Nows and Forevers

NaNoWriMo will soon be no more.

For many people who love to write, whether they want to write a book or not, National Novel Writing Month had been a cultural touchstone and a fun sprint of 50,000 words every November. But the site announced this past week that it would be shutting down after 26 years.

I’m sad about this, even though financial pressures and other challenges that have faced the site have made it impossible for the nonprofit to go on. I’ve been an on-again/off-again participant since 2009 and I “won” a handful of times. A few friends of mine have written and published books out of those 50,000-word sprints in November.

I’m told there are other alternatives. I’ll have to look into it. I love writing fast, and this was a fun way to challenge myself every fall.

But until then, RIP, NaNoWriMo.