ProWritingAid | Stephanie Flint

📚 Today is the start of Novel November!

What… precisely… is Novel November?

Well, in previous years, there was National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. Many a book was drafted in the span of a month, the goal being 50,000 words by the end of the month, or a short novel.

This comes to writing, on average, 1,667 words a day.

Some writers would front load their word count (I know one very fast typist who hit 25,000 words in a day… though this is not the norm). Others would make a last minute rush during Thanksgiving break to complete their book before midnight on the 30th. (I think my highest count was 12,000 words in one day because of this).

But, for 1,667 words a day, you can complete the rough draft of a short novel in one month.

Or make some really, really good progress on a longer novel.

Unfortunately, NaNoWriMo is no more (for a variety of issues I won’t go into here), but the desire for a community of writers encouraging each other to meet their word counts, competing with each other if that’s what makes them write best, and simply proving to themselves that they can finish a book, or that they can make progress on a book, even if they don’t reach the 50,000 word count… that remains.

And I’m thrilled that ProWritingAid (an editing app) has put together something akin to what NaNoWriMo used to be. (I believe AutoCrit has something similar, but I haven’t had a chance to explore it yet).

This new edition is not as fancy or as glorious as NaNoWriMo was in its hey-day, but it promises a lovely word count tracker and a few forums for community.

What is this new sensation?

Novel November! Or NovNov, for short.

My goal? 50,000 words.

The book?

Let it be known that I’m finally going to finish Huntress #3.

(Seriously… after two drafts I wasn’t happy with, I am stoked to announce I have a full-blown outline/skeletal rough draft all ready to go that I’m super excited for.)

Let’s do this!

Are you doing Novel November this year, or something similar?

Let me know!

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I wrote Huntress in two weeks, and I’m fairly certain I wrote Changeling as part of a NaNoWriMo challenge (whether Camp NaNo or November… I don’t remember).