The NaNo News

Welcome to the first day of National Novel Writing Month! Let the ridiculous ride through your imaginations begin.

But, before you begin writing (or continue, if you have already started), there a few things you should add to your NaNo-profile. The first is your word-count goal. I am sure you have already decided on your goal, but now it is time to make it official. Just go to “Edit Profile,” then click the “Author Info” tab. When you scroll down, you will find the box where you can add your word-count goal. You will be able to edit this number up until the November 15. After that, the number will lock. If you don’t set your word-count goal by November 15, you will be stuck with the default word-count goal, which is 50,000 words!

There are two other new features under the “Author Info” tab that we would like you to know about. The first is the “word-count” box. Until next week, entering your word-count progress will be on the honor system. Type the number of words you have written in that box as often as you like! The second feature is the novel excerpt box. If you would like to show off your novel-in-progress to the rest of the YWP NaNo-community, cut and paste sections of your novel in the box and hit “Submit.” Your excerpt will show up on your profile.

Good luck with those first lines and beginnings. Things might seem clunky at first, but don’t let that stop you! Just keep writing, and writing, and writing!

Happy noveling!

Tavia

For some of you, NaNoWriMo has already begun. Some of you may be poised at your computers, watching the clock, waiting for the magical hour of midnight to come so you can finally write that brilliantly flawed first line. Some of you may be taking this last night of freedom from your characters and plots. Besides, it is Halloween. Aren’t you out there stocking up on candy to keep you going throughout November?

Whatever you end up doing, I hope you have a great night. I will be one of the people poised at their laptop at 11:59. Now, if I could just come up with the brilliant first line. Something better than “How about a sandwich?” which is more of a sign that I need to eat dinner than it is a first line to a novel.

Happy Noveling!

Tavia

p.s. – Check the breaking news tomorrow to find out how to set and update your word counts!

NaNoWriMo YWP Headquarters is proud to announce that many international teachers and young writers are signing up to write novels this November! Alongside young writers living in locales from New York City to Hawaii will be young novelists penning their first drafts in Indonesia, China, France, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Pakistan. This information is based on orders placed so far for our classroom Noveling Kits. (Which reminds me—all you teachers and librarians out there should order your Noveling Kits if you have not already so you get them before November 1.)

We would like to know more about our young international participants! If you live outside the United States, send me a NaNoMail and let me know where you are from. I would love to keep everyone updated on the international status of our program. It is just so exciting!

12 days and counting,
Tavia Stewart

Hello Everyone!

The forums are bustling with excitement for November, and a lot of people have been asking me where to enter their chosen word counts. You will be able to enter them starting on November 1. When the feature is available, I will post instructions on where and how to enter your word count. On November 15, your word-count box will lock, and you will not be allowed to change it, so be sure to set a realistic (yet challenging) word-count goal by then.

Starting on November 1, you will also be able to upload excerpts from your novels-in-progress, and you'll be able to validate your word counts.

Keep posting in the forums, or contacting us through the contact page, if you find anything funny about the site. We are still working on ironing out all the kinks. Thank you for your patience as we iron!

Warm regards,
Tavia Stewart

Hello YWP participants!

I wanted to thank everyone for their patience in the past week. The site has been slow and a little wacky, but we have been working around the clock to get everything up to speed and up to standard. I would also like to thank all of you who have been scanning the site and reporting bugs through the contact page, and through the forums. With your help, a new database server, and fixing something I don't quite understand called the Forum Access Module on the main site, we will have the YWP site running at a normal speed by the end of the week.

I would also like to let everyone know that this Wednesday, October 10, is the deadline to get your requests in to borrow the 25 AlphaSmart Neos for your classroom. The kind folks at Renaissance Learning have donated 25 AlphaSmart Neos to our Young Writers Program. The Neos are battery-powered word processors that weigh much less than a typical laptop. They can't get on the internet, and getting the text off of them requires that you hook them up to an actual computer. But they're rugged little beasts, and kids love them.

If you believe that your classroom of novelists could benefit from the use of 25 AlphaSmarts this November, please send a request directly to tavia@nanowrimo.org. In the email, please include your name, NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program username, the name of your school or library, and an explanation of why the AlphaSmarts would be helpful to your classroom.

Once we choose a deserving classroom, we will inform the folks at Renaissance Learning, and they will ship the computers to your class free of cost! Plus, we will cover the cost of shipping the computers back to our office. Just send the computers back with a receipt for the shipping cost by December 15, and we will send you a reimbursement check.

All requests must be received by October 10, 2007. Neos will be mailed out to you by October 21.

October is here, sign-ups are open, and we are proud to introduce our shiny new NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program website! There are quite a few new site features and returning features that we don’t want you to miss. Below you will find a site tour that will introduce you to all these features. If you are a newcomer, make sure to visit the

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