Novel November: What You Need to Know
- Hannah Noffsinger
- Oct 24, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 26, 2025
With Halloween this week (!!), October is coming to a close. While we're all going to miss autumn leaves and spooky season, there is one big thing to look forward to before the holiday insanity takes over: Novel November!
If you've never heard of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) or Novel November, you're about to! NaNoWriMo/Novel November is a tradition lots of writers have followed over the years, and even though the official NaNoWriMo organization has shut down, the community hasn't let go of this 25+ year tradition.
Read on to find ways you can join the challenge!
In this post:
NaNoWriMo: A quick history
In July 1999, Chris Baty started a project with 21 writers in the Bay Area to write a whole 50k-word novel in one month. He called it National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. In 2000, it was moved to November "to more fully take advantage of the miserable weather". Thus, NaNoWriMo was born.
From 2000 to 2022, NaNoWriMo grew from 21 people to 413,295 official participants from all over the globe. Participants, called "Wrimo"s, connected through the NaNoWriMo website and followed three simple rules: the novel must be new, cannot be co-authored, and must be submitted in time to be verified.
In late 2023, Grant Faulkner left the position of executive director, which he had occupied since 2012. There were many staff changes in early 2024, including appointing Kilby Blades to interim executive director. That same year, the organization posted their position on the use of Artificial Intelligence in their challenges, stating that "the categorical condemnation of Artificial Intelligence has classist and ableist undertones".
NaNoWriMo's acceptance of AI use for creative writing generated huge controversy among the community. Many writers posted on social media that they would no longer support or participate in NaNoWriMo, authors Daniel Jose Older and Maureen Johnson resigned from the organization, and a few sponsors withdrew their support.
In addition to the AI controversy, there were also questions about child safety in the under-18 forums and local gatherings. Accusations included mishandling of a child grooming complaint, lack of staff background checks, and reports that children were being bullied and silenced by forum moderators.
In March 2025, the organization announced its closure. Blades published a YouTube video the same day citing financial issues, "community vitriol," and “a six-year downward trend in participation" as contributing factors, adding that the closure was "a logical outcome of longstanding circumstances, not a salacious tale of scandal.”
sources: Wikipedia, East Bay Express, Publishers Weekly
image: By http://nanowrimo.org/press#logos, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48505003
Now what?
So if NaNoWriMo doesn't exist anymore, what do we do now?
Don't worry, there are still great options!
Do it yourself
The simplest answer is to just do it by yourself! The basic rules are very simple: Write a full draft of a novel in the month of November.
You can, of course, adjust this goal however you want to. Traditionally, the draft has to be the first draft of a 50k-word novel, but even within the Wrimo community there were lots of writers who tweaked the challenge, including me! The first time I joined NaNoWriMo in 2022, my goal was to write the second draft of the novel I was working on, not the first.
You can change the draft number like I did, the word count, the genre (poetry collection, anyone?), or any other aspect that will be best for you! The point is to give yourself a challenging (yet doable!) writing project to help combat the November blues.
Join a community
If the do-it-yourself route feels too lonely, or if you need more external structure and accountability, there are lots of communities you can join, both in-person and online. While you'll have to look for (or create!) an in-person writer's group yourself, I found three promising free online options for you:
While there isn't much information on this site, NewNoWriMo seems the most similar to the original NaNoWriMo. Hosted by the fanfiction platform FicFan, NewNoWriMo is open to 50k words of "original works and fanfiction, in any genre, fandom, or pairing."
If the idea of squeezing all your writing into one month gives you the ick, check out AutoCrit's Novel 90 challenge! While the challenge technically started at the beginning of October, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't still join if you're interested. Novel 90 is more community-focused than the other two options here, as you sort yourself into one of three teams (Planner, Pantser, or Plantser) on sign-up, and they offer live coaching, weekly live streams, and daily motivational emails through the end of December to help you reach your goals.
If both of the above challenges seem a little daunting, you should try StoryForge's 30K in 30 Days challenge! This is the one I'll be joining, as it seems the most realistic with my school schedule while also being enough of a stretch. The challenge is designed to accommodate jobs, families, and other responsibilities, and to be more approachable and flexible than the traditional 50k-word goal.
Pro tip!
Make sure the challenge you join or set for yourself is catered to your creation style. NaNoWriMo is designed to write quickly and just get a draft down, but if that's not you, don't worry! You can (and should!) modify the challenge to match your goals and life situations. The point of such a big challenge is that you have to work on it every day, so take that and make it your own.
May the muses be with you.
Happy writing!
PS - If you're looking for a writing community, check out my TikTok as your next step ;)
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