NaNoWriMo mamas - what's the youngest age you'd consider participation?

[Seasider]

I know some of you have teens doing this, but I wonder if there are any elementary age kids participating?

 

If so, what age and how did you you determine a goal for your young one? What did your NaNo writing time look like?

[JeanM]

My 11 yo is doing Nano for the 3rd time this year, so he was 9 yo the first time. He really wanted to do it, and he picked his own goal. To be honest, I'm not sure what his goal was that year.

 

 

I know some of you have teens doing this, but I wonder if there are any elementary age kids participating?

 

If so, what age and how did you you determine a goal for your young one? What did your NaNo writing time look like?

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

:001_smile: I am trying it this year for the first time.

 

I signed up and thought our 2 oldest could, so they signed up (ds15, dd12)

Now my 10 and 9 year old want to do it.

 

So, I signed them up too and I will have to help them more than our oldest.

 

I would like some encouragement and to know how others manage younger writers.

 

I am waiting on my ink to arrive to print out the workbooks and getting impatient!

 

We are reading on the NaNoWriMo site and forum, but haven't started actually writing yet.

 

I did read to have candy dishes nearby while writing and plan on stockpiling candy from Trunk or Treating at some churches but spreading it out over November instead of gorging in one night.

 

But I would like to have some non candy prizes for weekly awards to keep them motivated too.

 

I know I will have to make up big batches of veggie soup, chili, potato soup, and maybe even freeze some meals to make more time for writing.

 

I have not set goals for anyone yet and I took the test and my goal was over 90,000!!!

 

I need to lower that for sure.

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

Have you tried the calculator on the NaNoWriMo site?

Forums there might be a good place to ask too.:bigear:

[beaners]

It's going to look very different from what an older child would do, but my 5 year old is sort of participating. She's going to work on a story every day for a month, but we aren't doing the character or plot descriptions or a word goal, just time on the task. Her writing time will substitute for the copywork she usually does. She is thrilled with the idea because I promised to tell her how to spell any word she asks about instead of telling her to go look it up.

[Murphy101]

If they can write, they can do it.

 

I wouldn't let any of my kids under 16 join the message board or do some irl meet ups. The content can be very mature audience only at times.

[Ali in OR]

Since they set their own word count goals, I think kids of any age that want to do it could. My 8 yo (almost 9) did it last year; she loves writing books and could have done it in first grade. Both girls set goals of 2000 words (I think that was the recommendation for my older dd's age group--6th grade) and they both easily beat that. They could probably do about 5000 words, but since I did a lot of the typing and editing for them, I don't think I'll encourage them to go much longer!

 

Microsoft Word does a word count. You want to be a little over as the official counter is not identical, but I found it helpful for me. I think I had to do something like 1667 words on average a day which frankly was way too much for how much time I have in my life! I'm not doing it this year.

 

ETA: We did nothing online other than submitting the final story for the word count.

[Seasider]

Have you tried the calculator on the NaNoWriMo site?

Forums there might be a good place to ask too.:bigear:

 

I have seen the NaNo forums but honestly, the official young writers' site is information overload! I would love some BTDT stories. Once I decide on a plan I will see if/how she should get registered over there.

 

I will need to set up an incentive plan if I decide to have her do this. Nice plan for distributing the October candy.;)

 

I have never seen the calculator on the Nano site - where can I find it? Sounds interesting!

 

It's going to look very different from what an older child would do, but my 5 year old is sort of participating. She's going to work on a story every day for a month, but we aren't doing the character or plot descriptions or a word goal, just time on the task. Her writing time will substitute for the copywork she usually does. She is thrilled with the idea because I promised to tell her how to spell any word she asks about instead of telling her to go look it up.

 

This is more what I had in mind, just a low-pressure adventure. She has been taking an IEW workshop that will finish in October (will go for another month next spring). At the last class the teacher gave each pair of students a paper bag containing three small items and had them write a paragraph including the items - I think dd and her partner got a pig, a duck and a golf ball. I could do that, start her off and introduce a new item every couple of days.

 

Maybe I could give her a notebook and some objects and let her write/illustrate an adventure a day? That would give mama some writing time...

[Seasider]

Since they set their own word count goals, I think kids of any age that want to do it could. My 8 yo (almost 9) did it last year; she loves writing books and could have done it in first grade. Both girls set goals of 2000 words (I think that was the recommendation for my older dd's age group--6th grade) and they both easily beat that. They could probably do about 5000 words, but since I did a lot of the typing and editing for them, I don't think I'll encourage them to go much longer!

 

Microsoft Word does a word count. You want to be a little over as the official counter is not identical, but I found it helpful for me. I think I had to do something like 1667 words on average a day which frankly was way too much for how much time I have in my life! I'm not doing it this year.

 

ETA: We did nothing online other than submitting the final story for the word count.

 

Oh, submitting the word count! Guess if she hand wrote it I would have to transcribe it to submit it.

[Murphy101]

I should be clear, when we do NaNo, it's very much personal accountability and no stress thing. We don't submit counts or whatever. Mostly because that just takes more time that could be used for writing.:)

 

I know for some it's a huge motivator though. So ymmv.

 

For us, NaNo mean I don't assign any additional essays in November as long as they are writing for about an hour or more every day.

 

It's quite fun and we are all very excited!

[elegantlion]

One thing I recently found is that you can have teams for the YWP. Since ds is a delayed writer, we are going to do a collaboration for his story, I'll be doing my own too. I might be nuts.

 

I'm setting his word count low to foster the idea of creating something successfully, not necessarily pushing his writing limits. It's a balance.

 

I think enthusiasm and ability are more important than age. My son wasn't interested until this year. Right now we are going through the workbook. He already had a story idea, so it's been fairly easy. We're doing more discussing than actual writing in the workbook right now.

 

Word count goals? Nano has some good ideas. If they use the YWP you set your own goals. Also think about how often they will have time to write. It's also holiday time, will you be traveling for Thanksgiving? If so, allow for a few days off.

 

When I'm typing at full speed without too much thought I can crank out about 2500 words an hour. That's a lot. The standard Nanowrimo adult goal is 50k, that's about 1600 words a day. Typing that may not be hard, but the story developing around those words could be.

 

For a child keep in mind their ability to work on task, how they are writing, etc, and whether they'll be able to work independently. Will they be writing on the weekends? For some kids 100 words a day could be a stretch, for some a thousand. Look at your calendar and plan accordingly.

 

Keeping it fun would be ideal. Kids that like to write creatively will find the process fun. Reluctant writers that are just doing it because may need more fun, lower word count goals. That's okay. The thing I'd try to avoid is pushing too hard and squelching any interest of writing creatively in the future.

[Seasider]

One thing I recently found is that you can have teams for the YWP. Since ds is a delayed writer, we are going to do a collaboration for his story, I'll be doing my own too. I might be nuts.

 

I'm setting his word count low to foster the idea of creating something successfully, not necessarily pushing his writing limits. It's a balance.

 

I think enthusiasm and ability are more important than age. My son wasn't interested until this year. Right now we are going through the workbook. He already had a story idea, so it's been fairly easy. We're doing more discussing than actual writing in the workbook right now.

 

Word count goals? Nano has some good ideas. If they use the YWP you set your own goals. Also think about how often they will have time to write. It's also holiday time, will you be traveling for Thanksgiving? If so, allow for a few days off.

 

When I'm typing at full speed without too much thought I can crank out about 2500 words an hour. That's a lot. The standard Nanowrimo adult goal is 50k, that's about 1600 words a day. Typing that may not be hard, but the story developing around those words could be.

 

For a child keep in mind their ability to work on task, how they are writing, etc, and whether they'll be able to work independently. Will they be writing on the weekends? For some kids 100 words a day could be a stretch, for some a thousand. Look at your calendar and plan accordingly.

 

Keeping it fun would be ideal. Kids that like to write creatively will find the process fun. Reluctant writers that are just doing it because may need more fun, lower word count goals. That's okay. The thing I'd try to avoid is pushing too hard and squelching any interest of writing creatively in the future.

 

So, would it be possible for me to "collaborate" with her by giving her a leading sentence each writing session? I don't think I will have her write for all 30 days of November... is it okay to say that she will do 15 writing sessions in November as part of her goal? I could couple that with a word count, I think she'd have fun using the word processor tools to check her progress...

 

Okay, you gals have got me streamlining this idea... thanks, everyone!

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

Thank you!

 

I agree the story line will be harder to keep up with than the typing.

 

We are looking at the workbooks now too since my ink is not here to print them.

 

I just found out about this so late ( on here) and am glad we are signed up.

 

Let us keep encouraging one another throughout this November.

 

The Calculator is on each person's page after logging in. I believe it states that you can write on paper but that would mean counting words. I am not going to keep up on word counting with our younger children. We do plan on setting goals though. I just want them to enjoy the process and write a novel. That will be a reward in itself.

 

I was writing about a television show ( Once Upon A Time) in my test and had some interruptions so it was a shock to get such a high goal. I will change it to 50,000.

 

My dd12 will be using an older Smith & Corona I found for $3 with some ink in it. I ordered her more ink cheap on amazon and it will hold some of her writing ( save it) before she prints it out. She is so excited!

Edited October 25, 2012 by TGHEALTHYMOM

[Seasider]

Thank you!

 

I agree the story line will be harder to keep up with than the typing.

 

We are looking at the workbooks now too since my ink is not here to print them.

 

I just found out about this so late ( on here) and am glad we are signed up.

 

Let us keep encouraging one another throughout this November.

 

The Calculator is on each person's page after logging in. I believe it states that you can write on paper but that would mean counting words. I am not going to keep up on word counting with our younger children. We do plan on setting goals though. I just want them to enjoy the process and write a novel. That will be a reward in itself.

 

I was writing about a television show ( Once Upon A Time) in my test and had some interruptions so it was a shock to get such a high goal. I will change it to 50,000.

 

My dd12 will be using an older Smith & Corona I found for $3 with some ink in it. I ordered her more ink cheap on amazon and it will hold some of her writing ( save it) before she prints it out. She is so excited!

 

I still cannot find it - is this on the regular site after logging in, or only for registrants via the Young Writers Program?

Edited October 25, 2012 by Seasider
killed a kitten

[elegantlion]

This is copied from the FAQs, sorry, I had it listed on the social group and forgot to add a link.

 

Can I write a novel with a friend?

Posted by: Anonymous on 10/02/2009

 

The Basics

 

 

Yes! Just set a word-count goal as a team and update your individual author pages with that goal. When your novel is finished, each team member can validate the novel to win.

 

Just an fyi: For the most part there is some flexibility in the rules. Nano is mostly about getting into the creative process and making your discoveries about yourself and your writing along the way. The main important rules are you can't start your story until November 1, you must validate your novel to officially win. This must be done by midnight November 30th, so make sure your time zone is set correctly. To validate your novel must be able to be pasted into their automatic word counter, so typing is preferable to handwriting. You can still win if you don't validate, but I think they have some goodies for official winners, such as a free copy of your novel from Create Space.

Edited October 25, 2012 by elegantlion

[elegantlion]

I still cannot find it - is this on the regular site after logging in, or only for registrants via the Young Writers Program?

 

The regular site and the YWP site function as two different sites. I had to sign up at the YWP to participate there even though I have an account at the regular site. I set up a classroom with their instructions, so ds and I will be able to follow our counts there.

[justkeepswimming]

My youngest started NaNo when he was 7 years old. Small, easily-reachable word count goal (which he nearly doubled in his first year). This'll be his third year.

[sunriseiz]

It's going to look very different from what an older child would do, but my 5 year old is sort of participating. She's going to work on a story every day for a month, but we aren't doing the character or plot descriptions or a word goal, just time on the task. Her writing time will substitute for the copywork she usually does. She is thrilled with the idea because I promised to tell her how to spell any word she asks about instead of telling her to go look it up.

 

:iagree:

 

This will be DDs 3rd time and she is just about to turn 9. I think her first word count was ~500. DS6 asked to participate this year. Unlike DD, DS6 is not an early reader/writer, so I think it's going to be interesting. :001_huh: I think we are going to use one of the tablets that is empty at the top for drawing with lines at the bottom for writing and have him do a page a day so he doesn't get intimidated by a giant blank page.

[Seasider]

The regular site and the YWP site function as two different sites. I had to sign up at the YWP to participate there even though I have an account at the regular site. I set up a classroom with their instructions, so ds and I will be able to follow our counts there.

 

Ok, thanks. I will carve out some time to wade through the YWP site.

 

My youngest started NaNo when he was 7 years old. Small, easily-reachable word count goal (which he nearly doubled in his first year). This'll be his third year.

 

My dd is 7, getting close to 8yo.

 

:iagree:

 

This will be DDs 3rd time and she is just about to turn 9. I think her first word count was ~500. DS6 asked to participate this year. Unlike DD, DS6 is not an early reader/writer, so I think it's going to be interesting. :001_huh: I think we are going to use one of the tablets that is empty at the top for drawing with lines at the bottom for writing and have him do a page a day so he doesn't get intimidated by a giant blank page.

 

I think 500 is a good goal for dd, too. Five words to a sentence, five sentences to a paragraph, 1 paragraph per day for 20 writing days in November... 5x5x20=500. She won't follow that paragraph formula precisely, but I think that helps me see that the goal of 500 words is reasonable. Thanks!