By Abigale Paterniti, Co-Editor-in-Chief
The creative writing website NaNoWriMo permanently folded in March following disputes over the allowed use of AI.
Despite the shutdown, River Hill’s National English Honor Society—NEHS— will continue to participate in National Novel Writing Month—NaNoWriMo—through biweekly writing workshops. During November, NEHS members aim to write between 5,000 and 10,000 words.
“NaNoWriMo has a rich history of fostering creativity, camaraderie among writers and a sense of accomplishment. It will continue to inspire countless writers to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboards and unleash their creativity,” said Mrs. Curry, NEHS sponsor.
To renew tradition, members joined together for an intersection of creative writing at the first workshop of three. November 5th was a mark of success for the River Hill NEHS chapter, which they hope to continue on the 13th and 19th.
“In order to plan the event, I took into consideration the breadth of experience participants will have at the workshop. I know there are some students who write regularly and have even finished novels before, but others may just be getting into writing, and I had to find a way to balance that.” said NEHS event coordinator Veronica Park.
Prior to the event, Veronica worked with senior Annie Levine, a fellow event coordinator, to plan the writing workshops by creating a slideshow that provided a brief overview of the history of NaNoWriMo and the importance of setting writing goals. For the future, Veronica hopes that incoming NEHS members will be inspired to lead writing workshops such as these, showing initiative within the chapter.
Through constructive criticism and writing tips, NEHS officers provide an engaging environment for literary growth and chapter credit opportunities. With only an hour, writers can add between 200-500 words to their progressing novels.
“They should focus on quantity rather than quality,” said Mrs. Curry, “The goal is to overcome writer’s block, perfectionism, and procrastination to produce a rough draft of a novel. A rough draft, not a beautifully edited manuscript. Just jump in and try.”
Mrs. Curry showed enthusiasm toward her NEHS members at the first workshop, thrilled to see student engagement and authentic writing. The compass of NEHS chapter values.