There's no official NaNoWriMo this year, so I'm writing my own rules for November
I'll admit I felt a little lost when I heard the organisation had shut down. November has been my writing month for years. The site, the badges, the word count graph, the little purple bar creeping toward 50,000. All of it was part of the ritual for me, and for a few days I wasn't sure what to do with the month without it.
Then I started thinking about what I actually liked about it. The website was convenient, but it was never really the point. What mattered was that for thirty days, a huge number of people decided to write at the same time, and that shared decision made it easier for everyone to show up. That part isn't owned by anyone. It's still ours.
So I'm making my own rules this year. I'm aiming for 1,000 words a day on weekdays, none on Sundays, and a goal of a messy but complete draft rather than exactly 50,000 words. I've picked a character-driven story, a quiet one about two sisters selling their family home, and I'm using Preptober to work out what each main character wants and what she's hiding. I'll post a few progress updates in my writing group, because accountability is half the magic.
I'd love to hear how others are handling it this year. Are you doing a community challenge, running your own, or going solo?