I completely respect the spirit of NaNoWriMo, but it seems to me that its best purpose is as an exercise (or rather a carrot-and-stick motivator) for actual/aspiring writers who want to improve their ability to get motivated and/or produce content. I.e., "Here's a deadline, here's a word-count goal, what are you waiting for?"
The web site effectively says this: "... the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down."
I'm writing fiction fairly consistently, so I don't feel that I would benefit much from the "exercise" of NaNoWriMo, but it does seem very fun socially. (Realistically, carving enough time to produce 1700 words/day for 30 consistent days around my 17-month-old son and marathon training would be untenable right now.) Plus I've always found it astonishing that Stephen King allegedly composed "The Running Man" (as Richard Bachman, circa 1982) in a single week. I've always wanted to schedule a week's vacation and completely clear the deck to try the same thing myself.
