Our Friends
National Novel Writing Month Main Program
Just like NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program, National Novel Writing Month's main program is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. Unlike the YWP, adult participants are unable to choose their own word-count goals. Their goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
826 National
826 National is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students, ages 6-18, with expository and creative writing at seven locations across the country. Our mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. Each chapter offers drop-in tutoring, field trips, workshops, and in-schools programs – all free of charge – for children, classes, and schools with particular interest or particular need. 826 is especially committed to supporting teachers, offering services and resources for English language learners, and publishing student work. Several locations offer unique retail experiences as well.
Word Street
Word Street's mission is to provide a supplemental educational environment that encourages the creativity and enhances the reading and writing skills of learners in Pittsfield and Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Today Word Street has a volunteer staff of about thirty dedicated writers and teachers who love working with young people. The Writing Center has a library, a hi-speed internet computer lab, quiet comfortable spaces to work and study, and a publishing center where young people can discover their voices and a lifelong love for language and literature.
Young Writers' Club
Do you love libraries? Bask in books? Create comics? Seize upon story ideas? If this sounds like you, then the Young Writers' Club would like to invite you to celebrate all things literary by becoming a member. Whether you live near their headquarters in North Vancouver, British Columbia, or halfway around the world, if you’re a fan of the literary life then you’re invited to join them. The goals of the club are to exercise imagination, learn more about the craft of creative writing, and to have fun with other people who are walking the writer’s path.
Other Great Websites for Young Writers
Creative Writing Prompts
Offers over 300 short prompts to spark writing ideas.
Teen Ink
An online and in-print magazine of fiction and art completely supplied by teens.
Writing Contests for Young Writers
A list of writing contests geared specifically toward young writers.
Writing Resources for Young Writers
A list of writing resources geared specifically toward young writers.
Teen Writer's Resources
A website geared toward teens interested in sci-fi and fantasy
Young Writers' Resource Directory
A Google directory listing all sorts of great websites for young writers.
NaNoFiMo Resources Page
Lots of plot, character, and idea generators, plus links to more.
Dictionary.com
Don't know what a word means? What to pad your word count? Look up new words!
Wikipedia
An online encyclopedia with entries about almost anything. Be careful in using it, though—since any user can update pages, facts are not necessarily accurate! But it's a great resource for getting a quick overview of a certain topic.
Babelfish
introducing mysterious new characters from a far away land? Use this online translation site to add dialogue in foreign languages.
How Stuff Works
Ever wondered how something worked? This site will answer your questions!
Librarian Links
Library Thing
This website lets you catalog the books you've read and helps you find other people who read the same things. Up to 200 books can be entered for free.
Shelfari
This site encourages you to build a personal "bookshelf" to showcase your favorite reads, etc. which can then be shared with other members.
What’s Next Database
Allows you to search books by the series they're in—entering the series name gives you an ordered list of the books.
Infoplease
Search this collection of dictionary, almanac, encyclopedia, current events, and timeline articles for anything you might want to know.
Teen Reads: Coming Soon
A list of selected teen novels being released in the next few months.