Few people would consider the prospect of writing a 50,000 word novel in a month a fun activity. However, for a handful of students at WCHS, the month of November is all about undertaking that challenge.NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is a challenge held annually by an organization called The Office of Letters and Light. The event is in its ninth year of operation and claims over 100,000 participants from over 70 countries. Only a handful of those participants “win” each year by completing the 50,000 word quota, but there isn’t any form of reward or recognition. No one from the NaNoWriMo staff even reads the completed novels.
The reward, says NaNoWriMo director Chris Baty, is the satisfaction of completing a novel. "The 50,000-word challenge has a wonderful way of opening up your imagination and unleashing creative potential like nothing else. When you write for quantity instead of quality, you end up getting both. Also, it's a great excuse for not doing any dishes for a month."
The NaNoWriMo website is the portal for the creative process. Each author is given a profile in which he can record his current word count or an excerpt from his story. The forum provides a wealth of support, literary resource, and procrastination opportunities. One board of the forum serves as a miniature library for every obscure topic an author might need for their story. Another thread is dedicated to outrageous dares that authors are challenged to include in their stories, such as naming all ones characters after London underground stations.
Through the forums, authors are also able to find other NaNo-ers in the area. Write-ins at cafés, libraries, and Paneras are organized by Municipal Liaisons, volunteers who manage NaNoWriMo groups in their local areas. At these events, authors come together to encourage each other to meet word count goals and engage in “word wars” to see who can get the most words written in a certain amount of time.
Among these writers in the Columbus area, several students at WCHS are attempting NaNoWriMo, including: Nick Panzica, Jaclyn Hampton, Tiffany Helmuth, Emily Heskett, Jordan Ensign, and Kerrie Valtman.
Jaclyn Hampton, already at 20,000 words, is excited about her story despite a current lack of plot. Her mainstream fiction novel follows the lives of a handful of boys at boarding school through their friendships and arguments – even discussions about pants and soap. Her main characters, Boss and Everett, are best friends – sort of – and because they’re polar opposites, they never fail to provide interesting conversations when other ideas are sparse. Their conversations are becoming the base of the novel.
Balancing school and novel writing wasn’t the biggest problem she faces during NaNoWriMo, says Jaclyn. “Laziness prevails,” she says jokingly. “The hardest part about writing is actually sitting down and forcing myself to do it.”
The word quota that must be met each day to get to 50,000 by November 30th is 1667 words. Last year, Tiffany Helmuth, Jacyln Hampton, and Nick Panzica all completed that challenge, and they hope to repeat the feat this year.
