Lucky for you if you are interested in the workings of composing a book or just enjoy creative writing, NaNoWriMo is for you!! But what is it?
NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is a club here at BHS that gives the necessary tools and support to students who want to write their own novel.
“As hard as it is getting to school at 7:45 AM NaNoWriMo gives me the motivation to partake in an extremely daunting activity and come out of it with a very rewarding experience,” said Adam Remington (‘24), 1 of the 4 chair members of the BHS NaNoWriMo Club.
With a base goal of writing 50,000 words in November, students try their hand at building, writing, and producing a rough draft of their ideas. However, if 50,000 words seem a little too much, students have the freedom to choose how many words they think fit. Everything from the story creation process to writing the actual words is up to the writer.
Not only does it give people everywhere the chance to create their own story, but offers resources to first-draft achievers to get their books edited, published, and sold everywhere.
Since NaNoWriMo was founded in 2006, the nonprofit organization has helped 413,295 participants (including students, educators, and citizens across the world) through its website, Young Writers Program, international clubs, and volunteer opportunities.
NaNoWriMo didn’t start as an international organization with hundreds of people participating each year. Instead, it started with one man and an accident.
According to Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo, he “accidentally founded National Novel Writing Month in 1999, and oversaw the event’s growth from 21 friends to more than 300,000 writers in 90 countries.”
With a simple challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days, the club grew to massive sizes; encouraging creativity and community everywhere.
Our own club here at BHS began 3 years ago by ELA teacher Beth Christopher. Who, according to her, has “been participating in NaNoWriMo in some form for several years” either as a writer, an editor or a sponsor for a club.
She managed to be one of hundreds who finished a rough draft at the end of November. “I did it as a participant around 5 years ago with a goal of writing a 50,000-word novel in a month,” Christopher states, “eventually, I reached the goal though that doesn’t mean it was good.”
Many people, when they hear the word “novel,” are initially put off by its connotations. It’s an intimidating word that encompasses hundreds of pages wrapped into a leather binding, right? That has to be difficult to create from nothing…
However, the club isn’t just about finishing a goal or writing however many words in a month.
It is “about giving yourself the time and space to write from your heart. To jump into a space with other like-minded people and write to write. To be creative when being creative can be hard,” explains Christopher.
Lots of people have passions for creative writing and many times it feels less attainable as you grow older in a school or work environment. NaNoWriMo gives young and old writers an encouraging community to chase their passions.
“A lot of times I don’t always see the point in writing,” said Finnian Britton (‘24), a club chair member who has been in the club for two years now. “NaNoWriMo gives me the encouragement to write because it’s not about writing a good story, it’s just about writing to write.”
NaNoWriMo is not just a club in Broomfield High School. It’s a movement that helps writers become who they’ve always wanted to be and create a community of passion-driven people around the world. Just as Christopher said, “It’s almost like magic.”
