We’re baaaaack, did ya miss us?

Welcome to 2025, writers! KanMoWriCo is back in action after the co-organizers’ winter break. We’re looking forward to our first full year as an independent organization. This year, we’ll keep going with our popular weekly write-ins, increase our number of workshops, and, of course, host the November Program later this year. 

Our Sunday in-person write-ins this year will change locations monthly. Our current schedule is:

Sundays

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Hosted by co-organizers

February: 

Homer’s Coffee

7126 W 80th St, Overland Park, KS 66204

March: 

Waldo Library

Room A

201 E 75th St, Kansas City, MO 64114

Tuesdays

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Front Range

400 E Gregory Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64131

Hosted by Erin

Wednesdays 

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Discord

Hosted by Bee

Fridays

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Central Resource Library

Room 10

9875 W 87th St, Overland Park, KS 66212

Hosted by Max

If you’re interested in hosting a write-in, let us know! You can sign up by filling out this form.

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Springing into Motion

March Workshop

The in-person feedback workshop is back by popular demand! Our next round will be in March. We run an Iowa style fiction workshop, which means that you will be getting verbal and written feedback from your fellow writers.

In order to participate, you must have time to read 2-3 works per week and may miss no more than 1 weekly meeting for the month of March. Participants will prepare a piece of up to 5,000 words to submit to the group, either standalone or part of a larger work. The weekly meeting will take place in Waldo Library Room A before the weekly write-in. It will begin at noon and conclude at 1 p.m. We have capacity for 15 participants!

Sign ups will open on the website in mid-February! 

Here’s what folks said from our last workshop:

“The conversation was freaking brilliant every time. It was so exciting to listen and just take it all in.”

“I loved the ability to read the stories, take our own notes and then discuss them in a round table fashion. I feel like our group did so well at giving each other space and time to speak[…]”

Spring Sprint

In April, we’ll launch our second Spring Sprint! This program is designed to get you writing before the summer break. Choose your own goal of words, hours, or a secret third thing and get to writing! We’ll have more weekly in-person and virtual write-ins to help you achieve whatever goal you set. 

Need to lock in and finish your revisions from your November novel? Maybe you’ve got beta reader feedback to implement? Maybe you just want to write a novella! Regardless, we’re running alongside you during the Spring Sprint!

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Goodbye Natalie!

Our co-organizer, Natalie Wallington, is moving to Memphis! She’s accepted a job as a housing reporter for MLK50, a nonprofit news outlet focusing on the intersection of poverty, power and policy. We couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter in Natalie’s life! 

Natalie joined KanMoWriCo in the off-season in 2023 and helped with the shift away from NaNoWriMo as soon as it became evident that we needed to move. She came up with the idea for our popular feedback workshop, and designed and led our very first one. Last year, she designed our participant sticker, TMOD sticker and participant pins. We’ll miss her and everything she’s done, but we know she’s going to do great things in her new position, and she’ll still be around in the Discord. Thank you for everything, Natalie!

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Call for Co-organizer

To maintain our level of programming, we need a new co-organizer! The first requirement is you must want it enough to fill out this form. The KanMoWriCo team values collaboration, community and equity. We communicate regularly and support and encourage each other. We don’t always agree, but we strive to use healthy conflict resolution in all circumstances. And above all: We stay silly.

The time commitment for co-organizers varies from a few hours per week during the off-season to a larger commitment (up to 10 hours per week) in October and November. This time includes write-in attendance. Applicants should plan to participate in and host the November Program, lead write-ins, and attend about 2 meetings per quarter to plan and debrief events. 

We are open to all skill sets, but ideal candidates will be familiar with or willing to learn to use Discord. Applicants must be willing to uphold the KanMoWriCo Code of Conduct, which heavily emphasizes the values of diversity, equity and inclusion.

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Inspiration Strikes

We know a lot of you are currently in the throes of revisions; we are, too. In looking for ways to punch up the word choice in a particularly uninspired section of their draft, Bee stumbled upon this essay from Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club, Survivor, and many others) about “thought” verbs. The full essay is here, but effectively, Chuck challenges writers to eliminate “thought” verbs from your draft. These verbs include: Thinks, Knows, Understands, Realizes, Believes, Wants, Remembers, Imagines, Desires. 

The purpose of this exercise is to take your reader on a journey full of rich, descriptive detail, so that they become the ones who want and know and desire instead of just reading about someone who wants and knows and desires. As Chuck puts it:

“Thinking is abstract. Knowing and believing are intangible. Your story will always be stronger if you just show the physical actions and details of your characters and allow your reader to do the thinking and knowing. And loving and hating.”

Bee has found that going through her draft and eliminating a few “thought” verbs brings their artistic vision into sharper focus, enabling her to really control what the reader feels. It may not work for every “thought” verb in your arsenal, but give it a try, you’ll be surprised by how much richer your writing will feel after!

As always, if you like what KanMoWriCo is doing, tell a friend! Share one of our links, forward this email, send a carrier pigeon, or just bring a friend to our next write-in. 

Happy Writing,

Joanie, Bee, Natalie, and… you?