NMS English students to write novels through November
NORWICH – For the month of November, Norwich Middle School (NMS) students in Mrs. Marsh and Ms. McGinnis' English classes are participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo): an annual, worldwide challenge that invites students and educators to draft an entire novel in just 30 days.
While writing a novel is a seemingly daunting task over the period of one month, the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program empowers students to set individualized and challenging word-count goals while encouraging students to write about any topic they please.
The purpose of NaNoWriMo is multi-faceted: to encourage students to write about topics that interest them, to make students more excited about writing, to help improve students' writing skills, and to show students all they can accomplish when they are determined.
Students in Mrs. Marsh and Ms. McGinnis' seventh and eighth grade English classes have begun drafting their novels, and each class is incentivized to write more words than the other class.
After just two days, some students have already begun developing their creative voices.
Seventh grader Maddie Lawrence is drafting a story based on a hockey player who is traded to his rival team. The hockey players' new teammates aren't very fond of their former rival in Lawrence's story, and eventually a bad accident occurs involving an ice skate. Lawrence said she is hoping to write 5,000 words in her novel this month.
Seventh grader Alex Newman is writing about a city-dweller named Bob who ends up getting stranded in the desert for a whole week. Over the course of Newman's goal of 4,000 words, Bob is charged with learning how to survive outside of his normal city life before it's too late.
Seventh grader Ethan Burlison is devising a story about a kid who spends most of his time at home playing video games, until one day an accident occurs in a place far, far away, and the kid's family is turned into skeletons. In 4,000 words, Burlison will write about if the kid is able to turn his family back, or if they will remain skeletons for eternity.
Eighth graders in Ms. McGinnis' class are setting the bar pretty high for their word counts: Danica Pignatore is striving to write 20,000 words this month. While the plot is still being developed, Pignatore said in her story she plans to focus on the symbolic meaning of a blue rose, and a character with a secret past.
Eighth grader Gabe Wagner is writing a novel that's a spin-off of a TV show called Good Doctor. Wagner said the show is about an autistic doctor that has other syndromes and is really smart, but the doctor has to deal with a jealous boss. Wagner's shooting to write 17,088 words.
Josiah Tyler, eighth grader, is writing a Skyrim fan-fiction based on a character he has developed and the Skyrim storyline. Tyler hopes to write 7,000 to 10,000 words this month.
Other classes involved include Mrs. Martin's seventh and eighth grade Fast & Furious English classes, and Ms. Galletto's Special Education English class.
While the teachers have allocated class time through the month of November for students to work on their novels, they are encouraging students to write on their own time whenever they see fit.
Marsh said the goals for NaNoWriMo are for her students to feel proud of the extended time and effort put into the practice of writing, and for students to strengthen their writing through revising, editing, and rewriting.
For more information on NaNoWriMo, visit nanowrimo.org.
While writing a novel is a seemingly daunting task over the period of one month, the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program empowers students to set individualized and challenging word-count goals while encouraging students to write about any topic they please.
The purpose of NaNoWriMo is multi-faceted: to encourage students to write about topics that interest them, to make students more excited about writing, to help improve students' writing skills, and to show students all they can accomplish when they are determined.
Students in Mrs. Marsh and Ms. McGinnis' seventh and eighth grade English classes have begun drafting their novels, and each class is incentivized to write more words than the other class.
After just two days, some students have already begun developing their creative voices.
Seventh grader Maddie Lawrence is drafting a story based on a hockey player who is traded to his rival team. The hockey players' new teammates aren't very fond of their former rival in Lawrence's story, and eventually a bad accident occurs involving an ice skate. Lawrence said she is hoping to write 5,000 words in her novel this month.
Seventh grader Alex Newman is writing about a city-dweller named Bob who ends up getting stranded in the desert for a whole week. Over the course of Newman's goal of 4,000 words, Bob is charged with learning how to survive outside of his normal city life before it's too late.
Seventh grader Ethan Burlison is devising a story about a kid who spends most of his time at home playing video games, until one day an accident occurs in a place far, far away, and the kid's family is turned into skeletons. In 4,000 words, Burlison will write about if the kid is able to turn his family back, or if they will remain skeletons for eternity.
Eighth graders in Ms. McGinnis' class are setting the bar pretty high for their word counts: Danica Pignatore is striving to write 20,000 words this month. While the plot is still being developed, Pignatore said in her story she plans to focus on the symbolic meaning of a blue rose, and a character with a secret past.
Eighth grader Gabe Wagner is writing a novel that's a spin-off of a TV show called Good Doctor. Wagner said the show is about an autistic doctor that has other syndromes and is really smart, but the doctor has to deal with a jealous boss. Wagner's shooting to write 17,088 words.
Josiah Tyler, eighth grader, is writing a Skyrim fan-fiction based on a character he has developed and the Skyrim storyline. Tyler hopes to write 7,000 to 10,000 words this month.
Other classes involved include Mrs. Martin's seventh and eighth grade Fast & Furious English classes, and Ms. Galletto's Special Education English class.
While the teachers have allocated class time through the month of November for students to work on their novels, they are encouraging students to write on their own time whenever they see fit.
Marsh said the goals for NaNoWriMo are for her students to feel proud of the extended time and effort put into the practice of writing, and for students to strengthen their writing through revising, editing, and rewriting.
For more information on NaNoWriMo, visit nanowrimo.org.
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