NaNoWriMo Passive Program Grab-Bag

Type: Self-directed
Age: High school
Optimal size: 11-20
Estimated cost: $26 - $50
Planning time: 2-5 hours
Frequency: Monthly

Learning outcomes

These NaNoWriMo programs were not were not designed around learning outcomes, but Kristine Tanzi's outcomes from her YALSA Programming HQ on The Zine Project are a good reflection of my goals in offering these passive programs:

• Space for creative exploration in a casual environment
• Opportunity to share their voice.
• Collaboration.

Instructions

Caffeine and Snacks:

This one is pretty simple; everyone that works with teens knows that offering free food is a fabulous way to get them through the door. For this program, anyone working on a NaNoWriMo goal could come to the library for a free snack and a cup of coffee or tea. 50,000 words in 30 days is an ambitious goal that will require some late nights. That means caffeine and snacks that boost your energy. We offered trail mix, granola bars, popcorn, and other healthy snacks, and used a book truck as a drink station, with a coffee pot and electric tea kettle. If a writer came in and showed us their novel-in-progress and their NaNoWriMo account, they could refuel for their next creative burst. We did limit snacks and beverages to one per person per day in order to keep the cost down.

Writing Prompts:

Writing a novel isn't easy, and sometimes you just get stuck to a point where it can be hard to get going again. For those writers who have maybe hit a wall, I put together a jar of writing prompts and exercises to get their creative juices flowing. This is also a great opportunity to highlight an area of your collection - books on writing fiction. Those books (usually shelved in the 808s) are a treasure trove of inspiration and writing exercises, both simple and complex, that can provide an author the spark they need to keep going. They could just grab a slip of paper at random and get to work. Another great source for off-beat writing prompts is the Reddit subreddit /r/writingprompts.  This was the most successful of my NaNoWriMo passive programs, over 90 teens used a prompt from the jar in November.

Reserve a Space for NaNoWriMo Authors:

The Residence Hall Libraries where I put on these programs where small, one-room libraries in the campus residence halls, so I didn't have a lot of space to work with. But, I reserved one table and two comfy chairs (not everyone writes the same way) throughout the month of November for NaNoWriMo authors. These spaces became a gathering place for writers including one of the UIUC writing groups. The authors asked each other for feedback on new paragraphs, character names, and plot twists. This mutually supportive environment was big goal of mine in offering NaNoWriMo programming.

Other Ideas:

There are so many things you can do at your library to support NaNoWriMo. There are some things that I have wanted to try, but have been unable to implement. I'm including them here in case they can spark your imagination:

• Collaborative novel with a writing group. There is a tremendous demand on teens' time - from school to work to extracurricular activities to preparing for college - and a teen may want to participate, but just can't find the hours in the day to write all those words. One idea that I had is to partner with a writing group to develop a collaborative novel, where different members of the group write different sections of a story. This is also a great writing exercise as it highlights all the different parts of novel and how they need to come together to tell coherent story. This would definitely be an active program that requires facilitation.
• Self-Publishing Workshop in December. If a young author has the stamina to complete a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, they are probably thinking about how to get it published, even if it's just to share with their friends and family. Offering a self-publishing workshop after NaNoWriMo has ended would be a great way to carry the momentum and engagement from November into later programming. Workshop topics could include: self-publishing platforms, design and layout of the novel, printing options, the pros and cons of self-publishing, and many more. Get them in the door with the snacks and the space, keep them coming with your resources and class offerings!
• Author Visit by a NaNoWriMo author. Click here to see a list of books that originally started as NaNoWriMo projects that ended up being published by major publishing houses. Bringing in an author (in person or via Skype) to talk with your teen authors would be a great way teens to speak to a published writer who understands the NaNoWriMo grind. Placing the event in the middle of November might also be a way to give those young authors a second wind. Of course, author visits usually cost money, but I still think it is worth exploring as some authors ask for a lower honorarium for a Skype talk than an in-person visit.

Evaluation

Since these are passive programs, numbers can tell a big part of the story. I also focused on usage, because I was not in the library every day during November.

• How often are teens getting a free snack and/or coffee? Are they making progress on their novel each day?
• How many writing prompts have been used?
• How many writers are using the reserved spaces?

If these passive programs are used frequently, you know that there is a audience at your that would be interested in more NaNoWriMo programming. You can then decide if you'd like to offer more involved programming in following years.