You want to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but you can’t follow the one basic rule: write a 50K novel from word one. Maybe you’re not a fiction writer. Maybe you have a work in progress that you can’t just drop in favor of a new novel. This might make you feel like there’s a huge writers’ party and you’re not invited. And you’d be wrong.

All writers are welcome to participate, regardless of what they are writing. If you don’t follow the rule, you aren’t a cheater: you’re a NaNo Rebel.

A NanNo Rebel is anyone not writing a brand spanking new 50K novel. This includes nonfiction, memoir, short stories, graphic novels, poetry, plays, etc. Editing last year’s NaNo novel? Writing a 30K novella? Feel free to join the rebel ranks.

NaNoWriMo is an event that generates an enormous amount of creative energy. The organizers realize this and they don’t want anyone to feel left out. They have created a forum especially for nonconformists: NaNo Rebels

Here you can find out more about what it takes to be a rebel. The moderators discuss the conditions of being a rebel and whether or not to validate your word count at the end of the month. You can also find your fellow dissidents here and discuss your alternative works.

Full disclosure: I am going the rebel route this year for a big reason. My husband and I are moving from Colorado to California at the beginning of November. Yeah, timing is everything. With all that’s going on, I can’t commit to a new novel, but I can continue to edit my current WIP and work toward a personal goal.

NaNoWriMo is a contest, a 30-day sprint with a finish line and shiny prizes for the winners. However, the most important goal is the one you set for yourself. Whether you write 1,000 words or 100,000 words in 30 days, those are words you hadn’t written before and that right there is winning.