How Your Writing Can Change Worlds

You are a world-changer. Now, maybe you just crinkled your nose at that, or rolled your eyes a little, something twinging at such a pronouncement.

But here’s the thing: it’s true. With every novel you write, you create a brand new world, with new lives, and then commence changing it: knocking something off-kilter here, nudging two people together there. You, very literally, change worlds in your writing.

And you don’t stop there. The amazing thing about the NaNoWriMo community is that you rally around your fellow writers, and around the cause of writing. Many of you become Municipal Liaisons, working with your local libraries, bookstores, and small businesses to create a more creatively engaged community. All of you become story advocates, encouraging your friends, family, and heck, even your barista, to share their stories.

You’re doing important work:

According to a count conducted by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, only 7.9% of the books published for children and teens in 2013 were written by people of color.

The VIDA Count, which catalogs female representation in major literary journals and book reviews, found that only 33% of contributors and featured authors in the biggest literary journals were women.

Encouraging the voices of everyone in our lives has to start early. Many of us remember first being told that our stories were not worth telling in grade school. It’s why we launched our Young Writers Program in 2005. Our amazing educators encourage their students to freely express themselves and validate their voices, giving them room to discover the stories that matter to them on the page.

Okay, we’re going to throw some more numbers at you (this time they’re more encouraging!): in a study conducted by Public Profit, 81% of our YWP participants said that NaNoWriMo helped them expect more from themselves in the future. For students who attend schools where more than 75% of students receive a free or reduced-price lunch, 83% said NaNoWriMo helped them learn what they can accomplish when they are determined.

You are a world-changer. And we need your help to change this world: to make it a more creative, and celebratory of stories of all kinds. We’re launching our Stories of Tomorrow Campaign to raise money to rebuild our Young Writers Program site to better support the 100,000 educators and students who are learning, some for the first time, that their stories can matter.

We need your help to continue this good work. Find out how to support the Stories of Tomorrow campaign here. Donate today.