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Writing for the Fun of It: NANOWRIMO at the Zimmerman Library
Through the month of November, the Zimmerman Library challenged Middle and Upper School students to stretch their writing horizons and participate in National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO). One of many library initiatives to encourage our students to read and write for the fun of it, NANOWRIMO dares students to write an entire novel in 30 days. With Library Associate Ms. Diana Michel cheering them on, our kids let their imaginations soar while using strategies to break word-count boundaries and plot-twist quandaries with the motivation to just write, write, write.
What is NANOWRIMO?
National Novel Writing Month happens every November and is a fun, web-based writing event where the challenge is to draft an entire novel in just 30 days. The program encourages writers to banish their inner critic, throw editing out the window, and let the joy of writing be their guide. The Zimmerman Library library hosted the Young Writers Program of NANOWRIMO, supplying our students with instructions, inspiration and a lot of support.Just One Rule: Write!
There is only one rule in this contest, write! After signing up through the Young Readers NANOWRIMO site, each student set their own goal for the length of their novel or story and could write about whatever topic they like. All of the work was done through the NANOWRIMO site which provides tools, timelines, and suggestions for the writers. Ms. Michel also provided topic cards for students needing a boost to get started and displayed a selection of books written in 30 days by professional authors.“The goal is to just get them writing. Students can get tired of reading and writing for their classes, so I try to provide interesting ways to encourage reading and writing for fun. Some students initially set their goal at 500 words and found they reached that the first time they sat down writing, so they had to increase it quite a bit. It was fun to see them get so excited about the program!” — Ms. Diana Michel
Something For Every Type of Writer
When Ms. Michel first announced the contest, Zimmerman Library regulars Genevieve Henrietta '24 and Elianna Nicole ' 24 were the first to join the contest and encouraged other kids to join in.
“When I first came [to the library] I wasn’t really into books. I met some high schoolers and they gave me some suggestions of books to read and that got me into reading more and helped me find a book series I really liked, Of Poseidon and Of Triton by Anna Banks. Then this writers thing came up and I liked it because it seemed fun. I didn’t know what to do at first and then I thought of those books so I decided to write fan fiction based on them. My first goal was 2000 words but I completed that pretty quick so I’m going to write another story and try for 5000. Even though this contest is over and the time limit is up, I want to write a sequel. I think there’s still a lot to write about.”Elianna also spoke about her experience. Writing is a hobby of hers so this challenge was a chance to do something she already loves, but with a time limit:
“I wrote a book about two teenager angels who don’t really like being angels that much so they decide to leave. Their parents think they are on a mission to help people but they really escaped to live in the real world. My book is just fiction, I came up with the idea. My goal was 2000 at first, but I accomplished that in the first two days so I changed mine to 5000 too. I still want to keep working on this same story even though the contest is over.”
