National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the organization and international online event where hundreds of thousands of writers log their attempt to write a manuscript in the month of November, is gone. The U.S.-based non-profit had been operating since 1999, posing a challenge to its members—write 50,000 words towards a novel during the month of November. Those who persisted, writing an average of 1,667 words a day (beginning no earlier than Nov. 1) would “win” the challenge in a race against Nov. 30. The two most significant aspects of the NaNoWriMo site were the word count tracking bar and the plethora of online resources, consisting of guides to help with outlining, plot, character creation and development, with the occasional bestselling guest speaker. Now, due to a few contentious years, a controversial decision last year to allow AI use in its challenge, and self-reported financial issues, NaNoWriMo is dead.
But it is still November, and still there are authors desiring the push to write a manuscript in a month. Most importantly, there are still prior competitors of the NaNoWriMo organization that now seek to fill the gap it leaves behind. But without one clear successor, trying out them all before committing becomes a Herculean task—there are accounts and passwords to create, after all! Having created accounts and explored all of them, here are the basics:
ProWritingAid’s Novel November
ProWritingAid’s Novel November is the website that duplicates the challenge and vibe of NaNoWriMo more than any other. Their homepage invites the writer to write in their favorite word processor, advertises their live Q&A sessions with bestselling authors including Madeline Miller (The Song of Achilles), Rufi Thorpe (Margo’s Got Money Troubles), and Tomi Adeyemi (Children of Blood and Bone), mentions daily writing sprints, as well as offering online badges, just as NaNoWriMo had. This dashboard is lively and full, being the access point for every resource ProWritingAid offers. Starting with the gentle welcome “Hello Challenger, welcome to Novel November”, the “NovNov” dashboard features the word count bar top and center, telling the days remaining, average daily word necessary going forward to meet the deadline, average daily words, and beneath, the badges. The events are easily accessible from a sidebar, with past events recorded for viewing. The community tab launches to a channel-type forum like some functional Discord-Twitter hybrid. For those desiring a return to NaNoWriMo’s golden days, this is the winner, with a fun, functional, and engaging website structure.
Reedsy Novel Sprint
The Reedsy Novel Sprint may be the alternative that has paid the most in marketing, with so many of their Instagram ads popping up, I couldn’t begin to forget November’s arrival. Reedsy’s challenge is the traditional 50,000 words and is offering a cash prize to three winners: 5k, 2.5k, and 1k. But to qualify, you must write in Reedsy; no copying and pasting from other word processors is allowed. Once reaching the 50k target, they are also offering a 3-month free trial of Reedsy Studio Premium. But the interface is not user-friendly and requires an email multi-step process to access the challenge within your Reedsy account. Once you hit the button to enroll, there is no difference in your account’s “bookshelf” or dashboard. The site’s persuasive homepage is its most alluring feature, offering events on the hero’s journey, writing sprints, and templates.
Order of the Written Word
Order of the Written Word’s challenge offers flexibility with three routes to choose from: writing 30,000 words for your current novel, 15 poems or 8 short stories, or revising a current manuscript draft. This alternative is a gentler approach with an easier word count to hit, and is inclusive of other types of writing, while NaNoWriMo was never designed as such. Upon joining, the website launches to a Discord which hosts the community.
WorldAnvil’s NovelEmber
WorldAnvil’s NovelEmber is also honing in on including other kinds of writers, although this is to choose the “Rebel” path. The parent site is heavily geared towards TTRPG (tabletop role-playing games) game masters and players, as well as writers, usually serving as a resource to help develop worlds. The primary challenge in NovelEmber is to write 50,000 words or prose during the month, using any writing software, and beginning no earlier than Nov. 1. Though the Rebel path is to adapt the challenge to your own creative needs—for other kinds of writing, TTRPG story creation, or more. WorldAnvil offers two badges, for attempts and for achievements. The writing community also takes place on a Discord server. NovelEmber has no official enrollment or sign-up; instead, the writer just tracks their word count and claims their badge and certificate upon accomplishing their goal.
For the ten-or-so thousand words I will be writing in November before research essays and group projects inevitably interrupt, I will be logging my count in ProWritingAid’s progress bar. For some other non-November-oriented websites, 4thewords is a great, gamified site for writing sprints, which has a free tier, and One Stop For Writers is another subscription-based, dynamic outlining tool for world-building, plot, and characters.