High school students completing this challenge in addition to their normal day of school, homework, extra curriculars, chores and socialization while also dealing with their often tumultuous internal lives is nearly an impossible goal for most of them. Not totally impossible, but this is a BIG ask.

If you're having your students complete the full word amount having never done it yourself, be aware that it is difficult to do even under the best circumstances. Having people who have not written much suddenly take on this task is akin to asking the average individual to suddenly run a marathon. It is extremely difficult.

So if you're asking them to do this, don't make it a giant point of pressure. Make it about the journey, not the word count. Encourage them to try different methods of sparking creativity. Sometimes mapping out scenes, sometimes writing as they go. Find resources about character development and traits. Talk about fundamental necessities in literature and story telling.

My biggest fear with something like this would be that it would be too big of a challenge and leave these students feeling defeated, never to write again. Use this to spark a joy of writing, not to snuff it out.

You seem like you care about your students and will do your very best. I only mention these possible pitfalls as they could easily be overlooked by someone who has not done this before themselves. I truly struggled to win nanowrimo. I finished, but I was absolutely burned out afterwards.

I hope this is a fun and exciting experience for you and your students.