The turkey is eaten, the twinkly lights are up, there’s a nip in the air, and all I can think about is...I’m finally done with National Novel Writing Month! That’s right, November is the month of writing furiously and frantically, trying to squeeze in 50,000 words in 30 days. And last night, I finished it. WOOH! So now it’s time to celebrate.
We are at the end. The end of everything. Ok, that's a little melodramatic, but we have reached the end of November...and thus the end of National Novel Writing Month! NaNoWriMo may be coming to a close, but this is hardly the end for budding authors. Preparing a manuscript involves a lot of steps, and this is just the first one.
Boardwalk Writers: A Little Bit of NaNo All Year Round
Writing is a solitary art form, so we at the Boardwalk Branch have begun a writing group to provide support and encouragement for your writing process. Boardwalk Writers meet once a month to explore topics such as the writing life, generating ideas, the publishing process, achieving goals, and more. We also will share feedback on our writing. All brands of writers are welcome, so no matter what you write (memoir, fiction, romance, thrillers, children’s books, documentaries, or whatever), you can find a place in this group.
I represent MCPL at the Northland Diversity Council. The Council is promoting the essay contest in school districts and through MCPL to students in the Northland. The purpose of this competition is to examine issues of gender, race, and ethnicity that confront our area today as our communities become more diverse.
Lately, I have been hearing more and more about schools planning to drop cursive writing from their curriculums. Apparently, many people have moved back to printing—or use a kind of hybrid mix of printing and script—including middle and high school students. They feel that their cursive is "hen scratching," and they can print more clearly. Many feel they keyboard more quickly and clearly and would do better using that method than wasting time learning the "archaic" art of writing.
Hey Teens! We have some CREATIVE programs coming up in March and April just for YOU! Come to the Lone Jack Branch on Monday, March 19th at 7:00 p.m. for the Drawing for Beginners class taught by S. Moreno. Be sure to bring an 8x10 photo or a magazine photo of your favorite person for inspiration so you can create a drawing of your own! At this class, you’ll learn basic drawing techniques, as well as how to see and draw as an artist does.
You may wonder how a child who isn’t reading yet can write. Scribbles!
All of the "scribbles" your child is making at this age are actually your child’s first attempts at written language. Give your child many opportunities to engage in this early writing. Provide lots of materials to explore writing with: pens, pencils, crayons, markers, paints, papers, chalkboards, etc. As well as improving literacy skills, use of these materials helps to develop fine motor skills by developing hand muscles and allows your child to practice eye-hand coordination.
Are you trying to write a research paper or a blog? Facts on File Writer’s Reference Center is the perfect database to help you with any type of writing. This site is loaded with outstanding information.
You know, it’s pretty common at this time of year to assemble some books that you’d like to read over the summer. This year, though, I encourage you to create a list of just one book—that you want to write. Welcome to Camp Nanowrimo!
Camp Nanowrimo is a pared down version of November's novel-in-a-month Nanowrimo challenge. There’s the same word count goal and same month-long deadline, just with none of the November. In 2012, there are two sessions of Camp: in June and August.
