On Oct. 23, the school library posted a National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) flex for anyone wanting to write a novel of their own. The librarians showed presentations of the novel writing process, as students prepared to start writing.
The school library has been hosting NaNoWriMo meetings for six years now.
“National Novel Writing Month is a challenge for anyone who wants to participate to try and write a draft of a novel in 30 days,” Head Librarian Ms. Kluck said. “I really enjoy seeing the students who enjoy writing get together and try and reach their goals. It is a lot of fun to watch.”
The librarians were not only helping students to write and learn, but they were also there for the enjoyment of teaching and reading everyone’s creative novel ideas. They sent out email updates about new opportunities to write with the library, where students could discover ways that the program could benefit them.
“It can be hard to commit to writing a long story, but this program helps to keep me consistent and follow through with my writing and also gives me a goal to try and reach,” Maddy Yendle ‘26 said.
The NaNoWriMo system motivated students to write an efficient and well-written novel in just 30 days. With the librarians’ help, all creative ideas from student writers could be jotted down in novel form, from the most simple topics to the most creative ones.
“My friend, jokingly, was like, ‘Oh, we’re in marching band, [so] you should make a really funny love story of marching band kids,’ and I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to do it just [because of] you now,’ so that’s exactly what I’m doing,” Martina Ciacci ‘26 said.
NaNoWriMo could be seen from many different perspectives from writing a novel you want to create, or teaching and seeing patterns of the past recreated. Most people who joined NaNoWriMo had fun either way. According to students who participated, NaNoWriMo motivates everyone to complete their stories due to its short time period.
“It is always a lot of fun when students reach their goal and they just get very excited to chart their progress throughout time and come back year after year to meet again,” Ms. Kluck said.
NaNoWriMo not only gives a chance to write but also gives students a range of creativity and a chance to express their hobby. For some people, writing has always been in the picture, but for others, NaNoWriMo is a new opportunity to start something new and fun.
“My favorite part is seeing all of the people also interested in this yearly challenge,” Yendle said. “I am excited to go to the library and write bits of my story and see other people working toward the same goal as I am. I also loved to see all of the published books that started at the same place we are in right now.”
The last official day of NaNoWriMo will be on Thursday, Nov. 30, during which all of the students who have been writing over the weeks will finish up all of their novels and prepare to share them with others both inside and outside of the program.
