Laura Miller...a writer, editor and also co-founder of Salon.com...has a different outlook onNaNoWriMo. Her view is a little like don't bother with it. 

I can see her point that spurring writers just to write in order to complete a novel of 50,000 words in 30 days will produce a lot of crap (agreed to on the NaNoWriMo site in it's challenge pitch). And I can also see (as she does) what the bottom line purpose of the writing event is; mainly to get aspiring writers to overcome the inward super critic of every single word written and get on to completing a whole novel.

Here is her take on NaNoWriMo with her underlying justifications for her position: 

 Better Yet, DON”T Write that Novel

By Laura Miller

Why National Novel Writing Month is a waste of time and energy

For me, the end of October is always slightly tinged with dread -- provoked not by Halloween spooks, not even by election season, but by the advent of something called NaNoWriMo. If those syllables are nothing but babble to you, then I salute you. They stand for National Novel Writing Month.

NaNoWriMo was started back in 1999 as a motivational stunt for a small group of writer friends. It's since become a nonprofit organization with staff, sponsors, a fundraising gala and, last year, nearly 120,000 contestants. Participants agree to start and complete a novel of 50,000 words or more during the month of November. To "win," all you have do is meet that goal, however wretched the result. Last year's NaNoWriMo had 21,683 such winners.

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The purpose of NaNoWriMo seems laudable enough. Above all, it fosters the habit of writing every single day, the closest thing to a universally prescribed strategy for eventually producing a book. NaNoWriMo spurs aspiring authors to conquer their inner critics and blow past blocks. Only by producing really, really bad first drafts can many writers move on to the practice that results in decent work: revision.

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