the Basic Rules
-The idea is to get to 50,000 words between the dates November 1st and November 30th...that is about 1667 words a day.
-It is against the rules to continue stories you have previously started (however, no one is going to kick you out of the competition - but the reasoning is sound for starting fresh).
-NaNoWriMo is about quantity over quality. It is to get writers in the habit of finishing a story before feeling the urge to go back and edit which can cause progress on a story to halt. It also familiarizes authors with deadlines.
-50,000 words is barely a novel in length; many contestants write more than 50k, but many authors continue their stories after November.
-To validate your word count you copy and paste your manuscript into a box on their site, and they tel you how many words you've written. If you are worried about them taking your story idea, it is perfectly acceptable to replace all of the letters with "e."
-That being said, it is very easy to cheat the system...but what's the point?
-If you "win" then your word count is replaced with a bar that says WINNER! on your profile and you get the ability to print a certificate saying you completed NaNoWriMo
I have been participating in it since 2004 - I didn't win last year but the three years before that I won, and I think this year I will win Here is my profile, if you are a part of the community add me: http://nanowrimo.org/en/participants/danoodlebox I hope someone else will join me...