News NaNoWriMo Shutting Down

[Zweit]

As many RP enthusiasts are also authors in some capacity, I wondered how many folks were also surprised to hear that the organization behind one of the most prominent writing events of my formative years has announced that they're shutting down for good.

Scandal-hit creative writing website NaNoWriMo to close after 20 years

The US nonprofit, whose online community encouraged members to write a novel in a month, has been rocked by controversy in recent years

www.theguardian.com

The general consensus seems to be that they were already struggling financially (as non-profits are wont to do), but that there were also a ton of mishandled issues including misbehaving staff, but then also their open acceptance and promotion of AI generative text in writing that was the final nail in their coffin in a lot of writer's eyes.

It's unfortunate to hear. Especially in a time of plummeting literacy rates among both children and young adults.

 

[Onmyoji]

They picked a really bad time to announce it, as many people thought it was a joke on April,1.

If it's for real, it does feel like it's an end of an era. I never completed the challenge despite several attempts, but always appreciated the fact such an event existed. It gave inspiration to so many writers all over the world.

I don't expect the challenge itself to die, even if the website and the organization behind it would close. But we might not see anything on the same scale anytime soon. It will likely become a number of smaller private communities.

 

[AaronMk]

lmao rip to a hashtag-turned-non-profit-for-tax-reasons. Will not be missed

 

[Zweit]

They picked a really bad time to announce it, as many people thought it was a joke on April,1.

If it's for real, it does feel like it's an end of an era. I never completed the challenge despite several attempts, but always appreciated the fact such an event existed. It gave inspiration to so many writers all over the world.

I don't expect the challenge itself to die, even if the website and the organization behind it would close. But we might not see anything on the same scale anytime soon. It will likely become a number of smaller private communities.

I never fully completed one either, but I participated several different times. I think the end goal was never to see novels churning out so much as it was to get people inspired and writing, to make it something fun and engaging. A community effort.

This is were a lot of my grief comes from, mostly. They were responsible for a lot of IRL workshops and hosted many summer camp style online courses that were targeted specifically at adolescent writers. Local initiatives and groups are always good and wanted, but they also don't have the same reach that a large and well known organization like NaNo does/did.

 

[Edythir]

If someone is interested in the history of all the drama that has gone down, I personally loved this deep dive.

 

[Nieve]

I've met many a wonderful friends through the shared experience of NaNoWriMo and very few of them were through the official organization itself. I'm sure it will be missed by some, but honestly, I see the tradition continuing on its own and that's good enough for my nostalgic butt.