supportive and willing to celebrate even the smallest accomplishments, or, even better, give you the kick in the butt you need to write if you’re procrastinating.”

The event’s popularity has also led to a massive expansion in the scope of events and opportunities available to writers. Pep talks from famous authors and participants are sent to the writers via email throughout the month, along with video posts designed to keep writers motivated.

The site also features a Laptop Loaner program, which allows writers the ability to submit a $300 deposit and receive a laptop to use for the event’s duration. Other NaNo participants donate the laptops, which further emphasizes the overall sense of community.

Other events are also available during the year to inspire writing. The Office of Letters and Light, a non-profit organization initially founded to operate the NaNo competition, launched Script Frenzy in 2007. Script Frenzy is similar to NaNo, but takes place in April and focuses on writing a 100-page manuscript instead. Though not yet as popular as NaNo, the event shows a growing interest in writing challenges.

National Novel Writing Month continues to grow in popularity and shows no signs of stopping in 2010. In its first day, this year’s event has already seen 55 million words written, and participants are still joining.

As the month of November presses on, this may prove to be the biggest year in the event’s history. The overall goal remains for authors to continue writing, and enjoy every minute of it.

“NaNo is all about the journey,” Baikadi said. “If nothing else, it makes you sit down and start something. It’s about finding the time to do something you always hoped to do, and trying your best to finish.”