By: Jackie Chicalese, Staff writer
With November coming to a close, so has National Novel Writing Month.
NaNoWriMo is a celebration of writing in which participants from around the world try to complete a novel of at least 50,000 words in the month of November. Lebanon Valley College’s Writer’s Group participated in the event and urged other students on campus to write as well.
The Writer’s Group utilized the study rooms on the first floor of Bishop Library Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. to help provide a working space for writers. The first study room invited students to generate new works through prompts, the third was a quiet space, and the fifth was a room that invited collaboration among students.
Novel writing was not the only goal of the event. Students were encouraged to bring any work that incorporated writing: from research papers, to lab reports, to poetry. The only requirement was to sit down and write.
Dr. Holly Wendt, advisor of the Writer’s Group, hoped that the event inspired a sense of unity among all writers on campus, as well as motivation for writing.
“We’re all writers, all engaged in the task of communicating,” Wendt said. “That’s important. And as the end of the semester looms, when everyone has a lot of different things to work on, it’s also practical.”
Sydney Fuhrman, a junior English major and president of Writer’s Group, found the study rooms beneficial to all students.
“Sometimes the hardest part of writing is actually sitting down and putting words on the page,” Fuhrman said. “With pressure, external motivation, and a fun and welcoming atmosphere, people may have found it easier to write and reach their goals.”
If a student missed this year’s National Novel Writing Month and is interested in participating in NaNoWriMo next November—or any month, for that matter—visit NaWoWriMo.org for official guidelines and resources for writing. If someone is interested in shorter bursts of creativity, contact Holly Wendt as wendt@lvc.edu or visit her in her office in HUM 207D to learn more about involvement in the Writer’s Group.
Jmc012@lvc.edu