Guest post from @NaNoWriMo

@NaNoWriMo is hosting #engchat on April 30th at 7 PM EST. Please join us to learn about this creative writing project and who knows, by next November, you may have a classroom full of novelists.  

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What cool, unique creative writing projects do you bring to your classroom? How do you scaffold the process and guide students from planning to publication? How do you do assess creative writing?

On the April 30th #EngChat, we’ll consider some of these questions. I’ll also tell you a little about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)—the big creative writing project that thousands of classrooms tackle every November—and our free resources to help you and your students take part. (Check out my guest post on Donalyn Miller’s blog for some pre-chat background reading.)

I’m excited to exchange ideas and learn more about the creative work you’re doing. Hope you can join us.

Chris Angotti

Young Writers Program Director

National Novel Writing Month

Guest Post from @russgoerend

#whyiwrite

I write to remember and to forget, to understand and explore and to play with ideas roaming my mind. I write because sometimes it is easier to speak to a page than a person.  I write even though it is not easy at times.

I write because as a teacher of writing, I want to experience the struggle, anxiety and pain of having to produce writing on demand. I want to remember the experience of feeling less-than-confident about what you've produced often at the request and demand of others.

Over the past few years, my writing has become more public. This was not a natural evolution in my identity as a writer.  Even now, I have fears and hesitations about sharing my experiences as teacher and learner with the larger world.  Nonetheless, I find value in the feedback, the continuing conversations around a topic.  My ideas gets better when they are shared with others.  This is why I write.