More than 300,000 people started last November as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers - and emerged at the end of the month as novelists, part of a unique, nationwide movement to tap their inner author.

Kansas Citians join the rest of the country again this year during National Novel Writing Month, meeting on three successive Wednesdays - November 5, 12, and 19 - from 6-8 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St. Their goal: to collaborate on a 50,000-word composition due by the national deadline of 11:59 p.m. on November 30.

The write-in sessions are led by NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaisons. Laptops are provided. So is coffee.

National Novel Writing Month was established in 1999 to encourage adults and youth - working individually or collectively - to find the inspiration, encouragement, and structure they need to fulfill their creative potential. Over 250 NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published, including Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, Hugh Howey's Wool, Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Jason Hough's The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer's Cinder.