the Rice Thresher

Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: News

Media Credit: David Rosales Students of the Martel College student-taught Write a Novel in a Month class, led by Martel sophomore Ian Jones (center), type furiously on their laptops to finish their 50,000-word novels by the end of November as part of National Novel Writing Month.

Katz's Deli on Montrose Boulevard buzzed with even more than the usual late-night food frenzy Oct. 31, as costumed patrons celebrated Halloween. In one corner, however, a strange hush fell at the stroke of midnight.

It was a table for four crammed with nine people, all wielding laptops. As October became November, these members of Martel College sophomore Ian Jones' class, Martel 142: Write a Novel in a Month, began to type furiously.

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo is now in its 10th year and encourages participants to write a 50,000-word novel within the month of November. Amateurs and professional writers alike from across the globe participate and upload their novels on the NaNoWriMo Web site, which has a built-in word count. Famous authors, which this year include Philip Pullman, Piers Anthony, Katherine Paterson and Janet Fitch, sponsor the event by posting pep talks on the NaNoWriMo Web site to help those struggling with word counts or writer's block.

Jones, who is participating in the contest for the fifth time and has reached the word-count goal three of the last four years, decided to share his passion with Rice students by teaching his own class. The student-taught courses, which began at Wiess College last fall, are now offered at each residential college.

The novel is the only assignment in Jones' class. Jones estimates that 50,000 words sets an author at about 85-100 typed pages, depending on the amount of dialogue in the novel.

"I'd be willing to bet this is the longest undergraduate paper in the history of Rice," Jones said.

Sid Richardson College sophomore Heather Beaber, an English and philosophy major, said she decided to take the class because she wanted to prove to herself that she could write a full novel. Although she says it may end up being the first draft of a finished science fiction novel, she is trying to minimize expectations.

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