NaNoWriMo Final Report

Final NaNoWriMo report:
We all finished and surpassed our goals! Cue the wild cheering and throwing of multi-colored confetti!!!!

Lisa - 50,009 (ok, so I only went 9 words over! lol)
David - 50,497 (goal 50,000 - 1st year for the whole enchilada)
Emily - 15,438 (goal 10,000)
James - 10,001 (goal 5,000)
Suzy - 3,569 (goal 3,000)

We all printed out our cheerful NaNoWriMo winner's certificates and today we attended a wrap party. It was really intended to be a write-in, but just about everyone there had already finished, so we just partied instead. A lot of friends did NaNo this year and quite a few of them finished - so CONGRATS to all you 50K achievers! And if you tried and didn't hit the 50K mark, there's always next year!

We will edit in January and I've set a goal of completing the editing this year instead of letting it fall by the wayside. From looking at their rough drafts, I can see what each child needs to work on (ie. paragraphing, quotation marks, capitalization, etc...). So we'll set aside some time for grammar, spelling, and punctuation editing and some separate times for content editing.

Suzy won't be editing for grammar and punctuation since I typed hers. She can use her time better working on her phonics to increase her literacy. Next year, she can type her own book maybe!

I won't be editing mine anytime soon (or ever?). However, I plan to pull out the 2008 NaNoNovel I wrote and finish editing that one. I've also already started writing a new novel as part of Inkygirl's 1000 words a day challenge. Click the badge or check the sidebar for more info.

NaNoWriMo update

I haven't talked much about NaNoWriMo, but the kids and I are participating again this year. They've all been very motivated, due in part, I'm sure, to the reward system I have in place. They get a reward for each 10% goal - some small like a package of Mike & Ike's and some large, like Emily's regency dress for the ball. Some are privileges, like staying up late. I mostly made them things I would probably buy anyway.

So here's our progress:
Lisa - 29,595 (goal 50K)
David (10th gr) - 28,387 (goal 50K - first time he's done the WHOLE THING!)
Emily (8th gr) - 12,020 (goal of 10K met! But she's not stopping now.)
James (5th gr) - 7,419 (goal of 5K met! He's aiming for 10K now.)
Suzy (3rd gr) - 3400 (goal of 3K met! She's aiming for 6K now.)
I transcribe for Suzy, because her reading/writing fluency is low.

We set our goals as suggested by NaNo's Young Writers Program - at 1,000 words per grade level. Except for David who decided he could manage the entire 50K this year. Oh yeah, and Emily wanted hers set a little higher. However, three of the kids met their initial goals halfway through the month, so I think the goals are great for beginning novelists. Kids who have done NaNoWriMo before probably could have a bit more challenging goals. Next year I'll keep that in mind.

I've had some great plot discussions with each of them. David always helps me with my plot as well. We used only a small part of the workbooks from the Young Writers Program. Emily found the character worksheets helpful and all of us used the plot rollercoaster. We also sent away our inner editors.

David and Emily and I have attended several write-ins, which I personally have found very helpful. James attended one, but he was not very focused.

OK, time to move on! Oh yeah, I bought a NANOWRIMO hoodie this year and I've worn it every day since I got it (Nov 5). (Mine was a second, so it cost less.) It's so warm and cozy and it fits great! LOVE IT!

NaNo YWP - Good/Gross Books

One of the things we did for the NaNo Young Writer's Program was to brainstorm lists of things good and dull books might have. You may well guess that my boys and my girls have very different ideas of what makes a "good" book. So, with no further ado, I present the lists.

Great books might have:

1. Guns
2. Princesses
3. Happy Endings
4. Aliens
5. Sharks eating people
6. War
7. Seagulls talking
8. Obedience
9. Page numbers
10. Magic Spells
11. Coloring
12. People
13. Action
14. Heroes
15. Space
16. Vampires

Gross Books Might have:

1. Boring parts, like love
2. Bad wars
3. Killing
4. Evil pumpkins
5. Evil monkeys
6. Gypsies
7. Dull storylines
8. Whiny characters
9. Boring titles
10. Boring covers
11. No adventure
12. No problems

NaNoWriMo - for KIDS????

Since I plan to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) again this November, I thought I'd give my children the option to participate as well.

I need as much time as possible to write my own novel in November and I know that writing will be all-encompassing for my kids as well. So, I decided to give them two options for November.

1 - Do their regular lessons.
2 - Replace their Language Arts lessons with writing a book.

When presented with these choices, all of them chose option 2. Whew! That makes things MUCH EASIER for Mom!

(Language Arts here includes: Spelling Power, Explode the Code, reading, literature study, dictionary work, vocabulary study, letter writing, journal writing, and IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) writing. Maybe something else I've forgotten....)

Now, keep in mind, my kids are ages 6, 8, 11, and 13. Last year my 13-year-old (at age 12) wrote his first book. (That's him in the photo, with his book. I had it typed and spiral bound for him. He was THRILLED!)

It wasn't 50,000 words - just 7,000. I recognize that as quite an accomplishment for anyone, especially a twelve-year-old. I have a few friends who didn't write that much on their NaNoNovels. My other kids didn't complete their goals. But this year, I'll be better prepared.

NaNoWriMo has a Young Writers Program. The students get to choose their own goals. There are also some great helps available on their website.

• Workbooks as .pdf downloads - Elementary, Middle School or High School versions. (I think we'll be using these!)
• Incentive Kits (I've put in an order for a kit for our homeschool group, so if your child is part of SOF and plans to write, let me know. Maybe I'll have a Novelist button for your student.)
• Young Writers T-shirts - a little pricy, but I will likely buy them for my kids, if they meet their goals.
• Certificates

Let me know if your child will be participating! Or YOU!? Are you writing a NaNoNovel this November? I'd love to be your NaNoBuddy. Leave me a comment, or message me on the NaNo website. My profile is HERE.