Thanksgiving and Veterans’ Day are on November’s calendar, but for Ric Warbington, November has another meaning.

It’s National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as insiders call it.

It’s “30 days of literary abandon” according to its website.

Warbington, a computer technician with Fort Gordon’s Directorate of Morale, Welfare and Recreation, has participated in NaNoWriMo for the past several years.

“Partly because it’s insane and it’s fun. It’s also because the whole thing is set up with an unforgiving deadline, and if you have friends who’re also participating, there’s a whole lot of enforcement and reinforcement there,” said Warbington, who helped conduct a NaNoWriMo workshop at Woodworth Library on Sunday.

The premise of NaNoWriMo is simple; accomplishing it, however, is another story.

“The 30-day deadline for 50,000 words means you’re going to have to average 1,667 words per day or get behind and have a devil of a time catching back up. There’s no time to be “blocked.” There’s no time to get the details right or let yourself worry about research. That’s October; November is for writing. So, you have to throw all that out the window and force yourself to just write,” said Warbington.

Warbington hasn’t published any of his NaNoWriMo works – yet.

Susie Joyner and Jessica Thompson, librarians at Woodworth Consolidated Library, will type at their word processors with abandon in November.

This will be the first time Thompson has tried it.

“I have several ideas,” said Thompson. “I haven’t decided which of the ideas I will go with, but it will probably be chick lit, a kind of Bridget Jones.”

For those who take the literary plunge and commit 50,000 words to paper in November, there will be a gathering at Woodworth Library to celebrate. Honorees will receive special NaNoWriMo merit badges. The event will be at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 2.

To learn more about NaNoWriMo, visit www.nanowrimo.org.