NEWS RELEASE
COLLINGWOOD COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
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National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a challenge that is designed to help creative people write a novel in one month’s time.
This month, members of Collingwood Collegiate Institute’s (CCI) Creative Writing Club stepped up to the challenge. Students have been realizing their creative potential, sharing their valuable stories and increasing their storytelling skills all while under a tight deadline.
Each year, more than 100,000 students and educators from over 9,000 classrooms around the world participate in NaNoWriMo.
Here are the results and comments from a few of our participants:
Tyler Baz, Grade 11
“This was my first time participating in NaNoWriMo. Although I was focused on editing my upcoming novel, which is set to be released in the spring, I edited well over 70,000 words and it was not easy to do with focusing on midterms in Grade 11, but I got it done and I am so proud of myself. My second book of my book series is coming in spring 2023.”
Akriti Batra, Grade 10
“My word count is 50,268 words. Just barely made it. Wow. Out of all three years I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo, this year was the hardest by far. I had little motivation to write and didn’t feel any passion for my novel. Oftentimes I had to force myself to write, waking up early in the morning and staying up late even though I didn’t want to, but in the end, I’m glad I kept pushing through. This year’s NaNoWriMo taught me that if I really set my mind to something I can achieve anything and that even if the journey was long and hard you have to stick with it because who knows what amazing things could be waiting for you at the finish line?”
Mackenzie Mercier, Grade 12
“My word count was 56,000. I can’t believe I pulled it off.”
As the teacher facilitator of this group, I am very proud of the level of dedication and commitment that each of these students committed to this huge undertaking. I’m excited to celebrate the successes of the participants this Friday with a pizza party and the sharing of our stories.
— Submitted by Sarah Burke, of the Collingwood Collegiate Institute English department
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