Q: Endah, you lead an online writing class for Indonesians, as well as lead a kindergarten and undertook ML duties during NaNo. How do your various groups interact, and what are the benefits in teaching so many age levels during NaNo?
A: I live in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. I used to be a journalist. My last position was the managing editor for Reader's Digest Indonesia. After spending some 15 years in the media industry (12 years with a women's magazine, three years with RDI), I decided to try something new. I found that teaching writing was a new exciting thing. I founded KelasMenulis.com, an online writing class, in 2006. "Kelas" means "class," and "menulis" means "writing." I have online classes on descriptive writing, feature, travel, memoir, and any genre that people need. I teach writing for mothers, teachers, kids, workers—people who think they can't write or never imagine they can express their ideas in writing. Besides that, I also organize workshops for people who can't access internet.
I also run a kindergarten and, as always, I encourage the teachers to write children's stories. Now they are in the process of writing mini picture books which I will publish and distribute to parents. I love working in the education field and seeing people growing. I love helping people to have confidence in writing.
This is my second year with NaNo. I am happy that I have made a small contribution for my fellow Indonesian writers. Our members have now reached 51, and live in some cities in Indonesia, and Australia, Germany, and France. We feel unified, being writers and Indonesians and internet-literate. I think NaNo is not only a way to achieve a 50k word count, but also a channel to unite people. Our group meets every Monday 4 PM – 5 PM in Yahoo Messenger, and we have a mailing list where we keep our conference transcripts, NaNo designs (some of us created great designers for banners and winners icons), and more. We call ourselves NaNoWrindo. We had word races every week, and the winners got icons for their websites.
The adult NaNoWrindos were surprised, however, when I told them at one point that the junior group had reached 62k words, thanks to Adi, the amazing kid who contributed. I was happy that the young group had made an achievement that made people take a look at them. I think being an ML for an adult group, as well as an organizer for a children group, makes it easier for me to unite both. I keep the adults updated about the kids' achievements, and inform parents about 'the senior writers' comments.
I started the junior group only a few days after NaNoWrindo was founded. I thought NaNo was a good forum to encourage children to write and join an international movement. I organized homeschooled children just to make it more focused. Homeschoolers are bright kids, and full of enthusiasm. We had 18 kids who actively submitted stories during NaNo.
We discussed in the first week setting word count goals. Some follow the NaNo age group target suggestion, while some use their own. Zakiah, a 9-year-old girl whose target was only 1,500, submitted 1,350 words in the fifth day, so I asked her to increase her target to 4,500. She could not hide her pride in her eyes when I put a big star in her clothes. She was the winner in the 9-12 age-group.
Another kid, Yudhis, finished his 1,500. His father wrote to me that Yudhis wrote faster because he had an incentive of downloading two games! Although he is an online member, he came to my house today, to join his "fellow writers." He was proud when he got a star and told the other kids and parents about his story and how he got the achievement. His story is about music instruments in a music school. There is a naughty Pret-Pret (trumpet), and kind hearted Pio (piano), Dug-Dug (drum), and Bon (trombone). Their teacher is Sigit (Guitar), and the setting is about games in the school anniversary celebration.
This year's NaNo has boosted the kids' self esteem. They are proud that they produced something. Their parents are happy that there is a forum for their kids, and said that they would miss it when November is over.
We also have supporters called Friends of Young Writers (FYW). This is a group of adults that I invited to be volunteers through some mailing lists. Their duty is sending a motivational email after I update about a kid's achievement. A woman who doesn't have kids is very happy with this program. She supports a young girl living in Singapore, and was very happy to read the girl's story and receive emails from her young friend. It is nice to connect people!
Thanks for having such an inspiring event! You have done more than you've ever thought.
