The Fall of NaNo & The Rise of Writing Programs
Note: I first drafted this in October of 2025, but with the closure of NaNoWriMo's doors earlier that year I feared this post would come across as an attempt at benefiting off of the horrible things which resulted in the shut down. This conversation is meant to be less about NaNo and more about the writing programs which have sprung up in its wake. All this being said, elements of this post may not seem as relevent as they would have then. However, I do believe this is a discussion still worth having, and with the NoQu season just around the corner it seems as good a time as any to do so.
Hello everyone!
This is Edna Pellen, NoQu founder, just wanting to share a few thoughts I have.
Ever since NaNoWriMo officially shut down, we've seen a large amount of writing programs trying to supplement the loss. It seems every time I go online, I see a new writing program trying to fill the NaNoWriMo shaped hole in your browser.
I've had a number of people reach out to me in regards to these programs and so figured I'd share my two cents publicly.
First, let me say this: I have no issue with people creating their own writing websites and programs. The impression I've gotten from a few well-meaning NoQu supporters is that these new programs shouldn't exist because NoQu was here "first." I do not align with that sentiment. The internet is a big place, and there's space enough for us all. Every program will have its own angle, its own contribution to the writing sphere. That being said, I do see holes in the functionality of these programs, and that is what I will be discussing today. Please note that in so doing it is not my intention to defame, demean, or take away from these programs and their efforts. I am not trying to prevent anyone from participating in them, either. Just like how I never discouraged NoQu users from participating in NaNo, I will never discourage anyone from joining these programs.
If you are one of these program's creators, I truly do wish you all the best in your ventures.
As for the aforementioned "holes" in these programs; I have observed that the vast majority of these programs seek to replace NaNo while also fitting the November challenge into their niche or worldview.
Others, some even created by authors and other influential people in the writingsphere, provide tools but have a detached, or are altogether lacking, community.
The issue I find with these programs is that's they're not really filling the space NaNo left, rather they are something else altogether.
In order to supplement NaNoWriMo, we need to remember what it actually was and why it was so special.
Note: I have previously refrained from speaking about NaNoWriMo as NoQu was founded when they were still in operation (2021) and I didn't want it to come across as an attack on them or assert NoQu as their competition (this was never my intention; more on that later). But now that their doors are closed, I'm more comfortable speaking openly about it.
What NaNoWriMo Was
A Challenge
We all seem to have this one down, the 50k words in a month challenge. This is where all these programs find their starting place. The annual challenge, as well as the Camp NaNoWriMo season, gave writers a consistent reason - and season - to return to their craft.
This was wonderful because many writers (myself included!) wrestle with motivation as well as carving out the time to actually write. These challenges felt almost like holidays, and the excitement made it easier to get the words out while the season made it easier to dedicate time to it.
A Place to Begin
NaNo wasn't just for seasoned writers, who were already "in" on all the trends, terms, and popular authors or figures in the writingsphere. It wasn't even for those who were good at the craft.
NaNo was a place where people as young as thirteen could wander in with a few composition notebooks of scribbled ideas and be met with tools and people who would help them leave with much advice, encouragement, determination, and experience.
It was a place for writers to find accountability, encouragement, and ambition.
More than anything, a Community
This is where NaNo shined. Through the NaNoWriMo forums, I met so many different people. People who would become my favorite authors, my best friends, introduce me to new concepts and techniques, challenge me, encourage me, inspire me.
Bottom Line
Today we're focusing on that last point. That community was not built in an isolated group. It didn't happen in a niche. Community was found across the internet, across cultures, across beliefs, across political aisles, and across religions.
I didn't meet "conservatives" and "liberals," I didn't meet "this race" and "that race," and I didn't meet the "believers" or "atheists," I didn't meet labels. I met writers.
Every single person has something worth saying and hearing. And when we exclude people who fall under a different category of lifestyle/experience outside of writing, we lose the chance to hear that something.
Because it isn't an opinion type you're excluding, it's a person. And people are more than the opinions they hold.
Where NaNoWriMo Failed
NaNoWriMo failed long before it shut down. The directly accredited reasons for the shut down were really just the final nails in the coffin. Today we're not going to discuss the issues with artificial intelligence, inappropriate actions by moderators, or any of those other final issues.
Because as I said, NaNoWriMo failed before any of these things occurred.
Political Activism
NaNoWriMo inserted itself into politics. I can remember in 2016 being rather confused when the writing program started sending me emails about political activism. They never even gave the option to opt out of political and activism based emails while still receiving their writing related emails. If you wanted to be notified of November news, author pep talks, and write ins, you had to deal with the political propaganda.
I was younger at the time and had only vague political opinions. I didn't really care what the politics were in favor of or against, and was more so annoyed that it was being presented at all.
Why This Mattered
It completely changed the tone of the program for me. Rather than this being a space devoted to creativity, it seemed like a place which cared more about activism than it did writing. This becomes still more important because of the second point.
It increasingly made me feel estranged from the program and community. As time went on and this political focus grew and continued - while I, simultaneously, was developing my own political beliefs - I began feeling very much so like I wasn't really a part of NaNoWriMo. Not because I didn't want to be, but because I truly believe that if they had it their way, they would have excluded people like me from the program altogether. This is an important point because again, I didn't join NaNoWriMo to discuss politics. I joined it to write. I didn't care if other people had different opinions than me, so long as at the end of the day we all recognized each other as fellow creatives and focused on that point. So when the program itself pushed this political narrative, it also pushed writers like me away.
Censorship
NaNoWriMo failed the moment it started censoring its users. I'm not talking about prohibiting crass language in their "all ages" forums, I think we all can agree that was a non issue. Rather, I'm talking about the censorship of beliefs and opinions.
There was some of this, to an extent, as early as 2017.
(Note: I'm going to share with you two experiences I, and friends of mine, had on the forms. Unfortunately, I do not have screenshots of these interactions as - at the time - I had no reason to believe I would need them. I also will be keeping this as vague as possible to protect the privacy of those involved.
I realize this may dampen my credibility, but have no workaround that. I hope you will hear me out.)
It was 2017 when a friend of mine was explaining a belief that differed from the values of a moderator to another user, and that moderator completely shut down the conversation for that reason alone.
Mind you, this was not an off-topic conversation, the thread was one designated to the discussion of a certain religion. People who didn't share in that belief would often come onto this thread and ask questions about it for their writing and their own understanding (as was the case in this encounter).
That did mean that unpopular and even controversial beliefs would be discussed, explained, and debated.
Then in 2020, the censorship got significantly worse. Anyone who had an opinion regarding the pandemic and the response to it which differed from the program's own was issued a warning (for suspension of the account, if I remember correctly).
During this time, a friend of mine was scared for her grandfather because someone in her family had contracted the corona virus. A mutual friend of ours was simply trying to comfort her by saying "I've heard it isn't much worse than the flu." She wasn't saying "Don't wear masks," "Don't follow CDC guidelines," or anything of the sort (though, I would argue, she should have had a right to do so). She was simply saying she heard it wasn't as bad as my friend feared.
This time it wasn't merely a warning to change the subject, rather the moderator viscously argued and demeaned my friend, despite her attempts to explain herself.
Without getting into specifics, I would also argue that some of the issues that did lead to NaNo's closure were a result of this moderation style, which was encouraged and enabled by the program's history in activism.
Unfortunately, stories like these abound. I imagine many Wrimos could tell you of similar experiences.
Why this mattered
This censorship mattered for two reasons:
It interfered with the community's interactions with one another. Censoring opinions and belief prevented people from being able to express themselves and get to know one another, two things that are very important for a strong and diverse community.
There is no one idealogy or belief that writers write about. As a Christian myself, I can tell you that while I've never written a story about Christianity, my belief system finds its way into everything I write. This is true for anyone with a set of beliefs or experiences that are important to them. And that is a good thing. Writing is discussion. Writing is expression. Writing is understanding. Writing is belief. Everything in our lives, in one way or another, affects our writing, and it is unfair to tell a writer they suddenly can't talk about one thing or another to other writers in a space which is supposed to promote the art of writing.
Moderators are capable of misunderstanding the context of a conversation. Having such intense responses to anything that so much as looks like an opinion different to the people behind the program leaves the users with two options: Either walk on egg shells, or risk fairly serious consequences to your account for your beliefs (or your perceived beliefs).
Segregation
NaNoWriMo began blatantly segregating its users based on their race. The program itself created sections on the forums which only people of certain races could join. Anyone who fell outside of these races were only able to join and interact with the public forums. Note that these were not threads made by people of those races who wanted to find people with shared culture and experience, that would be understandable. Rather, these were locked forums, created by the program, in which only people of those races could join.
Why This Mattered
Segregating your users will immediately cause a rift, an "us and them" mentality. A house divided itself cannot stand, and an estranged community will lose its strength.
Segregating your users is controlling where ideas go. Every human has their own way of thinking, having the same skin color or even belief as someone else doesn't change that fact. And when you divide people based on these things, you prevent that many unique and inspiring minds from meeting each other.
Bottom Line
NaNoWriMo failed because it…
Got off-topic from writing
Operated on its own opinions rather than a clear structure
Divided its community
The Correlation
These new programs and NaNo have some issues in common.
Some of the alternative programs will have more or less in common than others, but to generalize:
They are emphasizing their worldview first, writing comes second
They are operating their program on these worldviews
Either due to the function of the program or the emphasis of their belief, they do not have a strong community (or the grounds on which one may be built)
Let me be clear, it is not wrong for your program to be built on your own values. It's completely understandable that you would look to your own beliefs and understandings to create the best program you are capable of.
The issue is limiting your program to that experience by not providing your participants - who this program is truly for - with protection should their values differ from your own. Or in some cases, using that belief to exclude potential participants altogether.
I understand that some of these program creators don't have an issue with excluding other worldviews, and if that is the case, they certainly don't need to worry about keeping those people in mind with how they operate. But while they may see this as a non-issue, wanting simply to gather like-minded people for their program, it is an issue if they want to be a solid alternative for NaNoWriMo which many of them are branding themselves as being. Once again, NaNoWriMo was not a place for one type of person, it was a place for any person who considered themselves a writer. If you are simply a writing program devoted to one type of person (LGBT, POC, and Christian are some examples of programs I have seen), and you want to keep it that way, then you are a program wholly separate from the community NaNoWriMo was in its prime.
But if they are trying to be "The New NaNo", I can't help but urge the founders of these programs who take this limited path to consider that they are taking one adjacent to what led NaNo to it's untimely end.
The Balance
As I said earlier, I absolutely understand and support creators using the beliefs they hold dear and the understandings they've developed to create their program. But there must be a balance if they want a strong community.
Here is how I've tried to find that balance.
It Comes Down to Separation of Program and User
Do you like my little nod to "separation of Church and State?" Here's the thing about that phrase; it is greatly misunderstood. It was originally used in a letter from Thomas Jefferson assuring the recipient that, due to the First Amendment, the people of America were protected from government overreach into their beliefs and places of worship.
This makes it clear that while the government must stay out of the way of religion, religion may still find a place in the government.
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship[…] I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. " - Letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist association, 1802
If you would like to read the entire letter, you can do so here.
What does this have to do with writing programs? In terms of a writing program being founded on a belief/value system, everything.
A program can be founded on a specific worldview, operate in terms of community guidelines, moderation, and content upon that belief, and still not prohibit users of different beliefs from joining or discussing their own ideologies.
How, you may wonder?
Leave Politics Out of It
There truly is no reason why a writing program should push a political agenda. We're here to inspire writers, not to convert them to our political aisle. So let's say you founded a program on democratic or conservative values. That's fine. What isn't fine is sending out campaigns around election season endorsing a candidate, using the writing platform to recruit activists, sharing GoFundMes, and the like.
Create a Clear System
The application of your beliefs to your program may seem clear in your mind, but to those who don't know much about what those beliefs including it may seem confusing.
I'll use NoQu as an example here. I have always summarized NoQu as being founded on "Christian and (American) Constitutional values." That's all good and well, but non-Christians often have a skewed view on Christianity, and non-Americans may not know anything about our Constitution.
You need more than a tagline, you need an explanation. Show what it means for your program to be founded on your belief.
Once again, using NoQu as the example:
Christian Values = Kindness, empathy, humility, respect. This program will be ran based off of these things. Its moderators will use these pillars to tend to the community Groups. As for the community, they are also expected to act in accordance with these. This does mean that inappropriate content and language is not to be shared in the Groups, as it is both unedifying and unnecessary.And as a content creator for NoQu, I will always strive to showcase those pillars in the content that I produce.
Constitutional Values = Primarily, the First Amendment, the freedom of speech. The only thing NoQu will censor is inappropriate language and content. The only conversations NoQu will stop are those which become unproductive, inappropriate, or unsafe (in terms of threats, privacy, and the like).Being founded on the American Constitution, NoQu recognizes every individual's right to belief, opinion, and speech, even when they are contrary to the program's foundation.
Why NoQuWriCo?
I debated putting this section in this post. I do not want to foster a competitive spirit between NoQu and other writing programs, and to include this section may come across as me saying "Why My Program Is Better Than Everyone Else's," which is far from my intention.
However, I believe sharing the process of NoQu's creation may help put the matters I've discussed into a clear perspective. That and, as I mentioned, I have had many people reach out to me with questions about NoQu, and this seems a good way to answer them.
So please, as we go through this section, bear in mind that I - once again - have no ill will towards any other writing program, and truly wish them success.
That being said, here is why NoQu was created, and why I went about it the way that I did.
The Beginning
I started NoQu in 2021, years before NaNoWriMo ended. I built this platform because I was no longer comfortable supporting NaNoWriMo as an organization and because the aspects of it that I did enjoy had lost their emphasis. Nearly as soon as I left, they came out with a mountain of additional reasons validating my decision (as I touched on earlier).
I didn't start NoQu because NaNo ended; I started NoQu because NaNo was lacking and becoming something so antithetical to what writing is.
The Challenge and Brand
I wanted to keep the November writing challenge. However, given NaNo was still in operation, I had to be careful about branding. NaNo was known for being fiercely protective over their brand, and I, a teenager paid minimum wage at the time, couldn't afford a lawsuit. So I carefully toed the line, and ended up with our tongue and cheek branding.
The challenge was/is 49,999 words in 29 days, 1,439 minutes, 59 seconds. The name at the time was "NoQuWriMo" for "Not Quite Writing Month. I was told by some that this was petty, and while I wasn't intending for it to come across that way (I was aiming more for a polite yet satirical impression), I also didn't really care if it did.
I ran the program alone for the first year, then my longtime NaNo friend-turned--NoQu-program-advisor, Geata, came onto the scene in 2022.
Not long after that, NoQu had gained much more traction than I thought it would so early on and it was time for it to grow into something of its own, rather than just being an alternative to NaNoWriMo.
So, with help of Geata, NoQu was re-branded to "Novel Quest Writing Community," AKA NoQuWriCo. During that season of change we kept the November challenge as-is, and it continues to be a feature that sets us apart and is a nod back to our foundation.
The Answer
NoQu's selling point is the community. Do we want to have goal trackers, writing tools, etc.? Absolutely - these are in the works. But what matters most about NoQu is the people who make it breathe.
To answer the question "Why NoQuWriCo?" let me give you the pitch:
NoQuWrico is a growing writing program and established community with a classic November writing challenge, taking steps towards being a one-stop-shop for writers in terms of community, writing tools, challenges, and more. NoQuWriCo is devoted to staying on-topic to writing, to providing a space where all writers can come together regardless of worldviews, and to equipping and encouraging writers. We also have a soft spot for establised and aspiring indie authors, and seeks to enable, encourage, and support them.
In Conclusion
This post was a long time coming - as I said, I've had quite a few people reach out to me about other writing websites. I have also seen quite a few articles here and there reference NoQu without knowing much about us, and I'm hoping that this can be a good reference for them.
To the general reader (or perhaps I should say, writer), I hope this article answered any questions you may have had about NoQu and its creation. To my fellow program creators, I hope you found it helpful in regards to your own endeavors.
To all, if NoQuWriCo sounds like something you'd be interested in, consider coming back to our website this November. I'd love to chat with you in our Groups, get to know you, and hear what you're writing about.
Please share any thoughts or questions you may have in the comments below. I look forward to reading and responding to them.
Until then, I wish you the best.
-Edna Pellen
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