Letter to Parents (and family!)

Dragonchilde — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:02:02 +0100

Having trouble convincing your parents that NaNoWriMo is a good idea? Show them this letter! It was composed for the YWP, but it suits any teen who is trying to convince their family that they want to do NaNo. Link to the YWP version Dear Parents and Family Members, Have you heard the great news? Your child has decided to write a novel alongside over 200,000 other authors during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). NaNoWriMo is a fun, seat-of-the-pants, month-long writing event where the challenge is to complete an entire novel in the 30 days of November. The thing that matters most in NaNoWriMo is output. This high-velocity approach forces writers to use their imaginations, take risks, and work on the fly. You may be thinking that a rushed, slightly sloppy novel is the last thing you want to encourage your child to create, but there are many great reasons to embrace the NaNoWriMo concept (and maybe even give it a shot yourself!). Some of the skills NaNoWriMo builds:

Fluency: Writing so much in so little time boosts students’ proficiency in grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and will help them approach future writing assignments with ease and confidence.
Confidence: When creating so much text in such a short period of time, students realize just how much they can accomplish when they put their minds to it. NaNoWriMo leaves young writers asking themselves, “What’s next?”
Creativity: Creating characters, situations, dialogue, and even whole planets from scratch helps kids think, but it also teaches them how to apply their fanciful ideas to a full project.
Time Management: Our curriculum teaches students how to tackle a huge project by breaking it down into manageable bites!

Check out a complete guide to the ins-and-outs of the process here:

How Does NaNoWriMo Work for Young Writers?

A little background on logistics and the greater NaNoWriMo community: NaNoWriMo has two programs. Our adult challenge is hosted at nanowrimo.org, where all writers (13 and over) have the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel. Our Young Writers Program (YWP) is designed for K-12 classrooms taking part as a group, and for 17-and-under novelists writing solo. The YWP allows participants to set their own reasonable, yet challenging, word-count goals. The YWP site has vibrant, active forums where kids and teens from all over the world gather and support each other. Participation in the forums is not required, but many find the community helpful in maintaining their word count and enthusiasm for the project. The YWP forums are viewable only by other young participants, teachers, librarians, and NaNoWriMo staff members. We monitor and moderate all posts, and inappropriate content is never allowed. The YWP site also has NaNoMail, a private message function that allows participants in the adult program and YWP to send messages to fellow authors without divulging their personal email addresses. Participants in NaNoWriMo’s adult program often attend public, in-person writing events hosted by Municipal Liaisons (volunteer heads of their local chapters). These events will take place in all-ages environments such as coffee shops and restaurants. Teens and family members are welcome to attend all events organized by their Municipal Liaison. Though a novel may seem like a silly off-hours pursuit, many kids and teens are able to get credit for the project in their classes, and many use their National Novel Writing Month participation as part of their college application essay and list of accomplishments. Plus, it’s just monkey-barrel loads of fun. If you have any questions about National Novel Writing Month and your child or teen, please feel free to get in touch with us! Enthusiastically, The NaNoWriMo Staff

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

LEwolfwriter — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:40:03 +0100

[Removed by request]

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Navyblack — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:41:13 +0000

Huh. I wouldn't think any parents'd object to NaNoWriMo.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Nighttime.Breeze — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:19:48 +0000

Minde do. I can understand them (as I'm writing ALL class tests in November), but it's just not fair that my brother is allowed to party all the time and I can't write without lots of discussions and arguments... : /

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

wonderland.alex — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:46:23 +0000

You'd be surprised.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Pc Alchemist — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:55:25 +0000

Yeah. My mother strongly objected. She wants me to do it during the summer. But, It just doesn't have the same feeling as November.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

cruise2dreamland — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:07:35 +0000

Eh, my mother could care less right now, but if she DOES object any time soon, I'll have to show her this!

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Diabeditor — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:19:35 +0000

There are plenty of benefits to Nano. Time management and improving your writing skills spring to mind.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Sabina.Fudge — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:37:12 +0000

my mother gave me the courage to do it if only she knew how little i wrote but she realises i have exams to study for but after that she is going to be pushing me to write

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

highlandgirl — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:41:03 +0000

Ooh! I like! Now if only there was a letter to convince my mom that having a demon character in my novel won't engage me in spiritual warfare and may even be beneficial to my 'faith'...

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Misty_Karen — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:27:45 +0000

My mom likes NaNoWriMo; she just doesn't understand how much effort it takes. It freaks her out that I have no free time when I'm just sitting in my room writing. Our conversations: "It's like a job, Mom." "But it's at home." "So what? You did your underwriting at home." "I still had an office." "Well, shut up. You're going to get most of the money I make for publishing a book while I'm underage, anyway, so I don't see why you're complaining." "Point taken.... continue... but don't expect me to pay for your initial copyright because of that." "DAMNIT." Mom's can read minds :O

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Misty_Karen — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:29:30 +0000

Good luck o.o Maybe you could just not tell her the plot? Say that it's a secret and she can't know until it's done, and then just pretend it's never finished... Although, honestly, I don't suggest lying.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

32AurorA05 — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 02:20:40 +0000

Yeah, my parents don't care at the moment, but I'm sure they'll get sick of my being on the computer all the time. x3

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

saunved — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:26:10 +0000

My mom introduced me to Nano! Funny! But I first read about it in a newspaper on the 30th of October. I had a plot brewing up in my mind at that time. I knew that I could so something, so I started the story. My mom reads some of it every day and tells me whether my plot is going off track or is on song! It's just amazing to have so much support from my family!

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Em.Violin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:56:11 +0000

I don't think my parents know that I'm doing it...they think I'm doing my homework when I'm writing. This is how the first day of December will go: Me: Whew, I'm tired! Mom: Why? Me: ...from writing my novel Mom: What? Me: I wrote a novel during November. Remember, I told you about it in October. Mom: Oh, I thought you were joking.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

courage7856 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 04:09:08 +0000

I've showed this letter to my parents before, but either they didn't read it, or don't understand it (knowing my parents, either could be true). Like today, I was really excited about how much I wrote last night, so I told my mom. And she said, "But quality over quantity. If you've written that much, it probably isn't that good." This is my forth year, so you'd think they'd understand by now, wouldn't they?

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

CC.writer — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 02:05:33 +0000

I haven't told my parents I'm writing a novel. I didn't tell them last year either. I'll probably tell them eventually. Maybe in a couple of years...maybe.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

bloodonmytypewriterkeys — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:54:32 +0000

My father's immediate reaction was "You're not busy enough finisihing grade 12?" My mother's been really supportive though. First time she's ever been interested in my writing, actually. So, yay! I think... as long as she doesn't want to read it...

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

xxCoFxx — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:37:22 +0000

My parents objected to my wanting to be a writer in general, so of course they objected to NaNo...and I'm not a child -lol

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Today_is_Yesterday's_Tomorrow — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:56:34 +0000

when i told my mom, she didn't believe i'd actually do it. Now she's trying to talk me out of doing it. I just sat through half an hour of my mom explaining about the dangers of too much computer time and child obesity and my grades dropping. She suddenly wants a computer curfew time at seven, which would be more of a cause for dropped grades then anything else (everything needs to be typed these days). But whatever, I didn't get my imagination from her. Or my dad. Come to think of it, there's a really good chance I'm adopted. That would explain the slopiness in a family of neat freaks.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

skspiers — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:09:09 +0000

My mom literally takes the computer away from me so I can't "waste my time writing." She's really started hurting my word count so I have to resort to skipping lunch at school to write, using all my study halls for writing and using long hand to get anything done. Any advice on how to deal with this?

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

mistygal01 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 06:55:42 +0000

Is there something that she likes doing that could be considered a 'waste of time'? Like, does she like getting her nails done all the time, or spend ages every day putting on makeup? Maybe you could just calmy say to her, 'This is as much a waste of time for me as...... is for you.' Other than that, the only idea I have is to talk to her about it at dinner or something, and just say like a good, responsible adult, that you like writing, that it makes you happy and why would you have to study english in school if it wasn't important for life, because it IS. You will have better chances of getting ANY job at all if you are able to write well, even one that you wouldn't consider as 'englishy'. Writing reports for bosses, resumes, being able to take the iniative when something goes wrong at work... all these can be helped number one by writing but number two by writing creatively. I guess I'm just lucky, my parents have never had a problem with it. I used to 'write' when i was a little kid, just squiggly lines on a page but I knew what they said. Maybe you could make a deal, (I'm sure you're already doing this anyway though) where you do all your schoolwork and whatever FIRST, and then you get to write for as long as you want. Maybe what your mum is worried about is you writing so much that you don't leave time for other things she sees as more important. If you do these other things first, then she can't really complain can she?

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Rose11797 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:43:11 +0000

My parents are really supporting of my writing.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Minastauriel — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:51:01 +0000

Ha, same reaction from parents. :) They were so very right, but I am still going for 50K.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

youknowitsirene — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:55:34 +0000

This was my mother: "What do you want to do in life? Focus on your studies!" Meh. Thanks for encouragement, Mom. (sarcasm)

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Kaserl — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:06:42 +0000

I have to finish all of my homework before I can write a word.... And I still have to go to bed at the same time. I think they want to understand..... But can't.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

stormkatz — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:25:25 +0000

my mum tried, and now tries to montier exactly what I'm doing to stop me writing. She really doesn't approve :/

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Olafstar — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 04:35:35 +0000

My parents don't know I'm doing nano, but they were approving of earlier writing projects of mine, and my mom actually said the other day that I should write a fantasy series. Homework first doesn't really even exist in my family. As I don't have a history of having assignments turned in late, it doesn't matter when I get my homework done as long as I get it done on time and still am able to get to sleep at a somewhat reasonable time.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

g.cook2013 — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:07:16 +0000

I told my parents, and they thought it was a great idea :) of course, they had to be parents and tell me to keep up with my schoolwork (I'm a junior in high school, and I'm starting to look at colleges) but of course, November is for noveling :P schoolwork ends on October 31st and starts up again on December 1st

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

acekanigirl — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:02:17 +0000

I haven't told my parents either. They bug me and ask why I'm using the computer so much, and I think they know I'm writing, but they know I don't want to talk about it. It's kinda a don't ask don't tell situation.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

liliaevermore — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:58:07 +0000

I'm a freshman in high school/Year 10, so work's heating up for me a little, but I can write about 1000 words an hour at minimum pace so my parents aren't too bothered. My dad reacts this way whenever I mention it: "God! Not that bloody word thing again!" :D However, my friends are all really interested (I have awesome friends) and I did NaNo for a presentation in French so now my French teachers are asking about it as well :) Only thing is, they want to read it as soon as I'm done...and that includes my teachers...and the story's not exactly PG-13. Gulp. I'm going to have to do a lot of editing... Kara x

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

heysamantha — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:31:13 +0000

I told my mom and dad that I was doing NaNoWriMo this year, and I think that they didn't believe I was serious at first. And now they're kind of annoyed at me because of the fact that my computer is broken and I've been hogging theirs to write.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

nmenigoz — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:37:05 +0000

Amen to this. Oldest child perhaps?

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Hanka — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:00:30 +0000

I don't think my mother even cares ... Sometimes she says I shouldn't sit in front of the computer all the time but she knows I'm writing a novel(in general) so she understands. My father always wants to read what I wrote(of course I don't allow him) and supports me by immolating all his print-out paper and ink for me :D

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

liliaevermore — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:30:58 +0000

I'm the same :/ I do my best to get my hwk done by 8 and write till 10 which is when they make me go to bed, but it's difficult, because I don't think they get how hard it is to write a novel. It's like, "Come watch a movie with us!" "I can't, mum, I still have 1500 words to write." "Just get that done and we'll put on the movie in 10 minutes!" "..." I don't ask my parents or my friends to guess how many words I've written any more. On day TWO my best friend guessed 26000. It was a Wednesday. -_- When I tried to explain how impossible that was, she just said, "I wrote 20k in 2 days before!" "How old were you?" "Eleven..." "Was it a weekend?" "Yes..." "Did you have any distractions whatsoever from writing your masterpiece?" "No...what's your point?" And she's a writer, same as me. -_- Kara x

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

swimath — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:14:45 +0000

I haven't told my parents. See, I'm in 5 AP classes and I'm a swimmer. So without Nano I go to bed around midnight and 3/5 days wake up at 5. With Nano, it's worse. If I told my parents, they would probably take my laptop away. Anyways, I don't want them to read it; it's definitely not PG-13 and has some pretty depressing stuff in it.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Alinzar410 — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:38:22 +0000

A fellow 10th Grader! I hear you on the father thing, my dad just doesn't get it... He seems to think that I will be able to catch up and get ahead in the hour we have between our daily excursions, dinner and bed... Then, when he thinks that I'm not getting enough sleep, he claims that NaNo isn't important and takes away my computer charger! My friends have also been pretty awesome. Although, I know that two of them have a bet going on whether or not I'll give up... They don't seem to realize that it only motivates me more. My English teacher could care less and I'm pretty sure that my French teacher doesn't even know... Good luck with the edits! May I recommend simply giving them a sample? I know that I'm never going to let my parents read the entire story... My father might realize that I know more than he thinks I do. Congrats on the last 10k! Eva

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

PeverellSister — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:10:12 +0000

That's what I'm doing with my parents. They don't know anything about the fact that my FMC is a werewolf, and it's going to stay that way (well, they're going to ask to read my novel eventually, but still)

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

PygmyAlpaca — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:50:30 +0000

My father just let me stay up late to do NaNoWriMo, so I can finish it. Like a boss.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Gemma Knott — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:37:52 +0000

I havnt told my parents, but they havent really noticed. All of the year except for december, I am constantly reading. But thiis november I have barely read anything. I just replaced reading with writing :P I will probably tell my parents next november... But I am going to tell my english teacher because I am hoping for extra credit. Also I am planning tl stick my winner's certificate to my bedroom wall, so I might have to explain it before next november...

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

little princess — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:19:11 +0000

Lol. I just dont tell my family. When my brothers found out that I was writing, their reaction was "oh my gosh you are such a nerd!" (how can older brothers be so immature?!) After that a just stopped telling people. Its too much effort to explain. Plus if I tell my parents, they might want to actually read it!

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

I_Just_Want_To_Fly — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:41:10 +0000

Oh my god my mom published my book on facebook. Next year I'm lying and saying I'm not doing Nano... like that'll work...

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

thrilleraddict — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:59:07 +0000

Only my writing friends and people looking at my FB status know I'm participating in NaNoWriMo<----- ( I post a while now and then about being excited about NaNoWriMo. ) My mom's pretty supportive of my writing, plus she hasn't been telling me to watch how much time I'm spending on my laptop. I'm ( sort of ;) ) mature and do well with my studies and chores. ( She does want to read some of my writing but.....not yet..... ) I do NOT want to talk with others ( the ones who aren't writers ) that I'm doing NaNoWriMo. if they see my status, fine, but it's not something I think I'd bring up either online or in person. If I succeed, I might give my mom a proof copy but I don't want to " shock " her with what I'm planning on writing, LOL. ( She doesn't get on FB much so maybe she won't see my posts, lol. )

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

thrilleraddict — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:03:58 +0000

*post every now and then

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

IlluminatedDarkness — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 04:51:57 +0000

I was going good until my mom convinced me that it was more important to not fail. And I was getting a B. And it was almost over. And I'm not listening to her on 'help' for writing anymore.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

kayli12 — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 01:27:32 +0000

Weird...everyone is saying that their parents dont support their writing, by my mom and dad have always encouraged it! My dad even let me use his laptop (now i have my own.) And my mom is always interested and excited when i tell her about my word count.

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Alias Cyborg — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:04:26 +0000

My parents were fairly supportive. But next year, methinks they will be stricter about the homework. *gulp*

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

thrilleraddict — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:19:55 +0000

I told my mom about NaNo last night and told her more about it today. She seems supportive, I just hope she'll change her mind and let me stay up later on some nights to work on my novel!

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Gemma Knott — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:36:29 +0000

I told my mum about nano when we were in a bookstore and I saw a published book i knew was a nanovel. I may not have included that itty bitty detail where *I* did nano, though... *coughs*

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

charcoalbrumby — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 05:35:06 +0100

My dad says to go for it. My mum, on the other hand... is not so supportive. She's already stressing on my behalf about my grades, telling me that I'll get absolutely nothing out of NaNo. (My protest of 'I'll get a novel out of it!' was dismissed casually by, "It won't be a good novel, anyway.") And oh god. My sister. "You're writing a novel? You're such a freak."

Re: Letter to Parents (and family!)

Knight of Light — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:21:53 +0100

Are there certain parts of this Nano that isn't appropriate for teens?