National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the organization’s annual writers program will begin on Friday, November 1. Did you know the program is not just for adults? Really, there is a Young Writers Program for children, ages 17 and younger. The program is one that is described as a “fun, seat-of-your-pants” creative writing event where participants attempt to write a novel in 30 days. The event is less of a competition and more of a challenge of one’s ability to accomplish a goal. Can you do it in 30 days (or less)?
The young writers and adult writers participate in two different manners. Young writers set their own word-count goal. They are able to re-evaluate their word-count goal through 20 days of writing. During that time, they may make adjustments to their word-count to accommodate their writing pace. The start date is Friday, November 1 and writers work on their novel through 11:59 p.m. (your local time) on Saturdya, November 30. If you reach your writing goal, you are a “winner”.
There are several free resources for young writers to use during the month that may help them accomplish their goal. NaNoWriMo also has created free workbooks, available as free PDF downloads or to purchase, for elementary, middle and high school children. There were more than 90,000 young writers and educators who participated last year.
Your child does not have to love writing to participate. They just have to write and they get to set their own goal. It does not get any easier. Let your child have fun with this one. Let them write as much or as little as they like. Just get them writing. My daughter loves to write, so I know she will participate.
The established goal for adults is 50,000 words in 30 days. Yes! You can do it! There is absolutely no pressure. More than 300,000 adults participated last year and I would imagine there will be more this year. Hey, you even get trophy badges along the way to mark your progress.
What do you really win for writing? You receive a winner or participant certificate and gain a sense of accomplish just for taking the challenge. Who knows? The novel you start could lead to a later publication (self or paid).
Learn more about how your young writer may participate. If you are game, take the adult challenge. Come back on Saturday, December 1 and let us know how your family did if someone participates in the event.
Learn more about the NaNoWriMo and how to support the non-profit.
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