Have you ever wanted to write your own novel?
Posted by stangey on 27 October 2009
Have you heard about NaNoWriMo? It might sound a bit odd but it is actually the nickname for National Novel 
Writing Month. You might say to yourself: “Huh? Why do professional novelists need a special month to write? Aren’t they supposed to write all the time? Afterall, it is their job!” Well, NaNoWriMo isn’t for professional writers. It’s for writers like you and me who want to set themselves a challege. When you sign-up for NaNoWriMo, you set yourself a goal to write a novel with a certain number of words in ONE month. The adult site specifies that you have to write 50 000 (yes that is fifty thousand) words, but the young writers program is more flexible and lets you set your own word limit.
So who is NaNoWriMo for? NaNoWriMo is for anyone interested in writing and who enjoys a challenge. The community of NaNoWriMo writers is not about competition and “who can write the best book”. NaNoWriMo is designed to inspire and motivate. There is no grand prize; only the satisfaction of achieving your goal alongside other writers trying to do the same thing all over the world. NaNoWriMo is for you.
To get started go to the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program website. Have a browse around the website and if it looks like something you are keen to do, sign-up. There are some fantastic resources that you might like to use as you are writing including a useful “non-lame” workbook to guide you through the process.
Finally, don’t forget to let your English teacher know about your endeavour – I’m sure they’ll be keen to help you along the way.
