National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants boot camp approach to creative writing. 

On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.

NaNoWriMo NA Version:

Busy students and teachers can rarely manage 50K words in the middle of a semester, so we’ve devised our own NA version of NaNoWriMo in which you can set your own writing goal, such as a haiku a day, regular journal entries, a letter you’ve always wanted to write, or  the first chapters of a fledgling novel. Dozens of NA students and faculty have participated in NaNoWriMo and a few have shared their creations on the WAM blog, including Alicja Madloch ’15, Mollie Wohlforth ’15, Mr. Bitler, Profe and Mr. Weiss.  Check out their creations and start your own!

Success Stories

Over 250 NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published. They include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder. See a full list of our published authors.

Pep Talks

Each year, authors offer mentorship to our participants through Pep Talks. The 2017 Pep Talks will offer inspiration from Roxane Gay, Kevin Kwan, Julie Murphy and Grant Faulkner among others.

2017 Forecast

• Over 400,000 participants, including more than 70,000 K-12 students and educators in the Young Writers Program.
• About 1,000 volunteer Municipal Liaisons will guide 646 regions on six continents.
• More than 1,000 libraries, bookstores, and community centers will open their doors to novelists through the Come Write In program.
• Over 50,000 Campers tackled a writing project—novel or not—at Camp NaNoWriMo.

Programs

Begun in 1999, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a nonprofit. In addition to National Novel Writing Month in November, its programs include Camp NaNoWriMo, the Young Writers Program, Come Write In, and the “Now What?” Months.  See more information about NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program.