Hello! My name is Phoebe, I'm a Youth Mentor in the 101Space at Main Library. I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo, Camp NaNoWriMo, and Script Frenzy since 2011. I hope all of you are as excited about this November as I am! For those of you who are still mouthing “Na-no-what-o?”, this post is for you!
NaNoWriMo (nano as in iPod nano, wri as in rye bread, mo rhymes with yo) stands for National Novel Writing Month. In their own words:
“National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.”
Sounds amazing? I know! Sounds a little daunting? 50,000 seems like a lot, but it’s only 1,667 words a day, and nobody will be grading on coherency. Besides, you’ll have a whole 11 months to rest up for the next year! As they say, you can sleep when you’ve hit 50,001. Or something like that. If you’re participating in the Young Writers Program, you can set your own word count goal.
During November, you’re not alone. NanoWriMo hosts two support websites. NaNoWriMo is geared towards the “adult” community (mostly 18 and up), although 13+ can sign up. The word goal here is a set 50,000. On the other hand, the Young Writers Program (YWP) is for 17 and under only. A lot of schools will organize their classrooms to participate here––89,500 classrooms in 2013 to be precise. You get to pick your own word count goal, be it 500 or 30,000 or even 50,000.
On these sites, you can read pep talks from your favorite authors, chat with other novelists, and compete in word wars. Make friends and compare your progress, suggest, and check out the 30C30D of the day! Any way you go about it, NaNoWriMo is a blast. See you in the forms!
For even more info, check out the blog! Ready to get started?
-Phoebe
