Oh boy. This post is not going to be an easy one to write, but if I don’t write it, I fear my frustrations may eat me up alive. I will do my best to stay civil throughout, but I’d like to apologize in advance for any snarky comments that might slip through the editing phase of this particular blog. If you are a huge proponent for NaNoWriMo and all that it stands for, I’m advising you now that this might not be the post for you.

Ye have been warned.

All right. Let’s talk about NaNoWriMo.

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NANOWRIMO – THE BEGINNING

I first discovered NaNoWriMo in 2016, literally two days before November 1st. Until that moment, I didn’t realize the writing community could be so big, so creative, so together. I was blown away by the intense feeling that there were hundreds, thousands, millions (okay, maybe not that many) of other writers across the world who wanted to do the exact same thing as I: write books. Of course, with only two days to prepare–and 90% of that time spent yapping to my family about how excited I was, rather than actually doing any prep work–it was no surprise that I didn’t win my first NaNoWriMo. The experience, however, was enough to fuel me. After that first year, I was a NaNoWriMo junkie, and I would go on to win quite a few November sessions, and many Camp sessions in April and July.

Throughout that experience, I also met and established friendships with amazing girls who I am still connected with to this day. NaNo played a part in not just this, but also in solidifying my dreams of becoming an author someday.

I am very, very grateful for this.

However, there is a quote about “all good things” which I think is very applicable here.

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately, that means that my days with NaNoWriMo were numbered as soon as they began.

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THE PROBLEM WITH NANOWRIMO

There are a lot of “issues” which have developed throughout the NaNoWriMo community over the last few years, and quite frankly, each and every one could be its own separate post; however, I do not feel qualified and/or researched enough in any of these to write on these topics, so I would encourage you to do your own research on:

• NaNoWriMo’s AI policy
• NaNoWriMo’s forum issues with minors
• NaNoWriMo’s guidance on leading writers to vote for abortion laws

Because I’m still very salty, that last one I’ll touch on very briefly:

A few years back, NaNoWriMo sent out a mass communication via email which essentially told writers who and what they should vote for in regards to abortion. Long story short: NaNo fully supports abortion, and therefore decided that everyone in their community should also support that, lest they be labeled as trash.

(please remember the apology from earlier about getting snarky in this post…)

This is violating because a) NaNoWriMo is an organization for writing, not for spewing their own propaganda, and b) writers participate in NaNoWriMo to be supported in writing their books. Not–unlike NaNo seemed to believe–to receive mass communication on NaNoWriMo’s political agenda.

Many, many, many writers left the NaNoWriMo sphere after this, including many of my friends. For some reason–whether it was me being optimistic or the darker side of me wanting to see how far they would fall–I decided to stick around for a bit. I didn’t participate as fully as I did before, and quite frankly I didn’t even try to participate last year due to my first semester of college. But I always thought that, one way or another, I would find my way back to NaNoWriMo in the end.

And, lo and behold, I did…

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THE END OF IT ALL

A few days ago, I decided to try logging back onto my NaNoWriMo account so that I could take a peek at my options for April’s Camp NaNo session. I don’t have a whole lot of hope in being able to complete a Camp NaNoWriMo while juggling work and college, but I was still interested in giving it a try. (What can I say? I’m an overachiever. It’s why burnout is my best friend, apparently.)

However, when I tried to log into my account, I was met with new terms and conditions that had been enacted in February of last year. (Which just goes to show the amount of attention I paid to NaNo in 2024, I suppose…) Because of the aforementioned issues regarding NaNoWriMo’s integrity–and because I’m nothing if not slightly curious and, dare I say it, suspicious–I decided to give the new terms and conditions a little read…

I’m very, very glad that I did.

Buried within statements of acceptance and tolerance, hidden underneath fields of flowery, inclusive, and seemingly intelligent text, are the words “do not inform others that you will pray or have prayed for them without their permission” (NaNoWriMo, 2024).

There comes a certain point when the nail has dug in far too deep and you need to make a decision: let it stay there embedded in your foot, or remove it and walk away. This week, I made the decision to remove it and walk away, and I could not be more happy with that call.

I always thought walking away from NaNoWriMo would be the most difficult thing in the world, but it actually ended up being relatively easy. If I’m being honest, I wish I would have walked away sooner.

Unfortunately, walking away from NaNoWriMo did end up leaving me with two small conundrums: where would I find writing challenges to participate in, and how would I track my project goal progress?

Everyone who has used NaNo in the past knows that they have a pretty cool tracker with built in graphs and fun little charts and all the bells and whistles you could ask for. (Maybe too many bells and whistles, to be honest…) Finding a replacement for that was not going to be easy…or so I thought…

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EVERY LAST GOODBYE MEANS A FIRST HELLO

Of course, I’m not going to end this post being all dreary and upset at NaNoWriMo for being sucky. It’s my belief that there are always wonderful things out there in the world, and I am really quite excited for the new adventures that await me now that NaNoWriMo is in my past.

For starters–there is a wonderful spring writing challenge happening in JUST A FEW DAYS for all writers! It’s called FicFrenzy, and it’s hosted by the ever wondrous Christine Smith! There’s a discord channel where writers are able to come together and join forces as they pen their manuscripts, and I’m really quite excited to crack my knuckles and see how far I get into revisions for Project Goblin. It’s going to be a wonderful month of writing and comradery from folks in the writing realm, and I’d encourage anyone else who’s looking to step away from NaNo–or even just step into a new writing experience!–to try it out!

Of course, with writing challenges comes the need for a writing tracker, which ended up being not as easy of a fix. One downward spiral into google (and not enough sleep) later, I am pleased to say that I think I’ve found the perfect alternative to NaNoWriMo’s writing tracker.

It is called TrackBear, and I’m afraid that I might like it even better than NaNo’s tracker. (Specifically because it doesn’t seem to care what mood I was in while writing. It just cares that I wrote. #blessyoutrackbear.)

If anyone is interested in stalking my progress, you can find my profile right here. Of course, I will admit that there are some funky things with this app, specifically in how some of the options are worded; however, it is really quite handy once you get the hang of it, and I’ve found myself rather impressed by the amount of options it has. I’ve tried things like MyWriteClub, but TrackBear seems to have more of the features that I want, and less of what I don’t need. That earns it a few bonus points in my book…

(aha. get it? book? it’s a pun, see…)

Ahem. Anyway.

At the end of the day, yes I’m frustrated by some of the ridiculous things NaNoWriMo has done recently (and, I suppose, not so recently), but I feel like this step is one in the right direction, and I’m eager to see where it takes me. As I draw closer to that which I know to be true, my tolerance for what I know to be false has lessened. It’s a scary place to be–downright terrifying at times–but it’s also a place of growing and learning and leaning.

However, that being said, I do want to make one thing very clear: I harbor NO ill will towards anyone who continues to participate in or use NaNoWriMo. My heart no longer wishes to be connected with that organization, but I will always support and love my writer friends who continue to participate in the yearly challenges.

If, however, you are looking for something new to try, definitely check out FicFrenzy. Spring session starts on the 15th of March and goes through the 15th of April, and there’s already a ton of awesome chatter going on about project goals and manuscripts and book ideas! I’ll be going more in-depth on my own personal writing goals in the next blog post, but until then, it might be worth joining the discord to see what all the fun is about… *mwahaha*

talk to me, peasants!

Are you planning in participating in any writing challenges this year? Do you know of any writing challenges aside from NaNoWriMo? (I’m definitely still on the prowl for more!) What do you use to track your wordcount? Let’s talk about ALL OF THE THINGS down in the comments below!