The clock strikes midnight, and all over the world
Only the sound of pen on paper can be heard
As by the thousands, after they trick-or-treat,
Writers in a month-long challenge compete.

They flee to their keyboards, Alpha Smarts, and pens
Striving to meet word count before the day ends.
They’ll do it the next day, and again, and again!
Until they reach 50,000 – that means they win.

This goal must be reached within thirty days.
The novel must be in its first phase.
One writer may work on the project, no more,
For those are the rules at NaNoWriMo’s core.

Otherwise, great novelist, feel free to rejoice:
Rules beyond that are simply your choice.
Break away from tradition, punctuation, and diction,
Take this chance to write just to write your fiction.

The plots they create with such literary abandon
Feature things like gargoyles, cows, and a giant Ugandan
Thrown together in such a horrendous manner
Inner editors worldwide scream, something’s the matter!

But the best part of NaNo isn’t a crackbrained plot
(Something, by Thanksgiving, you’ll think needs to rot.)
The best parts are the like-minded people you meet,
And the sense of achievement that is difficult to beat.

Because, there it is! The 50,000th word:
Something insignificant like “him” or “her.”
But it’s done, it’s finished, the ending uncovered;
Writers worldwide cry, Thank God It’s Over!

And on the first of December, all over the world
Only the sound of writers snoring can be heard
As the caffeine wears off, new novelists sleep
And the benefits of their hard work they finally reap.