October Novel Prep Challenge

The 501(3)c organization known as "National Novel Writing Month" (NaNoWriMo, or just NaNo) was heavily staffed with volunteer moderators who coordinated write-ins and other local events. The NaNo board received complaints regarding the interactions of one or more of those moderators with minor writers, but the organization failed to adequately address the complaints. As a result of that scandal, plus their controversial public statements about AI (artificial intelligence), the organization lost significant sponsorships. NaNoWriMo was already in the red due to insufficient fundraising even before the scandal and AI comments. Ultimately, the organization ran out of money and could no longer operate the website.

No! NaNoWriMo is more than just a nonprofit organization who ran a website. It's a movement. It's a community. We're motivated by our peers - by a sense of competition, excitement and encouragement. The reason NaNo works is because we do it together. We don't need their website to accomplish that. We have our own writing community right here at WDC!

In November, we already have the following resources to keep track of our word counts and each other. There may be more, both now and in the future:

FOR COMMUNITY
"The WDC NanoLounge"  [13+]
"Novel Writing Brainstorming Forum"  [13+]*
"NovWriMo Plus Forum"  [ASR]

FOR COMPETITION
WDC NaNoList  
"The Write-A-Thon"  [ASR]
"Sprint Writers Forum"  [13+]*

*Note: The Sprint Writers and Brainstorming forums were previously only available to Prep winners. Beginning in 2025, they will be open to the entire WDC community.

It won't affect it in the least! We're still going to write in November, so let's get those projects ready to write in October. Why fix it if it isn't broken?

Also, the Prep and NaNo are two different things. Lots of writers use the Prep to plan a future novel they're not ready to write. Many are "pantsers" who only participate in November. It's okay to do one and not the other. So the Prep will always be a useful tool, regardless of whether we write in November together.

For those who don't know, the NaNo website had a section dedicated to "rebels" who broke the "rules" on purpose. For example, they might use the month to compose a poetry collection, write a non-fiction work, add to an existing novel project rather than start a new one, or target a different word count. At first, these were not permitted, but the movement was too strong!

Can we continue to be NaNo Rebels? Definitely. Just be sure to check the rules for each individual forum or activity. Also, note that the Prep is specifically for story planning. The exercises are unhelpful and a waste of your time if your project doesn't have characters, setting and plot.