I'm not participating this year, but I did once a couple of years ago. It was how I got the rough draft of my second book finished. Even though I had already started it, I needed to add at least 50,000 words, that was my project for the event and it was an effective way to get the book done.
Some of my writing buddies are doing NaNoWriMo this year and they are struggling. I don't understand why. The point is to write 50,000 words. It can be - in fact, is expected to be - crap. You aren't supposed to care whether the story is any good or even if it's written well.
Maybe I had an advantage in that I had a work in progress when I started. But I think it would be fun to just start with a speck of an idea and just write whatever. Maybe I will try that next year. (When things calm down...)
Even though I had a definite plot and established characters when I wrote my 50,000 words in 30 days, I still feel like the experience, not the end result, was the important thing. You learn a lot about yourself - about your writing process - when you commit to something like that and stay with it. And I think what you learn stays with you. The experience has positive benefits no matter what the end result.
Another angle to consider is the idea that "writing is re-writing". Many people have trouble just getting the story down, but once they have something to work with - no matter how rough or bad it is - they feel they can make it into something good. The hard part is getting the raw material.
This is not true of all writers. I am one among many who, when faced with a manuscript that needs a huge amount of work, finds it easier to just start over. I'm not sure if it's because fixing too much is overwhelming or if my mind isn't as strong at remodeling as building. (There is a difference.)
Whatever kind of writer you are, whatever your process, experience, strengths and weaknesses, I think NaNoWriMo is something all writers should try. Whether you've never written anything or have already finished one book (as I had), it's a worthwhile experience.
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