NOW READ THIS: It really can wait

More than 1,800 students at Wharton High pledged to not text and drive, signing banners that hang in the cafeteria and media center during the school’s recent “Don’t Text and Drive” campaign. The effort, sponsored by the school’s PTSA Health and Safety Committee in collaboration with the Florida Department of Transportation, SADD and AT&T, enhances the school’s driver education program. Students tried out simulators that demonstrated how fast accidents can happen during distractions and watched sobering video depicting families affected by tragedies due to texting while driving.

NA NO WRI MO

BY KATE FUEYO   |   Tampa Preparatory

On today’s homework schedule: 10 chemistry problems. A source analysis for AP history. Preparing a Pliny letter for Latin translation. At least 1,666 words about dystopian angels. Yep. It’s nearing November.

I’ve been waiting for — and dreading — November for ages. I made my profile on the National Novel Writing Month website in July. I’ve been outlining, sketching, researching and daydreaming. The back pages of my math notebook are filled with plot-related bullet points.

But as soon as Nov. 1 hits, the planning and procrastinating are over. I am going to finish my second novel in November’s four weeks, ideally with enough time to whip up some creative Thanksgiving leftovers.

The goal of National Novel Writing Month, often referred to as NaNoWriMo, is simple. Aspiring novelists go to the program’s website, nanowrimo.org, and make a free profile, which comes with a word counter and forums to connect with other writers. During the 30 days of November, the goal is for each writer to get 50,000 new words on paper (actually, Word document). That’s 1,666 words a day, at least, and you can’t use anything you’ve previously written. Your story must start on Nov. 1 and end no later than midnight Nov. 30. Your finished product will be at least 80 percent awful, you will not get enough sleep, you will drink more coffee than you’ve ever consumed and, at least twice a day, you will regret taking on this stupid endeavor.

But hey, you can say you’ve finished a book! That makes great conversation starters at parties. Or, in my case, great blog posts at tbtwo.com. Watch for them the first week of November. Why not give it a try yourself? Start up your coffeemakers, sharpen your pencils and join me in what the website calls 30 days and nights of literary abandon. Well, at least literary-induced insomnia.

50 SHADES OF EMBARRASSMENT

BY ELLIE RODRIGUEZ   |   Hillsborough High
I love to read. I adore the smell of new books and freshly turned pages, the slick feel of an unopened magazine. This explains why I enjoy going to Barnes & Noble with my grandmother.  •  Of course, I enjoyed it more before she asked me THE QUESTION.  •  As I peacefully perused the magazine section, gathering copies of The Atlantic, Time, Mother Jones, Newsweek and Seventeen into my arms, darling grandmother approached with a simple request.  •  “Would you find a book for me?” she sweetly inquired.  •  Of course I’d be happy to help the woman who so kindly contributed to my reading gene pool and chaperoned the excursion, besides.  •  And then, WHAM. Her request hit me like a piano dropped from 20 stories.  •  “Go ask the kindly looking woman at the desk for 50 Shades of Grey.”  •  Yes. My grandmother wanted ME to ask a STRANGER for the most racy book to grace headlines in recent memory. Actually, all my memory. I stared at her in disbelief. She stared back, with quiet resolve and a smile.  •  My walk across the store to the front desk felt like trekking across a desert. I asked for 50 Shades, all three books; turns out my grandmother wanted the trilogy.  •  The kindly woman didn’t raise an eyebrow, but somehow the store felt hotter than when I first got there. We left quickly with my magazines, an SAT prep book, another book I had to read for English and the trilogy. I know you could see mortification on my face. Fifty shades of it.