Goodbye, NaNoWriMo

The end of an era that did wonders for my novels

On 1 April, a spokesperson released this information on the state of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, an international event that challenges writers to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November). It outlines how NaNoWriMo, the non-profit organisation, is closing down after years of financial issues (among other things).

This isn’t a post about NaNoWriMo’s sad downfall, so I won’t be going into those details any further or offering any thoughts on it. Instead, I’d like to share my experience with the event, because I, like so many writers, owe the early days of my author career to NaNoWriMo.

My first NaNoWriMo was in November 2015. I was 22, finally ready to take writing seriously. I had played with an idea for ages, planning every scene meticulously for years, until eventually I realised it wasn’t going to get written unless I actually sat down and wrote. I’m pretty sure I discovered the NaNoWriMo website while searching for writing tips or communities.

(My profile actually tells me I signed up on Oct 18, 2014, but since there’s no project for that year, my assumption is that I signed up with all intentions to do it and probably forgot.)

That first novel was called The Dreamer. I remember giving up on it somewhere after day 20-ish when it was starting to feel really hard. Then, a few days later, I realised how little I had left to go and that it was actually an achievable amount in the time I had left, so I doubled down and reached the end. That feeling of finishing is one I’ll never forget; that sense of accomplishment, that I’d actually done it. I attribute the start of my writing career to that moment. It was the first time I’d ever finished a novel. I had no idea what to do next, so I joined a fanfiction community. The rest on that front is history.

In 2016 I wrote (and won) Hartwood Academy (and even wrote 23,500 words of a sequel in November 2017, bless). Hartwood Academy eventually morphed into Boy of the Forest after I kickstarted it again in November 2021. I’m about to finish another draft in the coming weeks with plans to send it to my publisher.

In November 2019, I wrote (and won) The Inventor and the Comet, which of course went on to become Made of Steam and Stardust.

All in all, I had a total of 8 projects, 3 wins, and about 272,500 words.

NaNoWriMo worked for me because I write my first drafts fast and terrible, just as NaNoWriMo forces you to do - you don’t have time to think or edit, you’ve just got to get those words down because the daily target of 1667 is a lot to fit in around a busy life. I always used NaNoWriMo as a way to kickstart a new novel, to write the story for myself and get draft zero down. I can honestly say I don’t know where my novels would be without the event. I loved the forums, the community, the tips straight to your inbox, the word counter, the officialness of it all. So, while nothing technically stops me from trying to write 50,000 words in November in future, there was something about the event of it that was motivating, and witnessing in real time as thousands of others went through the experience with you.

While this is the end of NaNoWriMo the non-profit, it certainly isn’t the end of NaNoWriMo the community. As the spokesperson mentioned in the video, during last year’s tumultuous NaNoWriMo, several alternatives popped up, and going forward they will continue to do so. I might even join one eventually. We’ll see. But for now, I want to say goodbye to NaNoWriMo as we knew it. Thanks for the memories, and thanks for all the words.