NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program

1. Sign up for NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program.

Be sure to register as an “Educator” and remember your password and security questions.

IMPORTANT DETAILS: You must be an educator or parent facilitating the Young Writers Program in a school, library, or community space. If you are not an educator or parent, you are not permitted to establish an account.

2. Tell us about yourself.

Go to your Profile & Settings to upload an avatar and fill in as much profile information as you’d like.

Profile & settings

3. Use our Educator Resources.

We’ve got student workbooks, Common Core-aligned lesson plans, and a free classroom kit to help you inspire your kids before, during, and after November. You can also connect with fellow educators in our forums.

Educator resources

4. Create a virtual classroom.

Our on-site classroom space allows you to hold class discussions and monitor students’ novel progress. Click “Create Your Classroom” on the website dashboard to get started, then see the Virtual Classroom How-To for logistics.

Create your classroom

IMPORTANT DETAILS: If you are facilitating the Young Writers Program for students under 13, you must also review and agree to a Parent Proxy Agreement.

5. Enroll students in your classroom via unique access code.

Once your students are signed up on our website, they can join your classroom.

Share your access code in-person, or send it to students via email or school messaging platform.

Students click “Join Your Classroom” on their website dashboard, then enter the classroom access code.

Upon entering the code correctly, students are instantly enrolled in your classroom.

IMPORTANT DETAILS: Please review the Terms & Conditions and Parent Proxy Agreement before you allow students to establish accounts. Students under 13 may register without an email address. Students 13 and over must have a valid email address.

6. Help students create their novels.

Click “Start your novel now.” on the website dashboard. They can fill in as much information as they know—including their own own personal word-count goals. (Students may update their novel info at any time, so no pressure!)

7. On November 1, students start writing!

Their stories matter. And for 30 crazy, exciting, surprising days, they get to lock away their inner editors, let their imaginations take over, and just create.

Event start

8. Track student progress.

When students use our on-site writing space, we automatically count their words and award them badges for days-in-a-row and percentage completed.

Go to the class list page in your virtual classroom to see how students are doing, and even click through to read their novels.

Class list

IMPORTANT DETAILS: Students can write their novels anywhere. If they work in a separate computer document, they may copy and paste their progress in the writing space—strictly for word-counting purposes and not as a master document. If they are handwriting, they may generate and paste enough Lorem Ipsum to reflect their current word counts.

9. Keep your students motivated.

Be sure to provide space and support for their creative efforts. For small bursts of inspiration, click the icons at the bottom of the writing space to activate word sprints and dares.

Writing prompts

10. Students write until the very end.

If they reach their word-count goals by 11:59:59 PM on November 30, they’ll be declared NaNoWriMo winners and get a few goodies to celebrate.

Be sure to celebrate this amazing month of noveling—no matter where students end up in their word counts!

Event end

After November

Students’ novels will remain on our site as long as they keep their accounts. Bring back your class to continue writing and editing.

In January and February, we support the editing and publishing process through our “Now What?” Months.

Our forums remain open and active all the time. You can also follow us year-round on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr.