Welcome to the introduction to the AUTHORS UNITED NOVEL WRITING BIMONTH.

This is a brand new competition based on the National Novel Writing Month competition that DL found for us. To mark our beloved forums second birthday, the competition will begin in December (the first) and run on until January (the thirtieth).

What you have to do is simple. Write an entire 50,000 word (or more) novel in those two months. Just whenever you have the spare time, write a little bit. If by January, our entrants are having a problem I can extend it to be a TriMonth. Or even a QuasiMonth in need be.

Okay, let's talk rules.

- You're not allowed to start until I say so, which will be the 1st of December. However, that is not to say that you can't plan. The reason I'm posting this now is because you then have November to plan your entry.

- These 50,000 words have to be sensible. If you copy and paste a single word, such as "bob" 50,000 times, your entry will be disqualified. Write it as if you were writing a story normally.

- Only one entry per person. Unless you're UBER-smart and can do two.

- Anyone who completes the 50,000 words within the two months is a winner, so there's no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd prizes. In fact, there are no prizes - apart from satisfaction.

- YOU MUST START FROM SCRATCH! Even if you wrote the opening paragraph to a book a while back and use that to start, you're not playing fair. Be honest, or it's no fun.

Closer to the time, i'll set up a forum for the entries. The author of each thread will be allowed to choose if they want any discussion in that thread or another thread. Entry is not compulsory, but I URGE everyone to take part. It'll be fun.

The Thought Fox,
your bumbling British admin