NaNoWriMo started as a Yahoo! mailing list in 1999 and became a nonprofit in 2006, growing into a global challenge where writers aimed for 50,000 words each November. The initiative built a strong community, but scandals caused declining participation and funding.
In an email sent to members on Monday, NaNoWriMo said it was shutting down, citing sustainability issues despite strong enthusiasm for writing. “The funding woes that have threatened so many nonprofits in recent years are an unextraordinary trend,” read the email. “Many beloved organisations announced their closure last year. Many more are fighting for their lives.”
NaNoWriMo struggled financially for years, but more problems surfaced in 2023. In May, a moderator was accused of grooming minors on another site. Many felt the organisation’s response was slow. The moderator was later removed for unrelated code-of-conduct violations. Further child safety concerns deepened distrust in the nonprofit’s leadership.
NaNoWriMo’s stance on AI in writing added to the controversy. The same year the organisation released a statement arguing, “The categorical condemnation of artificial intelligence has classist and ableist undertones,” since not all writers could afford editors or had the same cognitive abilities. Fantasy author CL Polk and others criticised NaNoWriMo for dismissing writers with disabilities while legitimising AI content with Polk commenting, “NaNo is basically asserting that disabled people don’t have what it takes to create art when they trot out the lie that scorning AI is ableist.”
In its farewell message, NaNoWriMo assured writers that the spirit of the challenge would endure, even without an official platform. “Many alternatives to NaNoWriMo popped up this year, and people did find each other,” the email read. “We hold no belief that people will stop writing 50,000 words in November.”