NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program

by Amy

Happy October, Monkey Tribe!!  Or, as I like to think of it, NaNoWriMo Eve. I’m sure the writers among you are intimately familiar with the literary kick-in-the-pants that is National Novel Writing Month, but did you know there is a NaNoWriMo for kids? And it totally rocks!

The Young Writers Program is similar to the regular NaNo in that you have the month of November to write a book. You can register online to have rabid word-count competitions with your writer friends.  And you get inspirational emails, in this case from famous kidlit authors like Jerry Spinelli and Phillip Pullman.

In the YWP, though, participants set their own word count goal, so writers of all ages can play. There are down-loadable (is that a word?) Young Novelist Workbooks that offer writing prompts, and tips to help with plot, character, setting, etc. There are different workbooks for elementary, middle school and high school.   

For teachers, the NaNo folks have created lesson plans and access to teachers-only forums. There are incentive kits for classes that include posters, progress charts, buttons and stickers. Hello -- STICKERS! And all that stuff is totally FREE.  Even the shipping. Yes, really. (Though you might consider making a donation.  The YWP depends heavily on donated funds.)

Kids can participate with their class or their school, as an individual or even with Mom or Dad. Remember: the tribe that NaNo’s together, gets on average more bananas than those that do not. (It is possible I just made that up.) 



Some of our YWP writers

Two years ago, when the YWP debuted, I teamed up with a reading teacher at my local jr. high and led a NaNo group for students. We were both blown away by the number of kids who showed up.  As the month went on, I continued to be blown away by the writing the kids were doing. One girl wrote 20,000 words in a week…for two weeks in a row! It was really inspiring. (And by inspiring I don't completely mean that I was humiliated with my sad 3,000 word gain.) We’re getting ready to do it again and this year, I’m hoping to bring in local authors to give brief talks on craft. And, of course, I always bring chocolate.

So, if you have a class, or a group or even one kid who loves to write, check out the website and consider starting a YWP tribe of your own. Registration opens today. It’s an amazing program. I rate it ten bananas out of ten!