Do you have a story to tell? Now is your chance to write it!

Inspired by the internationally popular National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the Library’s English Creative Writing Circle is meeting every week in November with a focus on this writing challenge: to write a novel—that’s a minimum of 50,000 words—in one month!

Get support as you write each week at the sessions and in your own time. The sessions will include write-ins where we race against the clock to write as much as possible and a range of writing prompts to help get those words on the page. Writers of all levels of experience are welcome. 

One lucky participant in this year’s challenge will win the opportunity to work one-on-one, online, with editor and seasoned publishing professional Meru Gokhale, receiving a full manuscript review. 

Please read the details below carefully to ensure that you can qualify to win. The winner will be chosen based on the criteria and conditions below as well as at the discretion of the selection committee. 

To stand a chance to win a full review of their manuscript, participants must meet the following criteria:

• They must have written 50,000 words between 1 – 30 November 2024.
• The draft of the novel must have been written for the first time between 1 – 30 November 2024.
• The manuscript must not have been submitted to any other platform.
• Participants must have attended all four of the English Creative Writing for Adults: Write Your Novel in November sessions. 
• Participants must have attended at least one writing consultation with a Library writing instructor.
• Participants must submit a 500-word synopsis about their novel before the deadline of 8 December 2024 (details about how to submit will be provided at the English Creative Writing for Adults' sessions).

The winner will be announced by 31 December 2024. 

Please note that budding authors are not obliged to attend all the sessions; that is only a requirement to be in with a chance of winning the prize. 

Meru Gokhale will be joining us at the Library in November to deliver “Craft Your Book Proposal with Meru Gokhale: An Interactive Creative Writing Workshop”, an intensive face-to-face workshop on how to develop the vision of your book, write a synopsis and submit your manuscript to agents and publishers.

This workshop is open to everyone who registers; you do not have to take part in Novel November in order to attend.

Date: Every Saturday from 2 to 23 November 2024 

Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Language: English 

Target Audience: Adults 

Seats are limited, please click the button below to register.