April 14, 2025
It’s official. The NaNoWriMo organization (National Novel Writing Month) is shutting down.
What’s your reaction?
My first attempt at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) was in 2011. I’ve talked about it before, but I didn’t “win” that year. The goal is to write 50,000 words in November, and I made it to 49,000 words, but the story ended and I didn’t have more words to add.
It was my first attempt at writing fiction, and I wasn’t satisfied. But I was also hooked. I rewrote that story four or five times, including changing point of view twice, before I gave it up. Not because it was bad, but because it was too derivative of someone else’s work. That story is archived now, and will never be resurrected.
I tried again the next year, and “won.” I made it to over 50,000 words and had an almost complete story. After finishing it, I started the process of revision. But the writing was stiff, and it needed a lot of work. I set it aside, ready to work on the next story that was tumbling around in my head. I’ve won several times, but eventually stopped participating because I had other writing to do.
It’s a shame to see NaNoWriMo come to an end.
The challenge helped a lot of people get a taste of writing, and the rewards for winning assisted writers in developing their skills. But all good things come to an end. I haven’t delved into the details, but I understand that it has to do with opinions on the use of AI in writing. (We’ve previously discussed that topic on this hop.) I worried about how AI would affect writers, but shutting down NaNo wasn’t part of it.
I predict there will be efforts to replace NaNoWriMo with something similar. Probably more than one. I can’t imagine any of them will be as successful as the original. (Think about the number of attempts to compete with Facebook.)
How do the other authors feel about NoNoWriMo shutting down? Find out by following the links below.
As always, please stay safe until the next time.
April 14, 2025
It’s official. The NaNoWriMo organization (National Novel Writing Month) is shutting down. What’s your reaction?
Its sad but not unexpected. If only they had stuck to their original remit.
They tried to stay up with the times, but the times rolled over them.
I do not think you need an organization in order to write a novel in one month. People can do NaNoWriMo in small groups or on their own.