If you have read my posts, you probably know that I participate in NaNoWriMo, which is a yearly writing event hosted by a non-profit organization of the same name. I commit myself to the challenge, I use the word counter provided on their website, and maybe buy that year’s shirt. I don’t use their forums. I use the official Discord channels for my local groups, exclusively and sporadically.

Long enough ago that I don’t remember exactly when, some time this Winter, I think, I noticed that some of those channels had changed their name and what they called their moderators. Odd, but OK; fun, even. I wondered why for a moment, but didn’t think much about it. Then, between my previous post and this one, I found an announcement in one of them about controversial goings-on in the NaNoWriMo organization, which began well over a year ago. (Hence why I say I’ve been living under a rock – I had not noticed in all that time.) That announcement included a link to a timeline of events.

It started with accusations against some volunteers moderating their forums. We all know things happen; when it does, you investigate, handle it, and move on. Not so, apparently. Officials responded disproportionately to different levels of accusations, the community asked questions about it but could not get answers, high-level staff members resigned their positions without really saying why, applicants for volunteers were given unreasonable agreements to sign before they could take up their roles, all while more and more questions were raised yet not addressed to any measure of satisfaction – it’s a mess.

Plenty of people don’t want to associate with NaNoWriMo now. My groups’ name changes reflect that. They still exist and support their members whether those members participate in NaNoWriMo or not, but are no longer an official space. As for me, everything I have previously said about the challenges helping me is still true. I will keep setting personal writing goals which match their event schedule for now, and watch the situation. I may continue to use their word counter; I may play with ones shared in the aforementioned Discord channels; I may make my own. The local writing groups are all the support I ever sought beyond my immediate friends and family, and are going strong.

I still respect the intentions behind the founding of NaNoWriMo. Perhaps their leadership can figure themselves out. Perhaps they won’t, and the original challenge will become the heart of something more organic, like a folktale or a half-carried tradition or a rite of passage. No matter how this turns out, I still like the idea of writing fifty thousand words in thirty days, of creating the first draft of a new novel in November. A messed up bureaucracy can’t ruin that for me.