What is Nanowrimo?

November is approaching. Which means writing season is just around the corner, leaving many moms and writers asking what is Nanowrimo and how can I incoroprate it into my homeschool?

First things first:

Nanowrimo stands for Nation Novel Writing Month

During November writers of all stages and genres take on the challenge of writing 50,000 words in one month. Not an impossible feat but a daunting one. This year will be my fourth year participating in Nano and every year I’m nervous that I would “win” the challenge.

THough set up for adult 18 and up, mostly to keep chat groups and teams safe, the main event can be found here. It’s free and encouraging. You can take it as seriously or as public as you’d like. There are online live sprints to boost your word count and gather encouragement for the journey. I encourage any and all of my writing friends to try out Nanowrimo… at least once.

But I thought you said you could do this with your teen?

I did. And I’ll tell you how.

Nanowrimo also has a Young Writers Program. Check it out here.

Young writers get to pick their own word count or embrace the traditonal challenge. My oldest and I tackled our own challenges side by side last year. Since it was his first attempt we made his word count low- 10,000 words in November instead of mom’s daunting 50,000 words.

It was a hoot.

Checking in on each other. Prodding each other along. Typing away (occasionally) into the wee hours. It was an aweome bonding experince.

That and it showed my kiddo what he was capable of.

As a bonus, all over the Nano community it is repeated that Nano is NOT the time to focus on spelling and grammar. What you write in Nano is an EXTREME rough draft! Not a gem to publish and promote.

Knowing this, ahead of time, relaxed my relucant but adventureous writer and made writing the main focus.

But how do I work it into my homeschool- you ask?

Let me first say… EVERY HOMESCHOOL IS DIFFERENT. How you’ll work it in is up to you… BUT, in my next post I’ll tell you how we roll and what Nano looks like in our home.

Until then check out the Nano websites and ger a feel for what the challenge will hold.

I’ll catch you later,

Sarah

WEBSITES FOR NANO…

For You: Nanowrimo.org

For Your students: Young Writers Program

Published works I’ve written during Nano and refined later: