NaNoWriMo

Ok, it's official. I've been sucked into the craziness. I have joined the NaNoWriMo challenge. What is this you say? It stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that you write like crazy for the whole month of November. At the end, if you are a grown up like me, you will have hopefully written 50,000 words or the equivalent of a full novel. If you are a kid, you can set your own goal (usually between 6,000 and 12,000 words for the month). I know people who did this last year and I thought, "There is no way! I don't have time to write that much. Besides, what would I write about?" Well, my daughter has decided she wants to do it, and if she can do it, I feel like I should do it with her. So, here we go! I gotta write at least 1,000 words a day and hopefully it won't be all horrible drivel. If I write a little less here on my blog, that will be the reason why! I've got a pretty good start, but I'm not sure I'll make it to the finish line. 

This is a great way to get yourself and the kids writing if they can take the pressure! I'll post back as we go and let you know how it is going. We both started today (yes, I know we are a couple of days late getting started... hopefully not a pattern to be repeated) and have each logged over 1,000 words of our new stories. Wish us luck!

In the meantime, if you'd like to join in, or just see what it's all about, you can check out the website. It's been a little wonky today. Hopefully they'll get it fixed soon and you won't have any trouble taking a look. http://www.nanowrimo.org. Registration is free and they can get you hooked up with other people writing in your area, and offer all sorts of tips if you get stuck. If you go to the "More From NaNo"button and click on Young Writers Program, it will take you to a page explaining everything a young person can do to get started... from setting their own goals, to entering portions for word counts, to tips on writing and setting up a story. Here is the direct link: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/ywp.