Ranch Reflections are articles written by students who want to share their experiences, thoughts, and concerns. This is a great opportunity for students to branch out beyond traditional news stories.
Jenna Greenfield – LRHS News
(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) – As an aspiring writer, I take every opportunity that will help improve my skills as I work towards my goal of eventually becoming published.
One of these opportunities involves clearing my entire calendar for the month of November.
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an annual event in which authors across the globe, of all ages and experience levels, start and finish a 50,000 word, roughly 200 page novel in the month of November.
This is my second year participating in the event and each year I have found it to be equally challenging and gratifying.
NaNoWriMo helps me work on many aspects of the writing process, as it motivates me to write everyday and encourages me to eliminate my inner editor and focus only on the core emotions, voice, and style of my writing.
In my experience, I’ve found that the most helpful tool in accomplishing my goal is having someone else to support me and help me through it.
Junior Allison Cobb has attempted NaNoWriMo many times and during both years of my participation has assisted me in every stage of my novel, from the initial planning to the editing months later.
“NaNoWriMo is an event I’ve participated in for three years now and each time has proved to be both challenging and exciting,” said Cobb, “November has been the most stressful month for me the last few years but it pushes me to develop a story I would have been too lazy to put on paper before.”
Although the task seems daunting, I encourage any young aspiring writer to participate next year.
It takes a great deal of time, motivation, and dedication but it’s worth the sense of accomplishment I feel after turning one blank page into an entire novel in only 30 days.