(Here's a special announcement for you, fresh from my blog!)

Today is the start of National Novel Writing Month. It's one of the most grueling, enjoyable months of the year for writers and writer wannabes.

What is NaNoWriMo (a.k.a. NaNo)? It's the wild and crazy brainchild of a guy named Chris Baty. The goal of NaNo is for everyone who signs up to write an entire novel, defined as 50,000 words, in the month of November.

Sign-up is free and easy at the National Novel Writing Month official website. The site also offers offers encouragement, forums, and WriMo Radio broadcasts.

Why would you want to do NaNo? It will up-end your entire month; the book you write will be rough; and you won't have any spare time to dust the refrigerator or agonize over the the leaves cluttering your front lawn.

Trust me-- you want to do NaNo for all those reasons and more. An up-ended routine can spark all sorts of creativity; a rough draft of a book is something tangible to revise (but a blank page will get you nowhere); and you probably didn't want to dust and rake anyway!

NaNo is a great English assignment for students who enjoy writing. It's a tremendous learning experience, and if it's done right, you can foster a lasting love of writing in your student. Here's what I suggest:

* Assign the writing project only if your student is interested.
* Set daily and weekly word goals so that the project is broken into manageable chunks.
* Feel free to set a lower number of required words for younger students (but you may be surprised at how motivated a ten-year-old can be).
* Do not read your student's work unless invited to do so-- just check the word count each day or week to ensure that the interim goals are being met.
* Consider writing your own NaNo book. It's fun to have someone to share the inevitable moments of frustration or triumph.
* Use the forums on the NaNoWriMo site with caution. Some threads are not suitable for students.
* Try NaNo as a co-op or group project. Misery loves company!
* Get Chris Baty's book, No Plot, No Problem! It offers a ton of helpful tips, plus a supportive message for every week of November.

So, after all that, am I going to do NaNo this year? Unfortunately, I'm not. We have a trip scheduled for two weeks in November, and there's just no way to fit an entire novel around that (though I'm sorely tempted to try!).

What I plan to do is to cheer from the sidelines, with frequent blog entries to help you make the most of this wild experience. I'll post encouraging quotes and tips on writing, plus an occasional suggestion or recipe for NaNo food. For some reason, everyone thinks they must eat in November, so from past NaNo years (and my normal life as a writer), I have a lot of ideas for making good food fast. And that's a good thing to do any month of the year!

Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed for my writing blog so that you'll receive encouragement and inspiration for reading and writing, delivered hot and fresh to your desktop. And please post comments about how things are going! Bon voyage-- I wish I could could take the NaNo journey with you!

Enjoy!

Janice Campbell

www.EverydayEducation.com