Come Write In Anywhere! Brian McCann on How to Grow Your Write-In Event

NaNoWriMo’s Come Write In program has partnered with bookstores and libraries around the world for four years. This November, for the first time, we’re welcoming community spaces of all kinds to become novel-writing havens. 

In today’s installment of Come Write In Anywhere!, intern Steve Genise chats with Brian McCann, Assistant Manager of the Boardwalk branch of the Mid-Continent Public Library in Kansas City, MO, about caffeine patches, and how to start a writing movement:

So first, can you tell me a little about yourself and how you decided to first participate in NaNo? 

I found a used copy of No Plot? No Problem! in 2005, and it was like a revelation.  Sadly, I discovered it in January and had to wait until 2006 for my first real NaNoWriMo experience.  Like many people, I had waffled for years about whether I was really a writer or not, and No Plot was just the kick in the pants I needed to find out.

What do you do to prepare for and host your write-ins?

Our write-ins are really about generating word count.  I have prompts and word wars ready for use, but we often don’t need them. Mostly I provide the environment (chairs, power strips, coffee) and try to stay out of the way.

Last year we had NaNoWriMo’s volunteer Municipal Liaisons, and NaNoWriMo-success-story Gennifer Albin (Crewel) talk about how NaNo works and why it can be so transformative.  

So you do allow coffee? This is a library…

Coffee gets the green light at my branch. We are lucky enough to have a Starbucks and Caribou Coffee nearby, but in case people can’t get there, I might supply some caffeine patches. If I have any to spare.

This year you’ve managed to expand NaNoWriMo events to your entire library system. What did you do to convince the other managers to introduce NaNo? What held them back before?

Mostly I talk and talk and talk it up.  Sometimes it’s direct: “I heard there’s an author who lives near your branch. Have you considered inviting her for NaNoWriMo?”

Sometimes it’s more of a reach: “Oh, do you have a fall birthday?  Well, you know what else is in the fall? NaNoWriMo!” 

Really, no one had heard of this glorious event, so a lot of what I’ve been doing is spreading the word and building awareness.  I also found library staff at various branches who were passionate about writing and got them onboard, too. Passion is a valuable resource.

I also took advantage of our most prime resource—Wrimos!  We’re required as a system to ask for evaluations of our programs, so I asked our writers to also include why NaNoWriMo is so awesome and powerful and fun and transformative.  Their comments are a hard thing for even the most anti-literary person to ignore.

What advice do you have for others who are thinking of starting up a Come Write In event in their area, or are looking to expand the ones they already host?

The first thing I recommend is to just make a start.  Literary movements have to grow over time, so don’t burden yourself with having a fully developed writing community your first year out.  Maybe your first year, you’ll just host some write-ins and promote it by word of mouth, like I did.  Maybe you’ll tap into a local college’s English department.  A lot, a little—it doesn’t matter.  Just make sure to get something on the calendar and to let your writers know about it. (Don’t know who the writers are?  Then just tell everybody!)

The second thing I recommend is to keep looking ahead.  Writing communities need to grow, so make sure to give them chances to do that.  Our second year, we added a kick-off party to our write-ins.  The next year we had a bigger kick-off with a published NaNo author.  The next year we added a “Now What?” event in December to help people take NaNoWriMo into the rest of their lives with them.  Just keep it moving. 

As you do all this, remember to think big.  Yes, you want to plan how your library or bookstore or coffee shop can host NaNo events in the future, but what about other branches?  Can you get them involved?  Share with them any pointers you’ve learned, what worked, and what didn’t.  Write a blog or an article for your organization and share it on Facebook. 

I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in what I’ve been doing with NaNoWriMo, but I submitted proposals to my library system as well as state-wide and national conferences where I could teach a session on the impact that NaNo has had on my library and our writers.  And guess what?  Half of our library branches are hosting NaNo activities, and I’ll be presenting in March to librarians across the country about how great NaNoWriMo is.  (And I get paid for this!).

So, I guess to sum up: start wherever you can, keep looking ahead, and think bigger than your building.

Brian McCann is the Assistant Manager of the Boardwalk branch of the Mid-Continent Public Library in Kansas City, MO. We aren’t sure what kind of boardwalk a land-locked state like Missouri has, but you can find out more about his library and his NaNoWriMo programs (and perhaps his mysterious boardwalk) here!