National Novel Writing Month, more commonly known as NaNoWriMo, has shut down after 25 years in the writing spotlight. A platform that has spawned numerous YA or Young Adult novel hits, such as the Cinder series by Marissa Meyer and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, as well as the challenge that award-winning author John Green famously participated in, has decided to close its doors.
NaNoWriMo is a writing-based nonprofit founded in 1999, which holds a writing challenge during November where participants are tasked with writing a 50,000-word (150-200 pages) manuscript in 30 days. The organization also had an online platform where challengers could find writers block and novel-writing tips. The challenge originated accidentally with 21 friends of founder Chris Baty participating, and it grew to 427,653 writers in 2021 before being deactivated in 2024.
In 2023, NaNoWriMo’s online platforms were hit with allegations of grooming or inappropriate conduct, leading them to shut down their online forums that were active during the writing month. More recently, in 2024, NaNoWriMo originally released a statement stating how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be beneficial, and then revised to find that “the categorical condemnation for AI to be problematic.” In layman’s terms, a writer is elitist if they believe that AI should not be used in writing. Their stance on AI incited authors Daniel José Older and Maureen Johnson to step down from the board of NaNoWriMo. The organization had struggled both financially and reputationally in the past few years due to the AI incident and accusations of inappropriate conduct, ultimately leading to the nonprofit’s demise.
One teen, Sans U, 16, shares their experience with NaNoWriMo. They describe that they “loved doing this [challenge], but personally felt like it was a bit of pressure.” A project like NaNoWriMo can feel daunting to most inexperienced writers, isolating them out of fear of a 50,000 word count.
In many ways, when I was completing the project back in 2022, I felt that tangible fear.
My Creative Writing class participated, and we were fortunate to have the option to adjust the word counts. I mellowed the original goal of 50,000 words to 10,000 over one month. Yet, this was still on track to be my longest piece of writing thus far, and it was terrifying. Most of the time, I was apprehensive about writing and put it on the back burner. Inevitably, I cranked out most of the words in the week leading up to the due date, and my finished product was an impossibly difficult to read collection of vignettes.
But what my teacher emphasized, and something that I am still slowly picking at, is the notion that in everything we do there is something to be learned. NaNoWriMo was a learning opportunity for me, and while those vignettes will never see the light of day hopefully, I realized how powerful my creativity could be if I just wrote continuously without pestering over every nitpicky detail that I would painstakingly worry about. This idea of continuity and resilience are life lessons that I take with me throughout my curricular and personal life, as I try to batter every storm and take new opportunities as learning experiences.
In my time as a NaNoWriMoer, I completed the challenge, and the original purpose of writing as much as possible was ultimately satisfied. I was happy with myself for putting my writing through a new test and braving the unfamiliar. Doing this strengthened my writing for the years to come, as it enabled me to accept all of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it came to pen and paper and merely write without the worry of critiques. Without a national challenge like NaNoWriMo, I fear any teens will never have access to an experience that can enhance and cultivate their writing skills.
For teens, the loss of NaNoWriMo can feel discouraging due to the absence of a platform that supports youth writers. The NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program (YWP) was explicitly designed to help children aged 17 and under on their journey to writing a novel, through free resources, including lesson plans and progress charts.
When asked about how the loss of NaNoWriMo will affect the teen community, Sans asserts that “it definitely did, and after the recent controversy it discouraged them deeper into the hole they came from.” There is already a wide gap in student education across the state of Georgia.
12 metro-Atlanta counties would rank third in national education if they acted as lone states, while the other 147 Georgia counties would land in 49th place. Nationally, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color have lower enrollment and success rates in advanced courses such as AP and IB classes. There are real disparities in the education system not just statewide, but nationally as well, where less advantaged students have limited access to quality education and facilities that culture their learning.
NaNoWriMo was able to break the barriers of writing for youth, and demonstrate to all teens that they are able to be writers, creatives, and anything they want to be. When I was going through NaNoWriMo I felt an independence that I hadn’t before in my classrooms and my imagination was finally uncapped as I was able to write what I wanted with no set barriers. But most importantly, through this process I always felt supported. The challenge offered support to all students and your quality of experience was not determined by what zip code you live in.
Losing a large community like NaNoWriMo means losing future generations of writers.
Nowadays where “cringe culture” is slang on every app, teens and youth struggle to express themselves and dive into their passions without feeling a lingering sense of shame or embarrassment. A challenge like NaNoWriMo offers them a community of writers and mentors who share their same passion and act as confirmation that what they are doing isn’t silly or worthless. NaNoWriMo reminded us that something does not necessarily have to be of good or Nobel-laureate quality in order to be valuable, but that we do things for the lesson rather than just how something is perceived. Teens are scared to put themselves out there, and without people standing beside them they will be even more fearful to delve into their creativity.
The loss of NaNoWriMo means one less resource available for all students to access and succeed. While a large-scale organization may not be the ultimate solution to students’ writing needs, there is an undeniable demand for students to participate in challenges that allow them to improve and are accessible at no cost.
