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November signifies a lot of things: brown leaves, football, Thanksgiving, sacrificing a chicken in an unfortunate deal to make Christmas come sooner, etc. But to writers all around the world, it also signifies National Novel Writing Month, or (the brilliantly abbreviated) NaNoWriMo. Participants are challenged to write 50,000 words to create their own novels within the month of November; from the 1st of November to 11:59 on November 30.
You’re probably thinking that high school students simply cannot write a novel in a single month. You’re thinking that they don’t have any time, or that they don’t know how to write. No excuses, Private Writer! Even though you’re encouraged to reach the 50,000 word limit, you’re not going to get axed for falling behind; it’s a learning experience, not a word count battle royale.
It doesn’t matter if you think you’re a bad writer; the NaNo community will help you whenever you ask for it, and there are literally thousands of tools online to fend off writer’s block. If even auto mechanics can get into it, so can you.
It’s not going to be easy; Bob Jones junior and 2013 participants Kalee Yem even says, “[The only advice I can give is] don’t cry. It’ll be over soon.” But you’re not alone. There are 500 regions in the event, including one for North Alabama. Workshops are held in Decatur pretty regularly, the Huntsville-Madison Public Library hosts write-ins with snacks, and the forums are at your beck and call. Municipal liaison Bryan A. Jones even told me he wouldn’t mind coming after school to speak to participating students if they ever needed help.
A little more incentive is knowing that over 250 NaNo writers have gotten published. You also get addressed by some somewhat famous authors, like a little guy named James Patterson, Rainbow Rowell (whose latest novel, Fangirl, was her NaNoWriMo novel), Jeff Vandermeer, and so many more.
Just imagine: your name could pop up on one of these author lists soon.
