I am a proud NaNoWriMo rebel, and I am finally here to admit I’ve been this way since my first NaNo in 2006. Now, I can more proudly say that I have written around seven very bad first drafts of short story collections and one a non-embarrassingly bad apocalyptic RomCom (if you all remember Script Frenzy #RIP). So 50,000 words, yes! Book-length storylines, not so much.
Dedicated to you, my fellow rebels, is this list of other free writing challenges where you can find resources and community to write your poems, songs, scripts, and short stories.
For Poets: NaPoWriMo (30 Poems in 30 Days) in April. One thing I really love about this challenge is you can submit your author website, so you can see who is writing and read each other’s work. So cool!
- Age restrictions: You can be any age to participate, but there’s some mature content so we’d recommend 18+
For Songwriters: Check out FAWM (February Album Writing Month), where the challenge is to write 14 songs in 28 days. They also have a great resource page on their site that points to a bunch more song-writing challenges, including the brilliantly named “Bad Song Club” which is a weekly challenge (with prompts!) that spans a whole year.
- Age restrictions: 16+
For Playwrights and Screenplay Writers: There’s a 90X90 Playwriting Challenge, which gives you 90 days to write a 90-page play (last round started August). You can also use the Way Back Machine to access archived Script Frenzy resources for both adults and youth (and if you were looking for it in Deutsch, we got you). This was the beloved scriptwriting sibling to NaNoWriMo that launched in 2007 and ran for many years.
- Age restrictions: 13+
For Memoirists: You have time to sign up for JanYourStory through Memoir Nation. I would definitely check out their podcast (hello Roxane Gay and Anne Lamott!).
- Age restrictions: 13+
For Short Story Writers: In May, sign up to write A Story A Day They provide daily prompts, an online community, and more. And yes, that is 31 stories in 31 days.
- Age restrictions: 13+
Please write to us if you know of more. The only requirement is that they offer free resources and have a free track for participating.
Write on, my rebel friends!