It’s almost November, and for many people that means more than just blustery weather coming in and blow-hard political ads finally going out: It also means National Novel Writing Month – or NaNoWriMo – is on its way.
In case you don’t already know, NaNoWriMo is an opportunity to spend November hunkered down, ignoring the outside world and churning out 50,000 words of rough-draft fiction in only 30 days. Why? Well … why not?
In past years Miss Communications has sung several of NaNoWriMo’s praises and pointed out lessons it offers in life. For example, NaNo’s quantity-over-quality approach (write like mad while your inner editor takes a rest) reminds us that a needs-to-be-worked-on draft is better than no draft at all. And the cram-it-all-into-one-month approach (the project ends at midnight on December 1st) brings deadlines and planning to the fore.
This year I’ve been looking into the kids’ version of NaNoWriMo – dubbed the Young Writers Program, or YWP – because several punkinheads in my life are planning to give it a go. As a result, I’ve learned another important lesson about big projects and challenging oneself in life: Everything’s more interesting when you make it more fun.
NaNoWriMo’s YWP is based on setting a challenging-but-reasonable goal as well as having a good time. Participants aim for word-count targets according their grade level, and the adults behind the program have devised a number of ways to keep the amusement level high – such as starting with a drawing of your characters and plotting the story’s events like a roller-coaster ride.
The kids’ section of the NaNoWriMo Web site includes a “Dare Machine” that helps writers spice up their storylines with suggestions like “We dare you to write a scene involving a giant toad, four ballerinas, and a bucket of tangerine juice,” and it offers workbooks that help kids think about what makes a book “great” or “gross,” how not to write boring dialogue, how to reward yourself for hitting milestones, and more.
And to keep the motivation going, there are “word-count chore coupons” young writers can give to the grown-ups in their lives. After all, nothing encourages you to finish an assignment like having to having to pick up dog poop if you don’t.
Of course, not everyone wants to spend November indoors, and not everyone wants to write a novel – but we can all learn a thing or two from NaNoWriMo’s let’s-have-a-good-time approach.
Imagine, for example, how involved we’d all be at work if meetings were less boring and slide sets were less “gross.” And imagine how motivated we’d be to hit milestones and deadlines if there were rewarding celebrations and entertaining odd jobs (hmmm... what's the corporate equivalent of dog poop?) on the line.
Altogether, the creators of NaNoWriMo – and especially the YWP – have put a great idea into (pun-intended) play. Perhaps it'll give us all some good ideas.
Many thanks to Jewels Hall-Payne at the Poudre River Public Library District for details and information on NaNoWriMo’s YWP.
Comments