In previous years, this was a question people would ask about December, but that changed in 2025 when NaNoWriMo, or at least its parent nonprofit, The Office of Letters and Light, shut down.
It was a strange saga. What started as a goofy yearly event became, by some measures, the biggest annual writing event in the world. A formal organization was founded, with increasingly grand plans to change the world, and increasingly significant funding needs. It all ended in tears and acrimony, and some frankly bizarre issues over potential grooming on the forums and bad takes on AI-written fiction by people who really failed to read the room.
I’ve been an intermittent participant in NaNoWriMo, and I while I think the whole event and organization ended up way too far out over its skis, I do think the idea itself had value. Critics argue that it encouraged bad first drafts and nothing else. I’d argue that bad first drafts were being written well before NaNoWriMo, and they’ll continue being written long after it’s gone. Some people found camaraderie, some people discovered a love of writing fiction, some overcame a challenge, and some did, in fact, publish books that started in November.
It’s unfortunate that the name of NaNoWriMo has been sullied for many people. It certainly seems like the event won’t spring back quickly after these setbacks. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe a smaller, less organized NaNoWriMo is better for everyone.
Although I’m not participating this year, I was curious who might be picking up the slack. I’m sure plenty of individual writers are keeping the tradition alive, and there will no doubt be #NaNoWriMo hash tags on the various platforms that have sprung from the zombified corpse of Twitter. And much like that ecosystem, there are a number of smaller sites vying to be the place where NaNoWriMo communities congregate in 2026:
- NaNo2 – NaNo2 seems to be the most direct descendent of the original, with several people tangentially related to the old nonprofit. People will no doubt be of differing opinions on whether that is a good thing or not. This one certainly seems to be the most fully-featured site around today.
- Writing Month – A bare bones, no-nonsense, simple site for NaNoWriMo, and possibly other months of writing.
- Novel November – An alternative site by Pro Writing Aid, with an alternative acronym that is somehow worse: NovNov. I’m not particularly excited about a corporate-sponsored version, but it makes sense that small writing-related companies like this would step up.
- First Draft November – A similar effort is sponsored by Chill Subs, a company serving writers with newsletters and a submission tracker.
So, if you find yourself itching to write something resembling a novel this November, there are still places to find community online. And if that doesn’t appeal, you could always be a rebel and write without the benefits of a themed website or goofy portmanteau. Don’t let the man tell you how to live your life.
