Is It Preptober?

Next month will be the first November in decades that the official NaNoWriMo website will not exist. Does this mean no National Novel Writing Month? Will there be a NaNoWriMo community? Should I do NaNoWriMo?

I can only speak for myself, but I plan to do NaNoWriMo. Which means this is Preptober.

Preptober: It’s a blend of “prep” and “October,” referring to the time when writers plan, outline, and organize their novels before the writing marathon begins.

I decided to discuss this because I just found out Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo back in 1999, helped start a new NaNoWriMo website called NaNo 2.0. He moved on to other projects later – although I believe he participated over the years.

Will NaNo 2.0 galvanize National Novel Writing Month? The website is a much more streamlined version of the original website, but it does have resources. I signed up for the email list to receive regular updates during November. Maybe that will bring back that old feeling of writing in community?

And speaking of writing in community, how will that be done this first year without the “official” website? I recommend joining an online community. Reddit has a nanowrimo subreddit where many people plan to check in during the month of November. There are also many online communities, such as the ones on Discord.

I also encourage NaNoWriMos to find or form their own in writing communities in their own towns and cities. That is the biggest loss with the old website gone: it facilitated in-person groups.

But we have to technology to contact other in our city to form groups at coffee shops, right? Perhaps you already belong to a writing group that does NaNoWriMo regularly. You’re all set.

I was kind of leaning toward not doing NaNoWriMo this year, but I think I’ve changed my mind. I actually did my own NaNoWriMo in May of this year and it was fun. But it was lonely.

If you like doing NaNoWriMo, you don’t need to rely on the old website. I repeat, NaNoWriMo is NOT DEAD. It’s just changed. Hear are some perimeters I’ve set up for myself this this year:

• I will only be writing 500 words a day, every day, in November.
• I will use this month as Preptober; I’ve already decided to write my novella called Parch, which I already have outlined.
• I will consult Chris Baty’s book No Plot? No Problem! to regain the spirit of NaNoWriMo.
• I will be checking in with Reddit’s NaNoWriMo subreddit daily throughout November as an online community.
• I might try and form an in person NaNoWriMo meetup group at a local coffee shop in my city. I’m still not sure how I would do that.

I already have created a list of websites that have NaNoWriMo-like programs. I neither endorse nor resist them. Some ask for money. Some are just for fun. My choice? I will probably check in with NaNo 2.0 regularly.

Is it Preptober? Yes. The spirit of NaNoWriMo lives. Embrace it.

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Photo by Damien Wright