Hi folks! I’m doing a special blog post to share some concept art for the novel I’ll be writing this November, Ashbranded, as part of the National Novel Writing Month challenge (but separate from the organization) and to offer some alternatives to NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo has undergone a number of major controversies this year and shut down its forums, and as a result, many people aren’t participating with the actual organization. If you’re one of those people, but you still want to keep yourself accountable to the challenge, here are some ways to do that.

1. Find subreddits

Reddit is a great place to connect with people who have your same interests. The r/nanowrimo subreddit already has a lot of folks who would be happy to help keep you on track. Also, there’s a subreddit specifically for people who don’t want to deal with the NaNoWriMo organization itself: r/nanodiaspora2024.

2. Use TrackBear

TrackBear is a free app you can use to update your progress towards your 50,000-word goal on a daily basis. Once you set up an account, you can also join the leaderboard I’ve already created for the event by going to Leaderboards in the sidebar of your dashboard and clicking “Use join code.” You can then enter this code: “4850558d-105c-4e7b-86e6-e98edffe0a20.” The leaderboard will let you track your progress in comparison to other participants, including myself. Happy writing!

(Note: I’ve heard pacemaker.press is also good, but I haven’t tried it myself. TrackBear seems simpler and easier to use.)

3. Use genre-specific forums

Since my novel is going to be a fantasy work, I’m using mythicscribes.com. It’s been great so far. I’ve heard sffchronicles.com is also pretty good for both science fiction and fantasy, but I can’t say it’s been particularly useful for me. Still, you may have some success there.

4. Take a look at 4thewords.com

This one is a gamified writing site that allows you to track goals and progress, get rewards, and connect with a community. You may find other people who are doing the challenge, or you may just want to keep yourself on track. Either way, you can start with the free tier to see how it goes and later you can upgrade to the $6 or $9 per month tiers if you feel it’s worth it. So far I’m enjoying just using the gamification features, but you may get more out of the community.

5. Find YouTubers

Abbie Emmons is one of my favorites for offering resources and advice for the challenge if you don’t want to spend a lot of time using NaNoWriMo’s resources. Avery Moore is another one; she doesn’t have many subscribers yet, but she has lots of useful advice and resources to offer, and I highly recommend her! As an aside, I first found her on the Mythic Scribes forum.

6. Find other ways to motivate yourself

Whether you choose to join a Discord server or a general forum, or you have friends who will help keep you accountable, just keep working towards a 50,000-word goal. You can do this!

I’ve also been toying with the idea of creating a badge/little logo specifically for anyone who completes the challenge through TrackBear or any other tracking software, but separate from NaNoWriMo. If you’re interested, contact me and include the word 50k2024 in your message so I know you want a badge if I do come up with one.

Final thoughts

You don’t need to cooperate with the NaNoWriMo organization to meet your goals. You can make your way through the challenge on your own or with the help of other people who are just as excited to write 50,000 words in a single month. Good luck on your novels!