Students find novel writing a 'wordy endeavor'
November marks National Novel Writing Month
Courtney Murrah
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Features
November is not only the month of giving thanks, it is also National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. The goal of the month is for students to write a novel of at least 50,000 words in 30 days.
Sigma Tau Delta, GCSU's English honor society, is encouraging its members to participate in NaNoWriMo.
Laura Newbern, an assistant professor of the English department, is the faculty advisor of Sigma Tau Delta.
"It's not really a contest," Newbern said. "It's a literary exercise where you just write as much as you can. The whole idea is to write a novel in thirty days, and what that means is that you have to write a whole lot of garbage. I think it's good because if you put yourself in that situation, you have to write with abandon."
Newbern thinks that there are two reasons why Sigma Tau Delta is participating.
"They want to get the Sigma Tau Delta name out there as a student organization," Newbern said, "and because the students think that it's a wordy endeavor."
Andrea Judy, a senior English major and member of Sigma Tau Delta, is writing for NaNoWriMo for her third year.
"I always participate," Judy said. "I've yet to actually complete the goal and win."
Judy has a plan to accomplish her writing and hopes that it does not affect her school life.
"I think I'm going to try and set aside 30 minutes to an hour everyday to write. I don't know if I'll actually stick to it. I really hope that I can finish it this year, but it's a really busy month for papers and things due."
By the end of November, Judy wants to have finished what she started.
"I want to get the novel out of it. When I was in high school, I actually managed to write a 175 page novel and I've never been able to do something like that since. I want to do this again just to prove that I can do it."
While Suzy Deacon, a senior history major, is not in Sigma Tau Delta, she will be participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time this month.
Sigma Tau Delta, GCSU's English honor society, is encouraging its members to participate in NaNoWriMo.
Laura Newbern, an assistant professor of the English department, is the faculty advisor of Sigma Tau Delta.
"It's not really a contest," Newbern said. "It's a literary exercise where you just write as much as you can. The whole idea is to write a novel in thirty days, and what that means is that you have to write a whole lot of garbage. I think it's good because if you put yourself in that situation, you have to write with abandon."
Newbern thinks that there are two reasons why Sigma Tau Delta is participating.
"They want to get the Sigma Tau Delta name out there as a student organization," Newbern said, "and because the students think that it's a wordy endeavor."
Andrea Judy, a senior English major and member of Sigma Tau Delta, is writing for NaNoWriMo for her third year.
"I always participate," Judy said. "I've yet to actually complete the goal and win."
Judy has a plan to accomplish her writing and hopes that it does not affect her school life.
"I think I'm going to try and set aside 30 minutes to an hour everyday to write. I don't know if I'll actually stick to it. I really hope that I can finish it this year, but it's a really busy month for papers and things due."
By the end of November, Judy wants to have finished what she started.
"I want to get the novel out of it. When I was in high school, I actually managed to write a 175 page novel and I've never been able to do something like that since. I want to do this again just to prove that I can do it."
While Suzy Deacon, a senior history major, is not in Sigma Tau Delta, she will be participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time this month.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Elizabeth Kaylene
posted 11/06/09 @ 5:51 PM EST
It's not just for high school kids - I did it when I was in college full-time and I had a blast (though I did lose a lot of sleep). NaNoWriMo is for anyone, and I strongly encourage everyone to do it. (Continued…)
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