The NaNoWriMo Writer's 10 Commandments

I. Thou shalt not begin writing before November 1.

II. If, in the fervor of creativity, thou dost begin writing before November 1, the words that thou writest shall not figure into the final counting.

III. Thou shalt not undertake NaNoWriMo lightly. Even if thou dost not "win," thou shalt write -- and no word thou writest shall be writ in vain.

IV. Remember the eleventh month is for writing. Thirty days within it shalt thou write, and none shall stop thee. Neither thou, nor thy spouse, nor thy children, nor thy grandchildren, nor thy parents, nor thy brothers, nor thy sisters, nor thy friends, nor thy coworkers, nor thy boss who is an ass, nor any other shall thwart thee.

For 335 days of the year thou mayest move heaven and earth to procrastinate and devise myriad excuses not to write. But November is the WriMo, and God knows you deserve it. Therefore, thou shalt bless the Office of Letters and Light and meet thy daily goal that thy manuscripts may grow long and thy word count increase.

V. Honor thy structure and thy passion, that thy story may remain strong and thy chapters may be long.

VI. Thou shalt not murder the English language, neither shalt thou commit grammar-cide in the rush to increase thy word count.

VII. Thou shalt not commit the premature edit, for such actions inhibit the creative muse and boggeth down the finishing of the great work which you have begun.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal the words from a previously written work and include them in thy word count. Neither shalt thou plagiarize, for this is cheating. Verily, I say: winners never cheat and cheaters never win.

IX. Thou shalt not covet thy buddies' word counts, not their agents, nor their book deals.

X. Thou shall persevere for 30 days. And thou shalt avail thyself of every opportunity to encourage other writers who are undertaking the same task, crossing the same creative desert, and climbing the same NaNo mountain that risest before thee.