Unique Ways To Participate in National Novel Writing Month

November is here and if you are anything like me you are scrambling as you plan your lessons this month to fit National Novel Writing Month in! Whoops!

It’s not like I meant to forget about NaNoWriMo, a month-long writing extravaganza.

It’s just that I am a busy homeschool mom who saw November 1st coming, but with Halloween, clock changes, and the rest of the holiday season approaching, NaNoWriMo just sort of slipped my mind.

And even though November is already here, I’m still going to incorporate National Novel Writing Month into our homeschool.

It just may look a little different. 😉

What is National Novel Writing Month?

If you are unfamiliar with National Novel Writing Month let me start with a quick overview.

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short, is a strange phenomenon that has authors and hopeful authors sharpening pencils and finding inspiration wherever it may strike.

The goal? Write 50,000 words in one month!

For many, this happens. In fact, NaNoWriMo has been around for more than 20 years, inspiring authors and writers alike to buckle down and focus on an intense month of writing.

Adapting NaNoWriMo For Homeschoolers

As exciting as becoming a published author sounds, for many homeschool families, the idea of asking their kids to churn out 50,000 words is daunting.

And while many older students can easily set their minds to it and accomplish it, there are just as many who cannot.

What we can do, though, is use the idea behind National Novel Writing Month and adapt it to fit our children, their passions, and their abilities!

“You can make anything from writing.”

-CS Lewis

Write Daily for National Novel Writing Month

An obvious option, but still worth considering is simply asking your children to write daily.

A super-easy way to do this is to utilize free writing. If you are unfamiliar with free writing, it’s a simple process of writing for a set period of time, without worrying about what you are writing about.

We do a lot of these in our homeschool, especially at the beginning of our homeschool year. Free writing helps my children exercise their creative minds and muscles and simply find their unique writing style.

Some days we use prompts – some silly, some serious.

Other days we use story cubes.

And some days I simply tell them to choose the topic.

The point behind a free write is not to generate a final draft that is ready for publication, but rather to put words on paper for the entire time the free write is going on.

Even my youngest participates in free writing by dictating her stories to me. I simply record what she says.

Write A Short Story for National Novel Writing Month

Whether you have a parcel of free writes to choose from or are starting from scratch, November is a great time to pause and simply help your children write a short story.

Not sure where to start? This Writing Box Set is a great place to start as it has everything you need.

Inside the Writing Box Set, you will find tips for writing stories, poems, and essays as well as prompts to get you started! It’s a great way to get the creativity that is in your child’s head out on paper.

Writing Poetry, Comics, Screenplays, and More!

As homeschoolers, we sometimes forget to think outside the proverbial box.

And while National Novel Writing Month is about writing novels, we can easily adapt the mentality and use the momentum to simply encourage our children to write.

Yet writing doesn’t have to mean they are churning out the 50,000 words that NaNoWriMo participants are working out.

And it doesn’t have to be a month of short stories and free writing.

Writing can include any form that your child will work with including poetry, comics, and scripts.

And for many of these kids, these types of writing assignments come easier than a simple blank page.

Filled with prompts, the Write Your Own series offers kids the guidance and start they need to craft writing projects and see just how creative they truly are.

Using Dictating and Typing for Writing

Some children, like my youngest, are too small for a lot of writing. And as I said, I do a lot of writing for her. At 6, her imagination goes much faster than her hands do.

And if your child is young or struggles with writing, you can also do some or all of the writing for them. It’s not cheating and you are not robbing your children of anything by doing this because freewrites are not for teaching handwriting.

Instead, you are helping them get the story that is churning inside their head onto paper without them becoming frustrated because their minds move faster than their hands.

You see, the point of this type of writing is not to spell everything correctly, end every sentence with the proper punctuation, or utilize grammar rules correctly every single time.

That, my friend, is the role of editing.

With writing, and creative writing specifically, the point is to get the idea from the author’s head onto the medium they are using.

So write for your young writers or your children who are suffering from a hand cramp.

Allow older students to type if they prefer.

Look into dictation programs found on most phones and computers, as well as writing software, so your children can focus on crafting the story that is brewing in their minds.

Adapting National Novel Writing Month For Your Homeschool

How are you going to adapt National Novel Writing Month for your homeschool?

Will you be churning out free writes all month long?

Perhaps you are going to grab something for the Write Your Own series to spur creativity and get the imagination going.

Maybe you will work towards the 50,000-word goal.

Or perhaps you will add some fun ideas for NaNoWriMo Kids to your lesson plans.

Set a goal. Create a plan. And then spend November writing and working towards it.

The ideas, and the options, are only limited by your own imagination. 😉

Additional Posts You May Enjoy!

If you want to know more about writing in your homeschool, be sure to check out these posts!

• 10 Ways to Make NaNoWriMo Kids Fun and Engaging
• Make Your Child’s Writing Come To Life with Night Zookeeper
• The Joy of Letter-Writing with Connections