Keyboard at the ready, a group of brave adventurers are wandering through the writing wilderness, fighting off plot holes, self-doubt and sentence fragments.

They are the Wrimos, participants of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), an event that encourages participants to write a 50,000-word novel in one month. They are also from DeKalb, and they’re inviting everyone in the area to join in on their literary exploits.

Justin Difazzio, the NaNoWriMo municipal liaison for DeKalb, said the local group will host write-ins at noon Sundays and Tuesdays at Barnes and Noble, 2439 Sycamore Road. There are 461 members of the DeKalb region, according to NaNoWriMo. Difazzio and the region’s other municipal liaison, Jenny Fick, said that NIU students compose about a quarter of the group at events.

Junior geology major Nicole Enerson said she has wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo for years, but this will be her first time actually joining in and trying to get 50,000 words down. Enerson said she has set aside writing time and her fiancee will work on his own project during that time.

“We will be encourage each other, which is essential,” Enerson said.

One of the main benefits of working within the regional group is encouragement. During the write-ins, attendees are awarded candy and other prizes for writing the most in a set amount of time, among other activities. Participants discuss their writing, share tips and make friends.

“I like the group,” said participant Matthew Caltagerone. “You get a lot of different people.”

Author Dale Cozort said he keeps coming back to DeKalb’s NaNoWriMo group because the members are his “kind of people.”

Cozort said he usually writes 70,000 to 80,000 words per November. He said new members should not look over what they’ve written and edit because their initial draft won’t be as good as their final drafts of other works.

“Don’t ever go back,” Cozort said. “Do it one day at a time.”