INTRODUCTION TO NaNoWriMo

November is NaNoWriMo, which means National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo was founded by freelance writer Chris Baty in 1999. The idea was simple, novelists would sign up for the challenge of completing the first draft of a novel of at least 50,000 words in one month, November 1 to November 30. Anybody who completed a first draft was a winner. The prize was the feeling of satisfaction a writer gets from completing the first draft of a novel.
     In 2005 the Young Writers Program was founded in response to thousands of teachers who wanted to bring the novel writing project into the classroom. The YWP supports teachers by providing free Common Core curricula and student workbooks. The emphasis during the month of November is on quantity over quality. How do we unleash the fountain of creativity.
     This year The Berkeley School seventh grade students will be taking on the challenge of becoming successful novelists. We will spend the rest of October discussing and learning various topics and strategies that will help us all be successful in completing our respective novels. Today we worked how to deal with the dreaded INNER CRITIC. How do we silence it long enough to complete an entire first draft.


Homework:
Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
Due Tuesday, October 23rd: Bring in a novel that you like.