October 24, 2011
Filed under Connect

Writing a 50,000-word novel in a month seems as though it might be an impossible task, but National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo challenges its participants to do just that.

NaNoWriMo began in 1999 with  21 people participating, but grew with the popularity of the internet.  In 2010, more than 200,000 participated from all over the world.

“It’s not so much a writing contest as a writing challenge,” junior Mary Gerlach said. “It’s not who can write the best, it’s to see if you can write the most you need, too.”

Gerlach participated in NaNoWriMo last year and plans to participate this year.

Language arts teacher Carrie Glass also plans to participate.

“I’ve wanted to for the past couple of years, and I’ve had students do it,” Glass said. “I wanted to try something new and finally get published.”

Glass says she’ll offer writing sessions in the weeks of NaNoWriMo.

“We’ll have one meeting a week in the morning for the first two weeks,” she said. “Probably two will be available in the third week, and then we’ll meet every morning for the final week.”

West Shore alumna Emily Trencher, who completed NaNoWriMo last year as her Senior Project, suggests that anyone who would like to try out the challenge should.

“I like the idea of NaNo primarily because it advocates what the people behind the program call ‘writing with abandon,’ that is writing in a way that gets all your thoughts and ideas out, without worrying about editing, and I think that’s important,” Trencher said, via email. “So many times a person’s thought process can be interrupted if they stop to fix how and sentence is structured, or if they’re looking for plot holes, or if they’re simply fixing a spelling mistake.  Some of the best ideas show themselves when you’re not preoccupied with editing as you write.

“One of the best things about NaNo is that, generally, people take part in the contest because they love to write.  NaNoWriMo isn’t an assignment; it’s not required; it’s writing for the sake of writing, plain and simple.  Giving a word count expectation is just a way to motivate people, and even make them that much more invested in getting their own novel published novel some day.”

Junior Lauren Gorewitz plans to make her first attempt this year.

“I’ve never done it before, but I’m sure it’s going to be hard,” Gorewitz said. “I’ve heard NaNo looks good on college applications.”

Freshmen Liz Schmidt, who is also participating for the first time.

“I’ve had an idea for a while, so NaNo is my excuse to start writing,” she said. “I wanted to do it last year. It seems like an awesome challenge, but I didn’t have any ideas.”

For more information, or to sign up, visit the NaNoWriMo website at NaNoWriMo.org.

By Sara-Renee Weatherby

December 12, 2011
Filed under Briefs, News Briefs

National Novel Writing Month, more commonly known as NaNoWriMo, recently wrapped up another writing challenge.  In 2010, more than 200,000  people signed up and more than 2.8 billion words were written. Figures for the November event have yet to be released.

But while people around the world worked to complete the 50,000 word challenge, student participants found the task difficult.

“It was a lot harder this year because I had so much more work,” junior Mary Gerlach said.

Freshman Emma Kalvan said she was unable to participate this year due to her school work load.

“I think I’m in negative NaNo,” she said, “I’m pretty sure I’ve lost whatever I tried to work on last year.”

Junior Lauren Gorewitz attempted NaNo for the first time this year, but also didn’t complete the challenge.

“Everyone started out with a strict writing schedule and said they were going to get 50,000 years and nope, it didn’t happen,” Gorewitz said.

Said freshman Liz Schmidt: “Honestly, I had more written for my story before I started NaNo. I think I went backwards.”

However, she remained hopeful.

“Someday I will do NaNo and I will finish it,” Schmidt said.

Gerlach said she will continue to participate in NaNo despite this year’s results.

“It’s still a really fun experience,” Gerlach said. “I’m still going to try next year.”

By Sara-Renee Weatherby

March 7, 2012
Filed under Lifestyles

It was simply luck.

“Michael’s agent contacted me on a Sunday morning and said they had a cancellation for an audition that afternoon.  I let her know that Michael could make it, he auditioned, and he got it,” said Kim Weatherby, Michael’s mother.

Michael had auditioned for other commercials before, including ones for Bright House and Disney, but had never gotten one.

“When I first heard that I had gotten the commercial I was really happy because it’s my first ever commercial,” the seventh-grader said.

“The agent called the next day and told me that out of the 10 kids that auditioned, Michael was number one on the list.  He was 90 percent booked, but she’d get back to me when he definitely had it,” Kim Weatherby said.

The commercial filmed in Orlando during early February.

“Filming was a very exciting day,” Kim Weatherby said. “Michael had a wardrobe trailer, assistants in charge of wardrobe and makeup, and there was probably 50 people running around to make sure this commercial was filmed properly.”

In the commercial, Michael plays a boy hosting a party in a swimming pool filled of Airheads Extremes.

“I got to sit in a chair all day and eat candy,” Michael said. “That was my favorite part of the shoot.”

The commercial began airing last Thursday.

“When I saw the finished product, I thought it was really funny,” Michael said.  “People keep on telling me its really great.  I can’t wait to do more commercials.”

“It was very exciting.  It was fun to see how thrilled Michael was to see it actually on the air,” Kim Weatherby said.  “And I may be biased, but I think it’s a really good commercial.”

The commercial can be viewed on YouTube and is airing on television channels nationwide.

By Sara-Renee Weatherby

May 25, 2012
Filed under Connect, Connect Briefs

Those looking for a copy of the school’s current “Alter Ego” literary magazine are out of luck. This year’s edition, “Opulence” has sold out.

“We’ve never sold out in previous years,” said junior Brittany Cho, the magazine’s editor in chief. “There are always at least 20 copies left over.”

Senior Cindy Thaung was surprised the magazine sold so fast.

“I wasn’t expecting such a quick response at all,” she said. “But it’s not all that surprising in retrospect since this year had an incredibly organized sales approach and the tasks were evenly delegated.”

The success of the magazine has been attributed to several factors.

“We finished earlier than last year, which gave us more time to publicize the magazine, we had a wider window of opportunity to sell and distribute with more staff members and we also had a more conscious effort to include more artists and writers, broadening our demographic,” Thaung said. “And of course, the aesthetic for ‘Opulence’ was pretty dope if I do say so myself.”

“This is the best magazine we’ve ever printed. We featured over 50 artists and writers as well as completely restructuring the magazine,” Cho said. “I think these big changes really make a difference.”

Cho said she’s already planning for next year’s literary magazine.

“I’d like to increase from 80 pages to over 100 and conduct a lot more fundraisers,” she said.

She said she remains amazed the magazine has sold out.

“It was the best feeling in the world,” Cho said. “I never thought this day would come. I think we’ve come a long way.”

By Sara-Renee Weatherby