I have enjoyed the idea behind NaNoWriMo for the last few years, and was a bit disappointed when it ended two years ago amid drama and recriminations. I was never into the community, just the premise, so it was pretty easy to recreate my own version of it. I kept the challenge portion, some of the elements, and developed my own logo. I haven’t tried to promote it anywhere, at least not yet. If I’m totally honest, I was hoping a natural successor would appear that everyone would rally around in writer solidarity and the love of the written word, AI scandals be damned.

In the aftermath of the fall of NaNoWriMo, some elements started to crystallize. Since nobody can own the concept of a writing challenge, anyone can run one, and many people did. Including me! 🙂 Some in November, some in other months. Some groups reacted to the NaNoWriMo, and defined themselves as a result — anti-AI, pro-AI. Yawn. I personally don’t care because all writing challenges are personal. If someone wants to write something with AI, why would I care? If people can participate in book clubs having only listed to the audiobook, how rigid are the rules for a personal challenge with no prize or standard attached to it? There’s no “degree” attached, no microcredential to use in a labour market. It’s for fun. If someone thinks that fun is with AI, why do I care? I think if they’re participating in a group discussion, they should declare what they’re doing, but beyond that, meh. It’s not a hill I care about in the context of a personal writing challenge. AI usage in other domains? Sure.

Other replacements

I really like NaNo 2.0. It has basically all that I hoped to have, plus way more. It no longer has the active community, online fora, etc. It is basically “Here’s a challenge, here’s how it works, go!”. The writing tools page has some basic prep sheets in word and PDF, links to software for writing, etc. But it also has wordcount trackers you can use in paper (download) or online, or just in a spreadsheet. One of the real drama elements of the downfall previously was failure to protect young writers from predators in the online community, and so they avoid that entirely with no forum. However, they do have workbooks aimed at various levels of youth, and some tools for educators too, written by many of the same people who did the old one. Both the resources for all and the resources for youth are way beyond my scope. They also have a lot of links for tips on writing, with 3 podcasts, 17 videos, and 27 books. Not sure I’d use the same list, but not bad.

Where I’m impressed, though, is their digital badge collection. They have a yearly badge that says participant (or winner if you finish, which I’ve never liked, tbh). But then they have writer badges — if you’re a newbie, veteran, purist (50K in 30d), rebel (DIY challenge), or planner / pantser / plantser, plus milestone badges…5K, 10K, 25K, 30K, 40K, 50K or 25%/50%/75%/100%. Those are somewhat creative, a bit “more” than most would do. But it is the experience badges that I love…tell a friend about your project seems silly as a badge, but it is also a huge “accountability” measure. Some are very unique to your writing style, such as writing with another person or participating in a word sprint. Others are about your own emotional journey — have a eureka moment, cry while writing, write “the end”. Still others would be unique to your plot — write a first kiss, kill a character, activate a plot twist, write a betrayal, or write a breakup. And others are about the process of writing — write somewhere new, backup your project, write every day, write after midnight, etc. There are no badges for research, editing or publishing, as those aren’t part of the zeitgeist of writing for 30d. But it’s a great ecosystem they’ve created, and a good source of inspiration. I need to check out some of the online page count resources, too, just for my own work.

ProWritingAid in the UK has “Novel November” aka NovNov, and it is trying to scale up completely. They’ve got the corporate vibe, it will never be “owned” by the community, but there are large #s of forum and groupings by genre. Some people hate that it is tied to the company, except, well…umm, duh? It will likely become the largest, but nothing in it excites me. Well, that’s not quite true. They have badges! The starter, first steps, picking up pace, hitting your rhythm, locked in gear, cruise control, habit formation, momentum master, 1667, 5K, 10K, 15K, 25K, 40K, 50K, the audiophile, the sprinter, the questioner, the learner, the finisher. They’re okay, nothing strongly resonates, but not bad.

NaNoWriMo 2.0…a “we aren’t like the old crew” crew. I am rarely interested in anything a group does if its primary definition is by what it is not. Yawn.

And yet I like Order of the Written Word (O2W). They used to be part of NaNoWriMo, hate AI, sure, but they have some nice elements in a framework … different levels (30K instead of 50K), different models (poetry), stages (initiation, trials, refinement ritual aka editing, conclave, crafting grounds).

I have no interest in “contests”, including Reedsy Novel Sprint.

I have wondered about more year-round options…NaPoWriMo (April for Poetry), Camp NaNoWriMo (April / July), ChaBooCha (Chapter book challenge, March), StoryADay (Shortstories, May and September), or Short Story September (obvious), but nothing in there really sings to me. It is just alternate types for alternate days, not really year-round.

12×12 is year-long, but is 12 picture books in 12 months. I’m thinking more something that resets, not that you would write for 12 months necessarily.

I like the ones that are about habits — 750words (per day, keep the streak going) was the first one I came across, relatively simple. But I absolutely love their badge system:

• Streak: Turkey (3d), Penguin (5d), Flamingo (10d), Albatross (30d), Phoenix (100d), Pterodactyl (200d), Pegasus (365), Spacebird (500d), Starling (750d), Squirrel (1000d), Griffin (2000d), and Sphynx (3000d);
• Spirit: Same as Streak, but not consecutive, just total;
• Showing Up: Oxalis (100d), Anniversary (750d), Dandelion (1000d), Blackberry (2000d), Kudzu (3000d);
• Behaviour: Patron (financial support), Early adopter (joining date), Cheetah (10d of fast writing), Hamster (10d no distraction), Turquoise Horse (monthly challenge), Early rooster (10d of early writing), Night bat (10d of late writing), NaNoWriMo (50K in one month), Rallying red panda (referrals);
• Wordcount: Hello (first word), Novella (10K), Book (50K), Hefty Tome (100K), Thrilling Sequel (250K), Epic Trilogy (500K), Anthology (750w), Opus (1Mw), Magnum Opus (2Mw), Tour de Force (3Mw), Historical Treasure (4Mw), Interplanetary Archive (5Mw), and Galactic Library (6Mw);

I also like the premise of 4thewords’ Write Fest (44-day novel challenge) — it’s gamified so that as you write words, you complete quests, slay monsters, and get virtual loot. Not what I’m looking for, but intriguing for badge design and quests.

I suppose my closest neighbours would be the self-run challenges, mostly by Indie authors with YouTube or other online media accounts. Sarra Cannon (rough drafts, April), Jenna Moreci (Soul Writer accounts), etc. Or PathFinders Writing Collective, choose-your-own-pace adventures.

Where that leaves me to go

I’ve already been planning around badges, and there’s good info in the various approaches others have taken. I know I don’t want to run an online forum, but perhaps some simpler word trackers would be good. I’ll have to think through that one a bit. I also have to decide if Quest of the Quill is a narrow subset of my personal badge system I’m developing, or a one-off form.

In the meantime, I’ll have to go check out some of the resource links on the Nano2 site.