Thank you to Howard for pointing me to this story. Howard, our fabulous editor here, is—as you may or may not be aware—an editor with ALLi partner platform Reedsy.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
As we reach the end of October, many of us would, in past years, have been gearing up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), the decades-old challenge that saw hundreds of thousands of writers around the globe attempt to write a novel—or at least 50,000 words—in the month of November.
Over the years, NaNoWriMo has brought us the likes of The Night Circus, Water for Elephants, and the full novel of Hugh Howey’s Wool. It also fostered a strong sense of community, with online and in-person write-ins and support that many writers truly valued.
And then it all went wrong. Beginning with a controversial statement about AI that many in the writing community felt failed to strongly condemn its use, a downward spiral eventually led to the announcement in March of this year that there would be no NaNoWriMo 2025.
Reedsy Steps In
Reedsy is among those stepping into the void to offer an alternative with its Reedsy Novel Sprint, a similar “novel in a month” challenge—this time with prizes.
Reedsy has doubled down on the issue that led to NaNoWriMo’s demise: AI. The company insists that all participants complete the 50,000-word challenge in their Writing Studio, where you cannot use AI or paste in text from outside, ensuring that all words are human written (or so painstakingly transcribed they might as well be).
Prizes and Community Spirit
There will be prizes: $5,000 for first place, $2,500 for second, and $1,000 for third, along with additional rewards and meetings with a literary agent. This suggests that the expert team at Reedsy will be reading at least some of every completed challenge—which is both interesting and potentially daunting.
Reedsy will also host online community events and webinars to recreate the camaraderie and support that writers loved about NaNoWriMo.
It remains to be seen whether the Reedsy Novel Sprint will produce a new Night Circus, but the company will surely be hoping so. That kind of breakout success would be a massive boost for their platform and the future of the event.
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An interesting turn of events. I don’t write fiction, but used NaNoWriMo as a push to complete 50,000 words in my nonfiction manuscript. I’m not sure the Reedsy option will be the same kind of push for me.
I highly recommend all writers read the book “ChatGPT Book Writing Formula.” It has some great ideas for using AI to enhance our writing. You can ask such things “Provide a detailed timeline of the Eiffel Tower’s construction, including key dates, challenges faced, and the primary materials used. Format your response as a bulleted list with no more than 5 main points.” With this kind of prompt a writer can get needed details without spending hours scouring the internet.