Seven Reasons To Join YWP NaNoWriMo by Nia Madden

It’s that time of year again... The time when novelists of all languages, styles, and genres come together and write a novel in a month. It’s wild and insane and a truckload of fun.

If you’re an author under the age of seventeen and you haven’t joined NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program yet, I have seven reasons you should go sign up. Right now. Or after you read this post, whichever suits you best.

Reason one: The website’s forums provide a safe place to hang out with other writers, swap stories, and find encouragement to finish your novel. Our great moderator, Cylithria Dubois, makes sure that everyone has only the best experiences on the threads, and all of the amazing people who work on the site keep it running smoothly throughout the year.

Reason two: If 50,000 words sounds completely impossible or way too easy, young writers can adjust their word count goal  to something they really feel like doing. Whether 15,000 or 75,000, you can make your goal perfect for you.

Reason three: The YWP-ers get awesome pep talks delivered straight to their inboxes. Lauren Oliver, Christopher Paolini, Mitali Perkins; all cheer us on as we take on the crazy endeavor of writing a novel in a month. With encouragement like that, who wouldn’t want to participate?

Reason four: We have brilliant workbooks. There’s one for elementary level, another for middle schoolers, and one more just for the high school students. They can help writers brainstorm ideas, flesh out characters and plot, and they’ll keep you excited and on-track the entire month of November! Plus, they look really cool.

Reason five: This year, YWP NaNoWriMo has teamed up with Figment to create an official NaNo 2011 group. This collaboration makes it even easier to share writing with other young authors, and it’s a great way to start getting feedback on your work!

Reason six: Word wars! You grab your friends, set a certain amount of time, and then you write until that time’s up. Whoever has the most words wins both the war and the bragging rights, which often leads to victory dances, popcorn, and even more writing!

Reason seven: After you reach your word count goal, you get a free proof copy of your novel. Yeah, that’s right... FREE! Student Publishing is offering every K-5 winner one, and every 6-12 winner will receive theirs from CreateSpace. You’ll have until July to redeem it, so you can edit to your heart’s desire before sending your novel in, or you can just grab your rough draft and run.

And if that’s not enough for you, here’s one more thing:

I double-dog-dare you to do it.

No matter how good or bad of an author you think you are, try it. You can sign up in the first week or the last or somewhere in between. Grab a pen and paper, and see how many words you can get down in the time you have left. Your plot can be dramatic or humorous or non-existent, as long as you’re having fun.

Being a NaNo-er only takes two things: a few words and a lot of enthusiasm. With those, you can never really lose. So good luck! Live long and novel!