Posts filed under NaNoWriMo

NaNoWri...No.

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Writers around the world are experiencing an upset to their November plans. The organization behind the annual National Novel Writing Month is imploding due to its own incompetence, and writers, like myself, who have participated for decades are leaving the community in droves.

The death of NaNoWriMo has been drawn-out, ugly, and depressing for a lot of longtime participants. Arguably, the trouble began, as so much trouble did, in 2020 with the Covid pandemic. That year, it was prohibited for groups to gather for NaNoWriMo sponsored events (for obvious reasons). Municipal Liaisons (who are in charge of regional events) were forbidden from hosting or planning any in-person activities. Which was good! That was a good rule. But a lot of them didn't listen. That led to a lot of liaisons getting fired and banned, resulting in the disassembly of a lot of local chapters. NaNo was in the right, there. But that might have been the last time.

In 2022, scandal broke when NaNoWriMo partnered with a scam artist vanity press called Inkitt, which preyed on ambitious young writers who didn't know they were being scammed. NaNo's endorsement of the company was called out, and eventually an apology was issued, but a lot of damage was done to the good faith people had in them. It was another huge hit to the platform's popularity.

And then 2023 dealt what should have been the final blow. The story broke that a moderator who was in charge of the Young Writers Program forums had been grooming, exploiting, and harassing the children participating in the program. And he hadn't just been doing this himself, but also allowing other internet predators access to those forums in order to groom victims. It's a terrifying, reprehensible thought. And what upset people the most was that this had apparently been happening--and had been reported--for YEARS. NaNoWriMo's initial response was that they knew nothing of these happenings, which fell apart pretty quickly when these very organized young people provided proof that they not only knew, but that the concerns had been repeatedly brushed aside. It was truly a pathetic lack of accountability--an exact demonstration of what not to do. What followed was a mass exodus of both participants and org staff. There didn't seem to be anything left of NaNoWriMo, and it seemed like that might be for the best.

But it's a new year, and as November draws closer, there seems to be room for one more scandal. This time, NaNoWriMo seems determined to finish the job by abandoning literally everything they stand for. The challenge that was based on putting in hours of hard work in order to embrace the creation process has decided to take the stance that it's cool if you just want to use AI bots, tho. Forget the work and discipline, which was the whole point. Forget the creativity, which was also the whole point. Just push a few buttons, and BAM, you'll have a fresh project ready to be exploited by a network of scam artists.

Anyway. This is the time of year when I usually post about what I'm planning to work on for NaNoWriMo. For obvious reasons, that's not happening this year. I was done after last year, seeing how they had ignored the very serious problems in the forums. Last year, they were monsters. This year they're just a joke. I'm actually too mad to be bummed about it.

I'll still be writing, as always. I'll still write with friends, and I'm still going on my annual writing retreat to the lake. We can still make goals and track our progress. But NaNoWriMo is over for good.


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Posted on October 17, 2024 and filed under NaNoWriMo.

It's NaNoWriMo and I'm Not Ready

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, Root Rot, is now available for pre-order!)

Normally, a few days before November, I'd be organized. I'd have a plan, a setup, a solid goal and a strategy. This year? I have chaos. But who doesn't love a little chaos?

Instead of one pen, one project, like I did last year, this year I have nine projects, random pens, and way too many notebooks involved. That's four short stories (most of them half-written), two novellas (both started), and three novels to work on (one revision, one with just the last chapters to write, and one that's only a third drafted). I won't finish all this in November--that would be triple NaNoWriMo—but I need to finish a few of them, and move the others forward.

For pens, I'm starting with the two I have currently inked, a Carolina Pen Company in Exquisite Corpse, and a Conklin Word Gauge. When those are empty, which should happen quickly, I'll start a more planned pen rotation.

As for notebooks, I have:

-A Plotter Bible Size, where I have story ideas and outlines.

-A random grey plain notebook with other story notes. No idea what brand.

-My old Seven Seas Writer that has old story drafts, one of which I'm expanding into a novella.

-A Pebble Stationery Co. A5 Cosmo Air Light notebook that has current short story work in it.

-A pocket-sized Paperblanks that has a novella draft in it.

-A coffee-stained Odyssey Notebook with a novella draft in it.

-A Field Notes Dime Novel notebook that has novel outlines in it.

-A Barnes and Noble Italian Leather Journal with a novel draft started in it.

-A Graphilo A5 softbound notebook with novel revision notes in it.

-A printed and spiral bound complete novel draft that needs edits.

-And one novel is entirely on the computer (ugh).

I may need to borrow a llama to carry all my notebooks around for me.

The closest thing I have to a plan is that I'm going to work on the almost-done things first, to get them crossed off the list, and work my way towards the projects that need the most work. I still need to finish all of this by the end of the year, so I'll be NaNo-ing well into the sunset of 2023. Which is fine. That's the dream, right?

To help stay on track, a few other local authors and I have organized six write-ins throughout November, and I'll be running away to the lake to write over Thanksgiving weekend, as I always do.

Are you writing this November? Do you have a plan, or are you embracing chaos? Let me know what you're writing, and what tools you're using.


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Posted on October 26, 2023 and filed under NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo Wrap-up 2022

NaNoWriMo

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

We did it! NaNoWriMo 2022 is in the bag! Whether you hit your goal or not, you should be proud of the progress you made and for taking a little extra time to focus on your creativity this month. That's a victory, regardless of what the word counter says.

A lot of the success of NaNoWriMo comes from the sense of community that the event inspires. My NaNo buddies, much like my pen show buddies, are friends that I see once a year, and we gather like no time at all has passed. Writing in a room full of other writers who are also writing is kind of a magical experience. There's so much creation and invention in the air. And happily, at one of my gatherings, there were four of us writing by hand, with pen or pencil and paper. How cool is that? And I alternate these gatherings with retreating into full isolation with nothing but my writing. Both are perfect for getting work done.

NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo

As for me, I managed to hit the NaNo goal while simultaneously missing my own goal, so I have mixed feelings as I sit here watching the hours of November trickle away. I did write 50,000 words, so hooray! But I managed to accomplish that without finishing the projects I most wanted to finish. In an ideal November, I'd have been able to focus all my NaNo energy on one project—finishing my next novel draft—but deadlines have a way of dictating my priorities. Instead, I wrote the first half of three novellas, a chunk of the new novel, and one short story. The first half of three novellas, you ask? Why not just write one and finish it? An excellent question. I do need to write a novella by the end of the year, so I started one. But I also have three short stories due by the end of the year, so I wrote one of those (huzzah!), and started another one. And that story stretched and grew and expanded, and I managed to convince myself, after the first 7,000 words, that I could just keep going and edit it back to the required word count when it was done. So, I kept writing. And writing. And after about 12,000 words, I realized that this was not a short story and never would be. I still needed a short story! So, I set that novella aside and tried to start a new story. And the same thing happened. Which is how I've evened up with three half-finished novellas and one complete story. Things don't always go as planned. But I did make some progress on the novel between those other projects. All told, I worked on six different things, and only crossed the finish line on one. I'm not super pleased with that, but at least a lot of things moved forward. Though now I'll have to find homes for two unplanned novellas.

Aurora 88

I often say that for a working writer, every month is NaNoWriMo. For December, I need to write those two short stories that failed to happen during November, and finish one of the three novellas. Ideally, I'd also like to finish the novel draft, because I swore a solemn oath that in January, the epic re-write of my other-other novel shall commence, with the goal of having that submission-ready by June. I also have a new short story collection to start submitting in January (though I need to decide on the story order for it). No rest for the wicked.

Aurora 88 Unica Nera
Aurora 88 Unica Nera

If you recall, I added another layer of challenge to my writing this month. I decided to write all 50,000+ words with a single pen. At this, I was very successful, and so was the pen. The last time I did this, the pen looked a bit... rough... when I was finished. The Aurora 88 Utica Nera, however, looks almost brand new. The only visible signs of wear are some slight rubbing on the black finish of the nib, and I appear to have polished the matte finish off of the grip section. It still looks lovely—it's just shiny where it used to be a rougher texture. It still writes like a dream and it holds a TON of ink. I only had to refill it about once a week, even though it's a decently wet writer. My full review of the pen will be coming next week, but for now, the most important review is that it survived. And so did I.

Now let's do it again.

(Kenro Industries provided the Aurora 88 at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Aurora 88 Unica Nera
Posted on December 1, 2022 and filed under NaNoWriMo, Aurora, Writing.