YWP NaNoWriMo { She's a Winner! }

November 1st began with squeals of delight from my sweet young girl as she found her Hello Kitty notebook and new pencils waiting for her to begin her very first NaNoWriMo through the Young Writer's Program.

 

For the first week, she couldn't wait to write everyday.  On school days, she got busy on her homework just to be free to put her pencil to paper and whittle her story, A Girl Who Lived on an Island Alone.  On the weekends, she often wrote before I even got up.

 

The second week held just as much excitement as the first.  By the third week?  She hit a speed bump and lost some interest.  I wavered between encouraging her to keep at it and not wanting to take away any of her joy in writing.  In early elementary school years, personally, I think it is more important to keep kidlets excited about telling stories than it is to drill in a daily writing habit.

 

And with the end of November rapidly approaching, she began writing again.  A secret smile plays on my lips when I see her smile as she writes her tales.

 

Today is November 30th and my sweet li'l girl entered her story to verify and validate and...

WIN!!!!

 

 

She won her very first NaNoWriMo and I sincerely hope there are more writing experiences we can share still to come.  And every time she grabs her special NaNo Hello Kitty notebook throughout this coming year, I'll be wearing my secret smile.

 



December Daily

December Daily.

 

I tell myself, year after year, to jump in and document December's tale.  Last year, I recorded some of our December stories...though, they never made it into an album of sorts.

 

The whole idea behind #DecemberDaily is to document the traditions and stories occurring throughout our days this coming month.  Ali Edwards creates foundation pages before the first of the month to streamline the process.  And then simply adds photos and words for each day of the celebratory month, documenting both the big and little things life offers.

 

And while it is last minute...again...I can't help but be infected by the enthusiasm for the project shared across the blogosphere, Pinterest, twitter, flickr, and Facebook.  It's as if social media has lassoed me and is pulling me in.  How can I resist sweet family memories and glittery, shiny Christmas bling?!

 

Do you document your stories?  Do you document December differently than other months through the year?  Do you December Daily?  Yes, it's a verb. ;>

 

I've collected a few links from around the interwebs for #decdaily inspiration:

 

Ali Edwards December Daily pages, of course.

 

December Daily 2012 Flickr group.

 

Becky Higgins shares a delightful compilation of Christmas traditions from her readers.

 

Elise Blaha's 2011 holiday minibook is full of inspiration & she has assembled minibooks in her shop too.

 

A Pinterest search always yields oodles of ideas.

 

And remembering to actually use my own Christmas Pinterest Board is nice too.

 

So, where is December taking you?  Go!

Six Words { Write }

Write today.
Write tomorrow.
Write away.

 

~ Check out SMITH for more Six Words. ~
~ Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo! ~