Encourage Literacy with NaNoWriMo!

3 min read

Posted on November 5, 2015
By Anne Nagrant, Customer Success Manager

I enjoy the act of writing, and I used to write really long essays in college, but I’ve never tackled a major project like writing an entire novel. It seems so daunting. I think I might have trouble staying motivated long enough to really make progress. Luckily for people like me, November brings us NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)!

With encouragement of a community of writers across the country, authors have the goal of producing a 50,000-word novel at the end of 30 days. After NaNoWriMo is over, stories can be edited and even published; Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants and Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, for example, began as NaNoWriMo projects.

How does a public library fit in to NaNoWriMo?
By providing space, community, and tools that budding authors need!

  • NaNoWriMo’s Library Outreach Guide has event suggestions, resources, testimonials, and FAQs for libraries looking to get involved this year.
  • If you prefer involving students or teens, ALA’s Public Library Association offers tips for incorporating NaNoWriMo’s Young Authors Program at your library.
  • Amityville Public Library in New York kicked off the month with a writing workshop led by award-winning author Elizabeth Nunez.
  • Morley Library in Ohio is providing a “Come Write In” space, computers, refreshments, resources, and for “old school” writers—paper, pencils, and pens.
  • Troy Public Library in Michigan offers incentives for every 10,000 words written.
  • Upper Moreland Free Public Library in Pennsylvania is holding weekly write-ins, and supplying donut holes and coffee, because it takes “so much caffeine” to write 50,000 words!

How does Gale fit in?
By providing tools for writers to hone their skills, help for making writing into a career, and resources for learning about other authors.

  • Gale Courses contains over a dozen instructor-led online classes perfect for writers—from Writing Essentials and Beginning Writer’s workshop to Mystery Writing or Writing Young Adult Fiction, there’s also choices like Advanced Fiction Writing and The Keys to Effective Editing.
  • Interested in getting a degree in English? Use Testing & Education Reference Center to research undergraduate and graduate schools, get help with entrance exams, and search for scholarships available to writers.
  • Use Career Transitions to find information about types of jobs available, and search for job openings that are available today.
  • Twayne’s Authors Online offers in-depth critical introductions to the lives and works of major writers of the world. It also provides commentary on the history and influence of literary movements.
  • Scribner Writers Online contains essays on the lives and works of over 1,400 important authors from around the world. Entries place the author’s work in personal and historical context.

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About the Author

Anne Nagrant is a Customer Success Manager who serves public libraries throughout the US and Canada. She came to Gale in 2012 after a fun career in historical museums. She has a BA in anthropology and history from the University of Michigan. Anne is invigorated by promoting education via non-traditional paths.
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