This week we discussed dialogue and the importance of keeping your plot moving forward through your dialogue.

1. NaNoWriMo
Young Writers
Program
3rd MEETING
NOVEMBER 16, 2020

2. If you live in Pasadena or go to school in Pasadena,
enter our short story /poem contest for a chance to
be published!

3. Congrats on completing 18% of our shared word
count goals for our classroom!

4. It’s
actually
22% of
our goal
as of last
week!
112,100
28,008

5. Shoutouts to high achievers this week!
25% or more toward goal: Thomas and
Delight!
35% or more toward goal: Avishi, Meira,
Layla, Lexi and Willow!

6. The student with the highest word count in
our class right now is Willow, who has 4,367
words written toward her 10,000 word
goal!
Avishi, Layla, Lexi, Delight, Meira, Sedonah
and Willow all wrote at least three days this
past week!

7. Just so you know, you DON’T
have to write your novel in
NaNoWriMo.org for me to
give you credit. You do have
to set up a “novel” and set a
goal, and just record the
number of words you’ve
written. Try to update it every
day so that you get credit for
every day you wrote.

9. Use the Total Word Count
box to update your total
each day.
If Elijah writes 300 words
today, his total word count
will be:
447 + 300 = 747
So he would erase “447”
and write “747” and it will
update the graph.

10. For those of you who are
writing your novels on the
website, your word count
updates automatically each
time you write.
Writing on NaNoWriMo.org
also gives me a chance to
read your writing, and give
you compliments and
encouragement!

11. Now… let’s
get to work!

12. Let’s talk about the importance of
BACKING UP YOUR WORK.

17. Challenge Time:
Write a short dialogue between two brothers who can’t
agree on what to buy for their mother for the holidays. Make
sure we can learn:
a.) That they are brothers
b.) Whom they are shopping for (their mother)
c.) That they have completely different interests and
different ideas about what to get
d.) Something about each of their characters, like what they
each like
e.) Something about their mother, whom we have not met

18. Ready, Set, GO!

19. Tips:
Don’t have them call
each other “bro.” You
can establish that
they’re brothers when
they refer to their
mother as “Mom.”

20. Anyone want to
share your
dialogue?

21. Challenge Time:
Now write a dialogue where a nearby salesperson has
overheard the brothers squabbling and steps in to suggest
the perfect gift for their mother… But it comes at a price…

22. Ready, Set, GO!

23. Tips:
Use persuasion!
Show us that the
salesperson has
really been
listening!

24. Anyone want to
share your
dialogue?

25. Challenge Time:
The salesperson turned out to be an evil villain who has
kidnapped their mother and is holding her for ransom in
a basement within the mall! Write a dialogue in which
the villain calls one of the brothers on the phone and
asks for a ransom. (Don’t give us any of the villain’s
words. Let us listen to this conversation as if we are the
other brother.)

26. Ready, Set, GO!

27. Tips:
Don’t bury the
conversation in a
whole lot of “Hello?
Who’s this? How are
you doing? See you
later!” kinds of
dialogue.

28. Anyone want to
share your
dialogue?

29. Now, using the Comic Strip worksheets,
write an argument between two of the
characters in your novel.

30. Ready, Set, GO!

31. Tips:
What might your
characters disagree
on? How strongly do
they feel about this?
How might you convey
their irritation?

32. Anyone want to
share your
dialogue?

33. For the next two weeks:
Try to write EVERY DAY. If you are having trouble finding
the time or the energy, here are some suggestions:
• Set your alarm an hour earlier, and write first thing in
the morning before you start school.
• Write during your lunch break.
• Don’t watch TV or play video games until you have
written at least 300 words.
• Set yourself a goal and then reward yourself with
something you love, like candy.

34. If you haven’t
logged on
yet, here’s
how:

35. 1. ywp.nanowrimo.org 2.
3. 4.

36. 5. Create
your account
6. Explore our
group
7. Take the
challenge

37. Remember…
NO CLASS ON
NOV. 23RD
I’ll see you all on
Nov. 30th!