Are you looking for a challenging writing activity for your class? Consider participating in the NaNoWriMo or NaBloPoMo challenges. They are certainly challenging. You may be asking yourself, what are NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo? Let me explain.
Both NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are activities that occur in the month of November. They are great activities that could lead to a published book. I am participating in both of them because I have some projects that I need to completed and I think these challenges will help me.
NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo stands for the National Novel Writing Month. In this challenge, writers are tasked to write 50,000 words during the 30 days of November. This is about 1,667 words per day. This is enough to put together a short draft of a novel.
There is a site to support this challenge where you can actually write your book, or you can simply use it to keep track of your word count.
NaBloPoMo
NaBloPoMo stands for the National Blog Posting Month. In this challenge, writers are expected to write a blog post for every single day of the month. The post does not have to be long, you just have to write a post.
Ideas for Success
These are great projects because they primarily focus on getting words to paper. Editing will occur after a draft is written. To keep track of my progress, I am using a spreadsheet to track the number of words written each day, as well as the number of words per hour.
To increase the number of words per hour, I am using voice typing. It has definitely helped with my speed. As I try to complete this challenge, I have two major trips during the month. This may hamper my success; we shall see.
These are nice activities for students because you can show them that there are other people who find writing enjoyable and beneficial. With NaNoWriMo, a student would have the beginnings of a book and with NaBloPoMo, they could write for a real audience.
Are any of you participating in this challenge? Let me know and we could cheer each other on.
Additional Reading
Stan is Director of Technology-Enhanced Instruction. He has over 20 years experience working as an instructional technologist and trainer. He has a master’s degree in computing technology in education and a doctorate in education specializing in instructional technology.
