NaNoWriMo Alternatives

Published November 5, 2024

By AJ Metzger

I’ll admit I planned for the past 3 years to participate in NaNoWriMo and each year I started strongish but all the things interfered. Mainly for me, November is a crazy busy month for planning and organizing the upcoming year for both work and home, and trying to cram a few thousand words into that at the same time was mentally not possible. 

OK, anyways, I love the idea and will continue to try however I am looking for alternatives that will fit my calendar a little better. Why not January or February when it’s cold and you don’t want to go shopping, hiking, or peopling, or maybe June, July, or August when, if you live in the south, it’s too humid to go anywhere anyways?  I found a few prospects I like and thought I’d share them with our subscribers who may want to continue in the spirit but may want something a little different. 

The following options are not endorsed by PPW. If you find one you like, let us know!

A Few NaNoWriMo Alternatives

• Shut Up and Write – This organization has various year-round challenges, in-person and online write-ins, and if you want to host an in-person writing sprint they will list on their database. If you prefer to do it all online there is a good community for you.  There are also a lot of articles on topics relevant to the writing world for when you need to take a mental break from creating. 
• TrackBear lets you track words, chapters, pages, and time, so whatever method you choose, they have something for you.  You can also set writing targets, track your writing habits, and set up leaderboards to include your friends. They don’t have ads or pay to play. Just write and track.   I like the simplicity of the layout but I haven’t had a chance to deep dive into it yet. 
• SavvyAuthors is a writers’ forum with a community, online classes, events, and a database of books for everyone.  They also have writing contests and a beta readers program if you’re like me and love to read for reviews. They are participating in NaNoWriMo this year but if that’s not your thing, it’s ok. They have a lot to offer. 
• Pathfinders Writing Collective has challenges that are tracked using TrackBear. It promotes a safe space community for writers, and supports various charities.  Their challengers are easy to customize to what is best for you, pace, tracking, etc. The first Challenge starts on Nov. 1 2024 so you can get in on the ground floor. They are also active on Instagram and Discord to give more options for the community. 
• Story A Day is a month-long short-story challenge in which writers write (finish) a short story every day In May and again in September. StoryADay.org is the online hub for writers taking part in the challenge: part blog, part writers’ community, all designed to help you write every day, not “someday”.  The stories can be fiction or non-fiction, you can choose to share what you’ve written or keep it private, and you can choose if you want to participate every day or just a few days a week. It’s very flexible and forgiving and at the heart of it, just helps us get into the habit of writing.  
• Novlr is a writing tool owned by writers and is similar to Scrivener. It has a beautiful metrics dashboard to show progress and I think is pretty motivational.  There are 4 levels from free to lifetime co-owner.  It says it can work offline but I haven’t tried that part yet, I will in December on my flight.  The free portion, which is great, gives you 5 projects with 7-day version history where you can add notes, share your work, and focus on your writing.  Set goals, track your writing streaks, and get success nudges. Write wherever you are on any device with seamless online word syncing.  
• OWL Online Writing Log is similar to Novlr, with three packages available going from free to pro package–obviously with more support and access depending on the level you subscribe to.  The free package is good if you want to see what it’s about and if their system and metrics dashboard is what you like.  Owl allows you to set monthly goals which is helpful depending on the month (I can’t write 50,000 words in December no matter how much I may want to), it tracks statistics, has group activities, and has achievement celebrations as you meet goals.

For me, I want something that helps me track word count and other goals, but I like having a daily tracker (if those fitness tracker watches tracked pages turned or words typed I’d probably buy one) because sometimes I can only write for a few minutes but I want it to count somehow.

I will explore more and get back here with my thoughts and if I have found other apps and sites with trackers, challenges, and communities.  

AJ Metzger has been writing all her life and in the last few years published multiple academic papers for law enforcement. She is branching out into fiction writing using some of the more comical and unique situations from real-life as inspiration. She currently lives in Colorado Springs where she grew up hunting, fishing, and off-roading with her dad. When she isn’t writing she can be found riding or hiking with her dog or buried in a book.