If you’ve been a part of the writing world, you’ve probably heard of NaNoWriMo. It’s been around since July 1999. Unfortunately, earlier this year, the organization shut down.
So now there are a few new pop-ups in the writing world. Pro Writing Aid is hosting a Novel November and Reedsy is calling theirs a Writing Sprint! Both are free to join, and will provide support throughout the month. The supports are things like writing sprints and mentors or podcasts. Reedsy is also offering a few nice prizes attached to theirs.
The goal for each competition is to write a 50, 000 word novel in a month. Essentially, that is 1666 words per day if you write each day. Both Reedsy and Pro Writing Aid offer space on their platforms to upload or write your work. This is no different than the former NaNoWriMo.
So about those prizes. With Reedsy, they are offering $5000 for the first prize and a 30 minute consultation with a literary agent. The second prize is $2500 and a 30 minute consultation with a literary agent. The third prize is $1000 and a thirty minute consultation with a literary agent. And for every participant, you get a three month subscription to Reedsy Studio add-ons. (This might be an indirect way for them to promote their product. But why not? Reedsy offers great services, so it’s a great opportunity to make more people aware of the things they provide.)
For me, I already actively use Reedsy and regularly suggest them, so I’ll be joining their competition. Am I doing it for the prize? Not really. There is something kind of fun about pushing myself to write a novel in a month. With one of my previous novels, I did this to write the first draft. I’ve also participated in the 3 day novel writing competition. This one takes place over Labour Day weekend every year.
I think there are many reasons to participate, though. Some people love competition. This isn’t me. Some people are in slumps and need something new in their life to get the creative juices flowing. Also not me. Some people like challenges. Sort of me. Some people do it to get something written. This is me. Some people do it for fun. This is also me.
I already have a novel in mind to write during November. I’ve been working on this one for a while now, and I’m looking forward to writing it. November, the novel writing month, seems like a good time to tackle writing it. So as we head into November, I’ll be keeping you posted about my progress.
K. M. Wray 