November is National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an internet based creative writing project that was started in July of 1999 by Chris Baty. Each year participates pick a theme of their choice and write at least 50,000 words for the month of November.

In honor of National Novel Writing Month, start a creative writing exercise with your students. Have kids start a story at the beginning of the month and add to it each day in November. Set a word count for your students or just have them write for a set amount of time each day. To get students started, you may want to pick a topic or give a few examples. For some added fun, have your students create a book cover for their novels at the end of the month.

For ideas and resources on NaNoWriMo for young writers, check out the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program at http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/.