Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, Jane Austen, Stephen King, and JK Rowling: legendary writers of books so timeless that they’re popular to this day, even if books like Pride and Prejudice were written ages ago.  But how did they get there?

For many young writers around the world, blood is pumping in preparation for the writing phenomenon of NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month; that is, the purpose of the website is to enable you to write a novel in just thirty days. The website is complete with a forum for other participants to share ideas and give encouragement, famous authors giving inspiration and advice, and resource platforms when you get writer’s block.

Of course, this is nothing new to the students of Andria Morningstar-Gray’s 8th grade classes. Since 2012, Mrs. Morningstar-Gray has made NaNoWriMo a part of her students’ curriculum. After further investigation into why that is, she actually revealed that it was her student’s idea in the first place.

Katryn Lendvay, former student of Mrs. Morningstar-Gray’s English class and founder of the Creative Writing writing club, says she discovered it years earlier when she found her mother indulging in the challenge and decided to give it a try. When asked why that is, she said, “Her writing inspired me. She had all of these massively important adult things to do, and yet she still dropped everything for a month to create these endless fictional worlds that truly only she could share. She believed so wholly in the power of stories, and she gave that to me.”

In fact, she was so inspired by her mother that she decided in her freshman year to create a club that would allow people to get together and share ideas in writing to further their own passions. A few weeks before November, when the fun officially starts, meetings are held to plan our stories and organize ideas, and many of us writers are already getting in the writing groove to publish our own novel. Now, being a member of the Creative Writing club does not mean you have to do NaNoWriMo–you can choose to write what you want at your own pace–but there’s no penalty for trying, right?

Megan Johnson, a senior at the high school, can attest to that. This is her first year joining Writing Club, to which she says, “I joined Writing Club in order to further my abilities as a creative writer. I feel that it will be a more relaxed atmosphere instead of the rigorous Writing class I am taking now, which I hope will allow me to appreciate writing more.”

If you missed the first few meetings, don’t fret! Students are free to join at any time, so come on down to the Media Center and get started!

So, what do you think, Lakeview? Are you ready to become the next Agatha Christie?