reader. writer.

It’s November, which is? was? National Novel Writing Month. Each year in November, people around the world challenge themselves to write 50,000 words in a month, something akin to a marathon because completion is winning. It’s a self-challenge that I always liked, which may relate to my own personal flaws—I am a sucker for a bar graph, I far prefer the freedom of first drafts to the pain of revisions, and I benefit from daily writing goals/habits.

A nonprofit/website called nanowrimo used to be the primary host of this event. You don’t actually need the website to set the goal to write a lot during the month of November, but it did provide a space for writers to cheer one another on. Unfortunately, nanowrimo experienced a huge meltdown in recent years over management challenges they weren’t able to overcome, so goodbye, nanowrimo.

But the ghost of nanowrimo lives on, and I’ve found at least three places where I could indulge in my love of fast drafting challenges and/or goal-tracking and/or bar graphs-as-motivation. 

1. The largest and most similar to what was offered by nanowrimo is now offered by ProWriting Aid. It’s called Novel November (or Nov Nov), and joining is free. https://prowritingaid.com/novel-november

2. My favorite writing podcast Print Run plans to host some kind of weekly zooms and other support to encourage writers to pursue writing-related goals this month.  

3. Another favorite podcaster is book coach Mary Adkins of the First Draft Club podcast, and she’s offering free support to draft 10,000 words next week.

Since I’m in editing rather than drafting mode right now, I won’t be able to take full advantage this month, but I have been peeking in to get ideas for the future. Also, I know that you can adapt your approach, such as setting goals in terms of time, for example, 50 hours of revising in one month. I think they used to call this being a nano rebel. That’s what I will be doing this month, more or less. 

Where I most need help in motivation and habits is sharing my writing online, mostly on this blog but also on my bluesky account. If you’ve read my blog lately, you may know that I’ve started posting a kind of weekly newsletter commenting on my favorite topics. That was working (sorta), but I need more practice. It’s not so much that I can’t blog or post, but I tend to overthink or overdo it. So, consider today’s post something of a heads up that I will be posting more often. Right now, my plan is to post on time management/productivity strategies on Mondays, reading notes on Tuesdays, democracy, yes, please on Wednesdays, reflections on writing on Thursdays, and quotes I like on Fridays. My goal for the weekends is to read and possibly respond to posts on bluesky and/or other bloggers.

Even though the typical goal of nanowrimo is to generate as many words as possible, I will aim to write regularly but keep it short (or shorter?). Capture one thought, share it, and move on with my day.

Whatever your goals are for November, I hope you reach them—with or without a bar graph.