Welcome to the Young Writers Program FAQ section.
This section contains the most common questions about the Young Writer's Program
Every November!
1. 17 or younger participating on your own.
2. Participating with a K-12 teacher-lead group.
18 or older participating on your own.
13 or older. Just know that if you do, you will not be able to set your own word-count goal. You will need to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days!
You can add someone you find in the forums as a buddy by clicking on their username then clicking on the "add as a buddy" link in their profile.
If you know a friend, classmate, or teacher's username, you can search for them under the "Authors" tab on the homepage. Just type their username in the search box, hit the "Search" button, and then click on their username. Once you are in their profile click the "add as a buddy" link.
Once you send a request, they will receive a message under "My NaNoWriMo"---"Writing Buddies"---"Pending Requests." Once they confirm you as a buddy, they will show up on your buddy list.
Make sure you check out "Pending Requests" on a regular basis to accept new buddies!
This is very much like how you upload your author photo.
To upload your book cover image to your profile, sign in, go to "My NaNoWriMo" ---> "Edit Novel Info."
If you scroll down, you will see an "Upload Novel Cover" box. Hit the "Browse" button, find your picture on your computer, then hit "Upload."
Photos must by 100x100 pixels or smaller at 72dpi, and must be under 50KB.
You can use any photo editing program (even the Paint program built into Windows) to resize your image.
Yes! As of NaNoWriMo 2006, we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called the Office of Letters and Light.
We have classroom-friendly forums, which will only be available to our young writers registered on our website. These are entirely separate from the adult forums, and will be moderated by the NaNoWriMo staff.
While we monitor all content that is posted to our message boards, we are not responsible for mature language on the main site that independently participating students ages 13 and up may access. Please see our Terms and Conditions page for more info.
Sorry, but you can't. That means that when you choose your username you should make sure that it is something you really like.
Yes. You can change your email address by going to "My NaNoWriMo" ---> "Edit Profile Settings."
Absolutely. We can't verify your word count, but verification from our website is just icing on the NaNoWriMo cake.
Absolutely. You can continue to add to your word count until 11:59:59 pm on November 30.
Screenplays and stage plays are great, but NaNoWriMo is for writing novels. Wait and write a screenplay next April during Script Frenzy.
Sure! Foreign-language novels are great.
No. Well... No.
Yes. There are many ways to incorporate NaNoWriMo into your curriculum. For younger groups, 50,000 words (or less) could be used as a classroom goal, for which each student has a personal word-count contribution goal and works on his/her own story, or each student contributes to a single collaborative story. One class last year met at lunchtime and narrated a group story, while the teacher transcribed the entire thing on a computer. (Now that’s dedication!) Another class wrote novels in small groups of four to five authors.
This is a long yet informative guide to using YWP.NaNoWriMo.org for folks who may not have joined a forum or online community before. Though much of this is common sense, even experienced and returning users may find things of use in here.
READING THE FORUMS
The forums, also known as message boards, are one of the highlights of the NaNoWriMo experience, allowing you to connect with other novelists just like yourself from all over the world. Though they may look daunting at first, learning to use them is actually a snap.
The best way to think of the forums is as a large house party. Thousands of different people are hanging out in various parts of the house, engaged in conversations about everything from their favorite books to what they had for breakfast that morning. As with most parties, you'll have to do a little searching before you find a conversation you're interested in joining.
Unlike chat rooms, where the back-and-forth happens in a matter of seconds, conversations in the forums unfold at a much more leisurely pace. A conversation between several people (also called a "topic" or "thread") might take a day or more to fill up with messages and replies (both are known as "posts"). Also, unlike real parties, where you might feel uncomfortable butting into strangers' conversations, the discussions in the forums are fundamentally open to anyone who might want to contribute. Private conversations happen off-line or via NaNoMail (more on NaNoMail later), so don't be afraid to add your comments to a discussion.
The NaNoWriMo YWP forums are divided into subject areas such as Tips & Strategies, Life During NaNo, Resources & Support, etc. Each of these areas contains several lounges or forums where the conversations actually take place. By dividing them up, you're able to browse topics in just the areas you're looking for. For example, the Character and Plot Q&A forum (the most active on the site) is the place to go if you're looking for help in researching something for your novel or if you want to volunteer your expertise by answering someone else's question, while the Reaching 50,000 forum will give you tips on how to pad your word count.
Click on any forum title and you'll be taken to that forum. Inside the forum, you'll find pages and pages of topics. Each topic represents an ongoing, threaded conversation; they're listed in chronological order, with the topics which have received the most recent replies at the top.
Clicking on the subject line of a topic will take you into that topic. At this point, you'll see the topic's most recent posts at the top of your screen, with the earlier posts in reverse chronological order below it. This means you may have to scroll a lot or click through to several pages of posts to see the message that began the topic. (You have the power to change the setting if you like, so the oldest post rather than the youngest shows up at the top of the topic.) See "Setting your Preferences" below.
If you've never posted in a forum before, read around a bit before posting. Feel free to introduce yourself to your fellow students or teachers in the forums under Young Writers or the Teacher’s Lounge. When you're ready to post, you have two options. You can start your own subject or you can respond to an existing topic.
RESPONDING TO AN EXISTING TOPIC
When you read a post, you are able to respond to either the original poster or any subsequent post by hitting the "Reply" button at the bottom of the initial post. You can also add a general reply by hitting the "Reply" button at the top of the topic on the left.
The reply feature will bring up a screen where you'll have a space to enter your reply (similar to email). You can change the subject line at the top if you wish, or just leave it as the reply default.
Your text will be formatted simply as it appears within the input window. Most people use the default normal text as it's easy to read and of course quicker to type. You may want to add extra formatting for emphasis, so feel free to use simple HTML codes for that.
You can preview your message to check for spelling errors or typos as well as check how it will appear to other users by clicking “Preview” instead of “Submit” when your message is done.
STARTING YOUR OWN TOPIC
To post, simply find the appropriate forum and click the "New Topic" button on the upper right of the forum.
One of the most important parts is the Subject Line. A vague or commonly used subject line frustrates readers, and makes it less likely that you'll get replies to the post. If you're asking a question, give your readers a clue as to what you're asking about. There will be hundreds of posts surrounding yours, so try to make yours stand out.
Less effective subject line: Help! Quick Question
More effective subject line: How Many Teeth Does a Domesticated Cat Have?
Less effective: OMIGOD!!!1!
More effective: I'm ahead on my word goal!
Once you've filled in your text you can preview in order to proofread it. When satisfied, hit submit and your message will appear in the forums. Now all you have to do is wait for the replies to roll in for the conversational ball to start rolling.
HOW TO EDIT YOUR POST
You know how it goes—the moment your post goes up on the forums, you notice a typo. Fear not, you can edit it. Simply click the edit button at the bottom of your post and make the changes and submit it again. You can edit your post for up to an hour after you've posted or until it gets a response. If you need to make any corrections or clarifications after that, you'll have to post a response with that information.
CONTENT OF YOUR POSTS
You can discuss anything you wish, we only ask that you post in the appropriate forum. Posts that are off-topic for the forum may be moved by moderators to a more appropriate area.
All of the YWP forums are All Ages, so in addition to staying on topic, no posts should contain any strong language or sexual themes.
Some forums have a notice that shows as the first post (sticky)—inside there you may find helpful info that will explains the rules of that forum a bit more or contain a guide to how to navigate what may be a very large and active forum. Please make a note of them; they’re there to help you.
If you have questions about what may or may not be appropriate, just ask one of your helpful moderators. The moderator of a forum is listed on the main forum page or at the top of the page of that forum list. Just click on their name and send them a private message via NaNoMail. This is a free, miniature email system NaNoWriMo participants can use to communicate with one another. For more information on NaNoMail, see the section below.
The forums are viewable by anyone, whether they are logged in or not, so please do not post any personal information you would not want viewable by anyone who takes the time to browse the boards. The forums are also indexed by most search engines, so using real names on the site may make this information freely available to anyone who has internet access. Please think carefully before posting personal details in your posts. The NaNoMail system is much more suitable for exchanging information for personal meet ups.
Should you encounter another user or post that you think violates these rules or the spirit of NaNoWriMo, please report the post to the moderators by either using the “flag as offensive” system or by sending a Private Message to the moderator of that forum detailing the post and the user.
NANOMAIL
We have a messaging system for your use within the site. This will allow you to send notes to other Wrimos without needing an email address (some people prefer not to share their email address on such a large public site and you are free to keep yours private as well). To send a message to any user, you can either click on their profile and the NaNoMail button to send it to them or go to your NaNoMail from the red link at the very top of the upper right corner of the site.
When you get a new message you will see a number next to the NaNoMail link at the top of the page whenever you're logged into the site. That tells you how many unread messages you have in your NaNoMailBox. Click on the link and it will take you to the page and you'll see the new message there. Click on the title of the message to read it. (If you click on the name of the person it's from, you'll see their profile.)
Your NaNoMailbox has an Inbox and Sent Messages box.
Once you've read the message you can reply to it by hitting the reply button at the bottom of the message. You can also delete it at the bottom of the message after you've replied. All messages are saved by default. You can select them from the list in your Inbox or Sent box and delete them that way or simply empty your mail box using the button at the very bottom of the Inbox list. Please do not delete your messages unless you’re absolutely certain you don’t want them any longer, as they cannot be retrieved once you’ve deleted them. (There is no “trash” system on the site.)
Messages will automatically sort with the most recent one at the top.
SUBSCRIPTIONS & NOTIFICATIONS
Since the site is so huge, there are several ways to get back to your favorite places and monitor your favorite forums.
In the My NaNoWriMo page you’ll see an option called Subscriptions. Here you can opt in for notifications for particular forums and threads.
You are automatically subscribed to notifications of new posts in any thread that you create. If you decide after getting too many replies that you don’t wish to get them, just go to this page and find the thread in question and uncheck it. Save your preference and it will disappear from the list.
If you want to get an email every time there is a new post in a forum, click over to the Categories tab and select the forums you are interested in.
SETTING YOUR PREFERENCES IN YOUR PROFILE
Every user on the forums has a Profile Page. Here you can show as much or as little about yourself and your novel as you want. To see your profile as others see it, visit View Profile from the red links in the upper right. The other link there, Edit Profile will take you to the page where you can enter and change your information.
The first tab you arrive at are your Account Settings. Most fields in the online form are self-explanatory. You can add your signature here, which will show up at the bottom of all of your forum posts; if you leave it blank, nothing will be added to your posts. There is a maximum number of characters here. Be mindful that long signatures can disrupt the readability of the forums.
The second tab is Author Info. Filling in many of the fields will help other writers find you when searching through the 100,000 or so participants. You are under no obligation to give out this information. Much of it is just about your interests, what you listen to, and writers you enjoy. Giving out a little bit about your geographic location can help other writers find you. As an international forum, even vague information like a State, Territory, Region or Country can help other users to put your post in perspective.
You'll notice that some users have photos with their profile. You can upload one too, sized 100 pixels by 100 pixels maximum and no larger than 30 kilobytes in the jpg format. The file name can be anything you want (the system will strip the file name when associating it with your profile) as long as it has a ".jpg" file extension on it. We encourage you to upload a favorite avatar of yours, but please do NOT upload a picture of yourself!
THE FORUM BREAKDOWN
NaNo Tips and Strategies—Offers help with the nitty-gritty bits of your novel, with folks chiming in with ideas, research, tips, strategies and otherwise helpful things.
Young Writers—A hangout, broken down by grade level, for YWP participants.
Resources and Inspiration—Everything from software advice, music playlists, and whatever else is on your mind.
NaNoWriMo Etc.—Our three-stop shop for help on the forums, website, and the nitty-gritty about the rules and regs and other help with tech elements of accomplishing your novel-in-a-month goal.
Teacher’s Lounge—A place for teachers who have questions about how to implement their lesson plans, want to share ideas, or who just want to chat.
GLOSSARY
This primer is by no means complete, but you might want to refer to it if words get bandied about within the posts. Of course, you should never be shy about just asking within a topic what something means.
Admin or Administrator - someone who works on the website.
AFAIK - short for As Far As I Know sometimes AFAICR - As Far As I Can Recall
AOL Speak - a form of abbreviated communication where letters are substituted for words such as U for you and R for are. This developed as a shorthand for communicating quickly in chat programs (IM or Instant Message) or using text messaging on phones. Sometimes it creeps into forum postings and can make it difficult to understand (alphabet soup). Sometimes sounding it out or reading it aloud can help, kind of like deciphering vanity license plates.
B0rk or B0rked - broken or not working properly. Sometimes this happens to the NaNoWriMo site.
Bump - when a person adds a reply merely to get it to go back to the top of the forum listing.
Chat - the use of a program for real-time exchange of text conversations. There are quite a few chats that go on during the NaNoWriMo period through several different programs. Some users post their chat usernames in their Signature Line
Emoticon - a smiley icon, or any icon that conveys emotion. These are generally used to help people understand the tone of a post. You may notice that they show up as little graphics sometimes and other times people will use the type character versions, such as :) or ;). There are dozens of versions. Here's a good place to find out what they all mean.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions - usually a place on every website contains a page that strives to answer the most common questions and concerns.
Flame - when a poster takes another to task on a subject, chews them out, and/or generally abuses them. A flame can be a personal attack, but often is a well-reasoned analysis employing heightened rhetoric. Flamers often take great joy in getting responses from people with their posts, so responding to a flame is not usually advisable. If you believe that someone is posting abusively, please report their post(s) to the moderator.
Flamebait - a post that is designed to generate a flame. This is a special kind of trolling (for more on trolls, see below) where a user is not only trying to get a rise out of people, but is also trying to enlist others in their battles. Emotions run high, rhetoric and hyperbole abound. Posting in such a topic is not something to be taken lightly. Tread carefully.
Flamewar - when there is equal give and take on both sides or multiple people join in.
Forum - a forum is an area on the site where the topics are divided into areas of interest. In general the site is divided into different forums to help you find the conversations you're looking for.
IIRC - short for If I Recall Correctly
IM Lingo - similar to AOL Speak, IM lingo is a shorthand that developed to save keystrokes while chatting in any Instant Message program or phone text message program. Words are shortened and acronyms are used for common phrases.
IMHO - short for In My Humble Opinion, also IMO - In My Opinion.
Leetspeak (also 1337) - short for Elite Speak - an odd way of expressing in English using alternate characters or character strings as a substitution for the accepted ones. In some senses it's a cipher, sometimes used to hide keywords from filters. See: Wikipedia - Leetspeak
LOL - short for Laugh Out Loud, see also the more hilarious ROFL
Lurker - someone who reads but doesn't post.
Moderator or Mod - a host for a forum, they are there to help as well as broker any disputes. On the NaNoWriMo forums you'll see their name in red at the top of the forum and on the forum list next to the title of the forum lounge.
NaNovel - a novel created during National Novel Writing Month.
NaNovelist - someone who writes a novel during National Novel Writing Month, see also Wrimo.
Newbie - someone new, also called a n00b.
OMG - short for Oh My God, sometimes expressed as OMIGOD.
Post - a post is any single item placed in the forums by a person. A post can be one that initiates a topic or in response to someone else's post (a reply). Posts are initiated by going to the forum where the topic belongs and clicking on "New Topic" or responding to someone else's by hitting "Reply."
ROFL - abbreviation for Rolling on the Floor Laughing
Sig or Sig Line - short for Signature Line. The site allows all posters to have a signature automatically added to all their posts. Many users choose to show information about their novel, links to their personal websites and sometimes a little graphic of the novel project. You can add your sig in your profile page. You can change your sig at any time and it will automatically update all of your posts on the site.
Smiley - see emoticon above.
Spoiler Alert - a caution someone will put on a post, most often dealing with the content of a book, TV show or movie. A spoiler alert is often followed by a large amount of blank space so that a person who does not want the work spoiled for them can click away safely.
Tag - a game played in a topic on the forums. The first post will usually outline the rules, whether it's a word-association game or connecting movie titles.
TGIO - Thank God It's Over or Thank Goodness It's Over, the title of the official parties that break out all over the planet in early December to celebrate the end of National Novel Writing Month. All participants whether they reach 50,000 words or not are invited to get together and raise a toast to the Muse.
Thread - a conversation on the forums is called a thread or topic. It's started by one person's post and others respond to either the first person's post or to subsequent posts. A thread should stay on the original poster's topic, though they don't always. If there's an interesting conversation within a thread that develops, often someone will break out that topic to its own post and thread so as not to distract from the original poster's thoughts. The abbreviation OP is used to refer to the "original poster" or the person who started the topic.
Topic - any threaded conversation on the forums started by a post - see above.
Troll - a troll is a person whose sole goal on a forum is to get a rise out of others. Most of the time it's harmless fun and obvious when someone posts that kittens are evil or coffee isn't the perfect beverage. If a post annoys you immediately and you feel the need to post right that moment, walk away. If it's important enough to demand a reply, it'll be there tomorrow and cooler heads will prevail. Some people enjoy engaging trolls, but the general consensus is that it's a bad idea to feed them.
W00T - sometimes written as WooT!, it's just an expression of exuberance. Seen often in the forums when wordcounts are high and goals are reached.
WiFi - wireless internet access, found at many coffee houses, libraries, bookstores and other public places.
Wrimo - a writer who participates in National Novel Writing Month.
WYSIWYG - short for What You See Is What You Get, often refers to word processors and their interfaces showing you what your page will look like printed.
XD - another emoticon though it's not always obvious at first glance. It represents an open mouth, squinted-eye laugh. Equated with LOL (laugh out loud).
Yes, and they are fools. Everyone knows that any deep and lasting work of art takes an entire month to make.
Yes.
This sounds like a silly rule, we know. But bringing a half-finished novel into NaNoWriMo will ruin your month. You'll care about the characters and story too much to write with the anything-goes approach that makes NaNoWriMo such an adventure. Give yourself the gift of a new idea, and you'll tap into parts of imagination that are out-of-reach when working on pre-existing fiction.
Nope.
You write off-line, using whatever word processor you like or using a pen and paper.
We do not read or store any of the novels submitted, nor do we save them. We just count words to make sure you've met your goal for the month!
Nope. It's totally free.
Outlines and plot notes are very much encouraged, and can be started months ahead of the actual novel-writing adventure. We've even created a 100% awesome workbook to help you come up with characters, plots, settings, and more.
Check out what is written in the name tag that is at the top of the home page.
If it is your username, and there is a big green "Sign Out" button next to it, you are signed in.
You're not required to sign your students up through our site in order for them to participate in NaNoWriMo. Many of our young writers participate offline!
Our site does offer great resources to your students if your class has access to computers. Our resources include forums where students can communicate with young writers all over the world, writing prompts, encouraging pep talks sent from authors they know and love, personalized author profiles, and much more.
You can either sign each of your students up on our site yourself, or have your students register individually. For for information, check out How NaNoWriMo Works for Educators.
From September 1 - November 30, you will be able to set and update your word-count goal by going to "Edit Profile" ---> "Edit Novel Info."
When you get there, you will see a box where you can enter your goal. You want to make sure you do this because if you don't, our site will automatically set it at 50,000 words.
Welcome to NaNoWriMo YWP! The registration process works like this:
You can update your word count from November 1 through November 30
It is very important to make sure you set your timezone. If it's November 1 for you and you can't see the word count field, please check your timezone setting on the "Profile Settings" page under "My NaNoWriMo."
1. On the honor system: Go to "My NaNoWriMo" ---> "Edit Novel Info" and type in your current word count in the box at the top of the page.
2. Starting November 25, Cut and Paste your novel into our word count validator: Go to "My NaNoWriMo" ---> "Edit Novel Info" and cut and paste the text of your novel into the word-count validator box.
Starting on November 25, you will also use the word count validator to become a winner once you've reached your word-count goal.
To upload a picture to your profile, sign in, go to "My NaNoWriMo" ---> "Edit Profile Settings."
If you scroll down, you will see an "Upload Author Photo" box. Hit the "Browse" button, find your picture on your computer, then hit "Upload."
Photos must by 100x100 pixels or smaller at 72dpi, and must be under 50KB.
You can use any photo editing program (even the Paint program built into Windows) to resize your image.
We understand that many classrooms do not have the resources to provide every student with computer access. We've had classes and groups participate in low-tech versions of NaNoWriMo by using those trusty standbys, the pencil and notepad. Our advice is to track word-count progress using the noveling progress chart (available in your Noveling kit, which you can order when you sign up) or by manually counting and updating user profiles every few days.
You can also apply to borrow word processors from our Alphasmart Lending Library. Click on the link to read all about it!
We define a novel as "a lengthy work of fiction." Beyond that, we let you decide whether what you're writing falls under the heading of "novel." In short: If you believe you're writing a novel, we believe you're writing a novel too.
NAN-no WRY-mo.
The way to win NaNoWriMo is by writing to your word-count goal by midnight on November 30. Every year, there are many, many winners. There are no "Best Novel" or "Quickest-Written Novel" awards given out. All winners will get an official "Winner" web icon and certificate, and bragging rights for the rest of their life!
Yes you can! You can set your own word-count goal by going to "My NaNoWriMo" ---> "Edit Novel Info."
We encourage you to push yourself to write more than you think you can. This might sound crazy, but the more challenging your word-count goal, the more fun you'll have this November (and the cooler you'll feel after your done). By having to write so much so fast, you'll have no choice but to let your imagination take you on a wild adventure!
If you're an educator, we advise you to work with your students to set individual word-count goals that are on the high end of doable. If you're wondering what goals other teachers have set for their students, check out this nifty word-count goal chart. You can also set a collaborative "classroom" word-count goal, which works well for the younger grades, especially if you are writing a collaborative novel.
No problem! All you need is the email address that you signed up with. Go to the login page and enter your email address in the lost password form. The following will happen:
Absolutely. Email us at press@nanowrimo.org and we'll figure out the best way to go about it.
This is easy! Just go to "My NaNoWriMo" ---> "Edit Novel Info" and cut and paste your whole novel in the Word count validator. After you hit submit, you will become an official winner of NaNoWriMo 2008.
If you easily pass your word-count goal and your story is not over when you do, then head for the NaNoWriMo main program's 50,000-word limit. Even that is not necessarily a stopping place. Many of our adult participants write past 50,000 words in order to finish their stories.
Everyone participating in NaNoWriMo gets to send messages to each other using NaNoMail. It is just like email. It allows you to send mail to other participants without having to know their actual email address.
You can NaNoMail someone by clicking on the "NaNoMail Me" link in their profile.
We loan out AlphaSmart Neos to computer-less classrooms who are facilitating the event for the month of November. If you are a teacher interested in checking out a laptop for the 2008 event, check out our Alphasmart Lending Library page.
Any time! Simply click on the "Sign Up Now" button at the top of the page and fill everything out.
On November 1!
11:59:59 pm on November 30.
NaNoWriMo is all about the magical power of deadlines.
Part of the reason we organize NaNoWriMo is just to get a book written and have others do it with us. As great as it is to write your own book, it is equally (if not more) fun to be able to share the experience with our friends, classmates, and teachers.
The other reason we do NaNoWriMo is because the happy glow from making big, messy art, and watching others make big, messy art, lasts for a long, long time. It changes the way you read and think, and changes, a little bit, your sense of who you are. We like that.
There are three reasons.
1) If you don't do it now, you probably never will. Here's the truth: 99% of us, if left to our own devices, would never make the time to write a novel. The structure of NaNoWriMo forces you to put away all those worries and START. Once you have the first five chapters under your belt, the rest will come easily. Or painfully. But it will come. And you'll have friends to help you see it through to meet your word-count goal.
2) Aiming low is the best way to succeed. Once you start evaluating your story in terms of quantity instead of quality, you take that pressure off yourself. And you'll start surprising yourself with a great bit of dialogue here and an genius plot twist there. Characters will start doing things you never expected, taking the story places you'd never imagined. There will be horrible writing, yes. But along with the bad writing, there will be beauty. A lot of it.
3) Making art for fun does wonderful things to you. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you want to take naps and go places wearing funny pants. Doing something just for the heck of it is wonderful medicine.