By Riley Gonzales, staff writer
November is National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo, a time in which people across the country challenge themselves to write a novel in the short span of 30 days. Though this event was originally targeted towards adults, many middle and high schoolers choose to take part in it, including students here at River Hill.
“It’s a great opportunity for people who love writing to set a really big goal and write that novel. I think a lot of people who love English and books dream of writing a novel, and this is a really fun way to do it in a community,” explained Ms. Curry, a River Hill English teacher and co-advisor to NEHS.
Starting on November 1st, those who take part in NaNoWriMo will set a word count goal for themselves and write every day in order to reach that goal by November 30th. This goal usually ranges in the ten thousands, a typical word count for River Hill students being 30,000.
The idea of the challenge is not to write an extraordinary piece of literature, but simply write a set amount of words every day consistently. What matters most is reaching the goal within the time frame.
“It’s almost like a way of pushing yourself intellectually and creatively,” elaborated junior Vianne Stanford, who participated in NaNoWriMo last year.
Plenty of students interested in reading and writing take on NaNoWriMo. Though the process of writing a novel in a month is generally rewarding, it is also difficult.
“The general stress of trying to complete a novel in 30 days is a little bit hard,” commented senior Mehar Sandhu, who has participated in NaNoWriMo three years in a row. “At times I was rushing the process and I wasn’t getting the full potential of what I could be writing down.”
Despite the stress involved, the satisfaction of reaching one’s goal at the end of November is worth it for the experience one is left with.
Jaelyn Hui is also a junior who has done NaNoWrMo in the past. She explained that “getting something done is very satisfying, and the fact that you have to work at it every day consistently makes it very rewarding.”
National Novel Writing Month sparks new ideas and creates opportunities for those who participate, allowing students to express themselves beyond the event itself.
“Those who participated in NaNo continue to write,” Ms. Curry shared. “I’ve had students who have actually published novels, I’ve had students who have published poetry, or they’re editors for small publications, or they tell me that they’re in the middle of their novel now. It’s something that I think sparks a dream.”
NaNoWriMo serves as a way to challenge one’s writing and think creatively. Though it takes time and effort, River Hill’s participating students believe the outcome is worth the effort when it comes to writing a novel in a month. The experience as a whole is unique. As Ms. Curry states, “I think more kids should try it, and everyone has a novel in them.”