It’s November, and if you’re a writer, you know that means it’s National Novel Writing Month, usually shortened to NaNoWriMo or NaNo. But wait, you say, hasn’t the recent controversy made you wary? For sure! NaNoWriMo was great for community, camaraderie, motivation, and encouragement, and all the good things that writers need but can’t necessarily get given the solitary nature of the craft. Additionally, the organization’s takes and handling of certain situations have been real bummers lately.
Wait! NaNoWriWhuh?
For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo is both an annual challenge to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that originated in 1999 in the San Francisco Bay Area with 21 writers and grew into a worldwide community with hundreds of thousands of participants. It organizes in-person events across the country and hosts writers forums on its website where, in theory at least, contributors can share their struggles and offer advice and encouragement. In 2005, it created the Young Writers Program to encourage teens and young adult writers.
NaNoWriMo Controversies
- NaNoWriMo released a statement that seemed to endorse the use of generative artificial intelligence. As might be expected, the stance raised eyebrows and ire in equal measure. Two resigned their positions on the nonprofit's board of directors in protest, and other writers who had credited NaNoWriMo with helping launch their careers condemned the statement.
- There have been credible allegations of sexual misconduct toward teens in NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program forums hosted by the organization, many of which involved an adult moderator on those forums. According to several victims, NaNoWriMo.org repeatedly downplayed the seriousness of the accusations and took no action allowing the abuse to continue.
- When the misconduct was made public by the young writers who were targeted, the organization chose to temporarily shut down all public forums prompting many to question whether the organization has outlived its usefulness. Forums have since been reopened and NaNoWriMo implemented a plan to make forums safer, but for many, the damage has been done.
What now?
So, what are we bloggers and authors to do? I’m so glad I asked myself this question and pretended you asked, too. I've broken them down into what you might be looking for most.
Encouragement and Motivation
Let’s start with an easier but perhaps most important thing that came from NaNo (for me, at least): the encouragement emails. Encouragement can be found with pithy memes on Pinterest pretty easily, but the idea that someone was on the other side of an email commiserating and or on the other side of the struggle was comforting and cathartic. Writing is great when you have ideas and know how to say what you want to say, but it can also feel like an endless circle of doom when you don’t. An email coming from someone who has been there and talked about what helped them was a nice little treat. What I’m getting at was, when struggling, knowing other people have survived the same struggle helps and we all need to know we’re going through something survivable, too.
And, quite frankly, I haven’t found anything exactly like it. What I did find was a NaNo alternative for community, and based on the testimonials (that’s okay, I know, on their own front page), it appears that having a group of people to help with the community bit will also help with the catharsis and commiseration I was musing on: Shut Up and Write. Plus, it’s free, just like NaNoWriMo!
Writing and Word Count Tracking
Maybe you liked NaNo because it helped you track how much you had been writing. There is a NaNo Subreddit thread full of people looking for and suggesting alternatives, there is Write Track, which allows you to make a goal and track it, whether that be your own personal NaNo in November or any other month of your choosing.
Habit Forming
Sometimes the habit of logging in and making sure to update your word count is all you need, but without the motivation to build the habit, then, well… Other writers have suggested Habitica, because it helps you build the habit of writing. This one might be the minor-est of reasons to use NaNo, but if it’s one of your top priorities, here ya go!
The Fun of It All
If your heart desires just kind of the fun of NaNoWriMo, with the community and the general fun of being immersed virtually with other writers, this community looks like it could be a lot of fun. They have merch that supports charities, and completion also has the potential for prizes, just like NaNoWriMo The Order of the Written Word.
Do you have a NaNoWriMo alternative you have used and loved? Let me know in the comments! In the meantime, here are some book suggestions for helping you on all your writing journies:
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