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Hello Novelists!

I wanted to write a quick note to let you all know that Script Frenzy is right around the corner. Script Frenzy is a world-wide writing event, just like NaNoWriMo, but instead of writing novels, participants create original, full-length scripts in the month of April. With a wild deadline fast approaching, writers chuck self-doubt and pesky editing tendencies right out the window, and lose themselves in the rush of creation. This is truly a Script Frenzy, where typing out beautiful, flawed stories that no one else could have dreamt up is exactly the point!

As with all Office of Letters and Light events, Script Frenzy is free. This isn’t a beauty pageant, so there are no valuable prizes awarded or "Best Of" categories. Each and every writer who attempts their goal is victorious and awe-inspiring and will get a Script Frenzy Participant Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact. Really, you have nothing to lose—except knowing that you could have written a better movie or play than the one you just watched, but you didn’t.

So come on over and check out the Script Frenzy website! Sign-ups being on March 1, but in the mean time check out all the Writer's Resources we have on the site. If it sounds like something you might want to try this April, spread the word. Tell your teachers, your friends, your parents. Tell everyone to get into The Frenzy this April!

Tavia Stewart

Hello Budding Authors,

The holidays are almost here, and no matter how you celebrate this winter break, we hope you have a blast! And we hope the food is delicious. Oh the food! The food is my favorite part. I just cannot wait to stuff my face with fudge, cheese logs, and pumpkin pie!

Anyway, the reason we are writing is to ask for your help before you are all off on your well-deserved holiday breaks. We have come up two short surveys: one for our young writers to fill out, and one for our teachers. Both will help us make improvements on National Novel Writing Month’s Young Writers Program for NaNoWriMo 2008. If you are a student, click here. If you are a teacher, click here.

Once you get to the survey, click “Next” to begin!

Thank you all so much again for making NaNoWriMo possible!

Happy Holidays,
Tavia

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, you may be wondering "what's next." Though you may be ready to jump head first into a new writing project, the first thing that you need to do is get some rest. Then catch up on your homework. Then spend some quality time with family and friends you have been neglecting.

After you feel refreshed, caught up, and reconnected with the "real world," check out our "I Wrote A Novel! Now What?" page. There is a lot of information on this page, so keep scrolling on down so you don't miss anything. Make sure you read all about other NaNo-like events going on all year, advice from professionals about the revision process, and where to submit (and not to submit) your newly revised novels!

Plus, there is a list of cool writing centers and programs where you can take classes to hone your craft, meet other young writers, and write!

For even more resources for young writers visit the Friends of NaNoWriMo's YWP page and Amber's Virtual Library.

Tavia

You did it! You did it! You really did it! And now is time to party!

I wanted to let you know that if you are in the Bay Area we are celebrating tonight, Saturday, December 1, at Root Division Gallery from 7 PM - 10 PM! Come join us in wearing crowns, eating candy, and drinking sodas to celebrate our newly written novels. If you come, make sure you bring two pages from your novel.

There will also be a local YWP TGIO Party at Black Oak Books on Sunday, December 9. The event starts at 5:30. Come wear more crowns, eat delicious snacks, meet Chris Baty, take author photos, and see local young writers reading next to published authors! It will be a blast! Bring two pages from your novel to this party, also.

I hope all of your TGIO parties are a success. Eat pizza, rest those fingers, show off your new work, and be proud.

You are now novelists!

Congratulations!

Tavia Stewart

This is it. The final stretch. It is like those final laps in a race, where you are pulling out all the stops. You are writing faster and more furiously than ever before.

Keep it up!

You are almost there. And you are writing the most exciting parts of your novel. Some of you may be writing your climax right now! Right now, as I write this, epic battle scenes are being written, characters are finally falling in love, and enemies are getting what's been coming to them since the very first lines of your novels.

Others may be writing resolutions or endings. Your characters are recovering from the aftermath of the battle and basking in the after glow of new-found love! They are realizing their dreams this very second. This is just so exciting!

And if you are writing a series, you may be setting the scene for yet another adventure to write next November.

I just want to congratulate all of you for all your hard work. You have been swimming in the great big pool of your imagination for almost a month now, and no matter how close or far you are from your word-count goal, I encourage you all to keep writing!

Write like the wind!

And congratulations to all of you who have already won! Hats off to you!

Tavia

P.S. - Those of you are not participating in a class, are writing in a notebook, and who reach your word-count goal, email me at tavia@nanowrimo.org, and I will email you a certificate. I am unable to send certificates through NaNo-mail.

Starting today (Sunday, November 25), you can become an official NaNoWriMo YWP winner. It is so easy! Just "Copy" and "Paste" your entire novel into the Word Count Validator. You can find the Validator by signing in and going to "Edit Profile"--->"Author Info."

From now until 11:59:59 PM local time on November 30th, if you paste a word manuscript into the word counter that equals or exceeds your word-count goal, you will become an official NaNoWriMo winner, and will be taken to the special winner's page to collect your winner certificate.

I want to wish you all a happy holiday weekend.

Take the time off from school to catch up on those word counts. Be thankful for the long car rides and delayed flights, for they will be perfect opportunities to write more.

Plus, could there be a better excuse to escape from any family chaos than “I need to write my novel.” Really, who can argue with that? If the cousins are bothering you: “Um, I need to write my novel.” If your aunt is about to serve you a heaping pile of minced meat pie: “I really need to write my novel. Like right now.”

Along the same line, this is also a weekend to show off. Make sure that everyone knows the new you—the novelist! Be prepared for new-founded respect from all your family members. If they do not believe you at first (some won’t), show them the website, guide them to your snazzy profile, and allow them to read your novel excerpt!

The ability to “win” begins this Sunday too. I will be posting instructions on Sunday morning on how to do so.

I hope all of you write as excessively as you eat!

Happy noveling!

Tavia

Hello Novelists,

Many of you wrote to point out that when the box for setting your word-count goals locked last night, the box to update word counts disappeared.

This issue has been fixed by our magicial tech man Russel Uman. Yeah Russ!

We are sorry about any trouble this caused you in updating your rising word counts.

Happy Mid-NaNo!

Tavia Stewart

I just wanted to post a quick reminder to set those word-count goals if you haven’t already. Tonight at midnight—which is this Thursday—Russel Uman, our tech genius, will lock the word-count goal boxes. This means, if you have not set your goal, it will default to 50,000 words.

Again, to set your word-count goal 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.

I also wanted to let everyone know that Russ has been alerted of all the word-count goal bugs. We are working to get the correct word-count goals to show up in the forums when you post, and in your “Author Profiles” under “Stats.”

Thank you all for your patience in getting the site up and running smoothly.

Keep up the good noveling,
Tavia Stewart

It is officially week two of National Novel Writing Month. Can you believe it? In just one week, over 200,000,000 (that’s two-hundred million) words have been written by approximately 110,000 kids, teens, and adults all over the world!

Wasn’t week one fun? I think week one is the second best week of NaNoWriMo (one small step behind the glory of week four). Last week, your fingers were nimble, your ideas were fresh, your characters were new and adventurous, and your plot was developing right in front of your eyes, sometimes with little to no effort on your part.

Week two is a little more challenging. If you’re anything like me, you might have a case of what I like to call the now whats: the sudden realization that you have no idea what should happen next. Maybe you’ve written most of your story and you aren’t even close to your word-count goal. Characters might not be doing what you wanted them to, the plot twist you wanted to work into your novel isn’t working, or maybe everything has just come to a stand still. Suddenly your characters are all sitting around in a room, looking at each other blankly, talking about nothing.

It may sound something like this:

“What do you wanna do?”
“Dunno what do you wanna do?”
“I asked you first.”
“How ‘bout you, Tim, what do you wanna do?
“No idea, how ‘bout you think of something.”

And so on.

Though the now whats may seem paralyzing for a moment, they can actually be really helpful in moving your novel in new and unexpected directions. Week two is all about introducing strange new characters, sudden UFO invasions, unexpected magical phenomena, and random cameos from robotic elves from the future. If your characters seem bored, make things exciting for them. Give them new challenges to overcome. Introduce new settings. Develop those supporting characters.

You will find out a lot about your novel in the coming week, and your plot might change drastically. You may find that your main character is a real bore, and that his or her side-kick is the real hero. You may have started off writing a novel about fire-breathing dragons, but find that you would rather write a sci-fi story about time traveling robotic elves. That is fine. Change is a good thing.

Or you may be one of the lucky ones with a novel that will go along swimmingly in this next week.

We are all jealous.

Good luck in your second week!

Best,
Tavia Stewart