NaNoWriMo

Want a great library program for the month of November? Want to draw in all those emerging writers, or just those who love to write? Why not participate in NaNoWriMo - or National Novel Writing Month? Here's the concept:

NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces participants to lower their expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

In 2009, there were more than 165,000 participants around the world. Participants can meet and discuss via the online forum available at the NaNoWriMo website: http://www.nanowrimo.org/

So, how can you participate as a library?

• Advertise the month at your library and lead people to the website for more information (flyers are available on the NaNoWriMo website for printing at http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/1005807)
• Set aside writing space for participants
• Have weekly programs that invite participants to come in and work together
• Hold a video conference with other libraries so that even more participants can work together
• Hold a reading at the end of the month where each local participant gets to read a passage from their novel
• Post a comment on this blog to share your unique ideas for participating in this event

A Library Outreach Guide and free Library kits are available from the website at: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/library

This is a great way to connect with emerging writers in your community, and just a fun event for your library that can be held with very few resources.