One of the most surprising lessons of NaNoWriMo is that novel-writing is a perfect social activity. Typing away with folks in the same room or Zoom boosts focus, increases commitment, and makes the whole thing a lot more fun.
Writing together also helps you find like-minded book nerds in your area. Over the years I’ve heard stories of lifelong friendships, year-round critique groups, and even some marriages that had their roots in a local NaNo write-in.
So when we learned the nonprofit behind NaNoWriMo was shutting down last year, we mourned the loss of hundreds of local NaNo writing chapters around the world. These had been run by volunteers called Municipal Liaisons—heroic cat-herders and creative cheerleaders who organized kick-off parties, hosted write-ins, and kept people writing when the writing got tough. (About half of the NaNo 2.0 staff served as a Municipal Liaison back in the day.)
Plot twist!
But lo! It turns out that the death of these local groups has been greatly exaggerated. Whether it’s First Draft Detroit in Michigan, Denver’s DenNoWriMo, or former chapters now operating via Shut Up & Write, there are a bunch of regional communities supporting high-velocity novelists in November.
It’s all thanks to the hard work of former Municipal Liaisons. This month, I hopped on video calls with some who have built enduring writing communities and asked for their tips on organizing and sustaining a local writing crew.
From the Brant-Norfolk region in Ontario, I chatted with Teagan and Lyndsay. From the nearby Kitchener-Waterloo region, I talked with Vanessa. I also checked in with Lisa from ToWriMo in Toronto and caught up with Sophie who runs The Associated Writers of London.
Here’s what I learned…
1. Discord is home
All the writing groups use a Discord chat server as their year-round home. Discord is great for catch-up chats, virtual writing sessions, and it allows them to welcome writers from outside the immediate area.
“We'll run sprints using the Discord bot Sprinto on our sprint channel throughout November. These sometimes are pre-planned, though our group is very good about starting sprints up at random…Quite regularly, us MLs have people messaging or tagging us to claim a Discord writing achievement at all times of day and night”
– Teagan, Brant-Norfolk
“Sense of community is so important when it comes to creating a strong local writing group. And that doesn't necessarily mean everyone who's a part of it needs to be in the same city. Our writing group now has people in the original Brantford, Ontario area, but also Kitchener, Ontario (about an hour away), Hamilton, Ontario (about 40 minutes away) and now as far as Melbourne, Australia”
– Teagan, Brant-Norfolk
“Since we have a lot of online spaces, we welcome everyone, regardless of where they're physically located. We have participants who are in the city and elsewhere, such as Quebec, America, etc.”
– Lisa, Toronto
2. Venues can be scarce
Being able to run virtual writing sessions on Discord or Zoom is particularly valuable because locking in a time and place that works for an unpredictable number of laptop-toting novelists can be tough.
“Finding a physical space can be a challenge. Does the venue expect us to buy something? Is it noisy? Are there enough seats and plugs to charge devices?”
– Lisa, Toronto
“Many people in our group are shift workers, so finding a time that works for everyone can be very challenging.”
– Teagan, Brant-Norfolk
“Make friends with libraries.”
– Vanessa, Kitchener-Waterloo
3. Noveling excursions abound
Nothing beats writing en pleine aire, and many groups host noveling field trips across their cities every November.
“One of our fun write-ins involves sitting on a subway train and writing and riding together. It's great watching the city pass by you while confusing normie passengers who watch us furiously typing on our laptops”
– Lisa, Toronto
“On 21st November we’ll be running our world famous AWOLRilla event, where we’ll be doing a walking tour around London, with lots of stops for writing sprints.”
– Sophie, London
4. Pacing is key
For local volunteers, keeping everyone inspired and connected while also working on their own writing and dealing with the demands of day-to-day life could be a lot. Reminding themselves it was a marathon, not a sprint, helped.
“Pace yourself, especially when NaNo is in full swing. We all know that writing 50,000 words is a big commitment of not only your time, but your energy, creativity, and mental and emotional bandwidth, too. Plus, you're probably still having to go to work and the house doesn't clean itself (a girl can wish, though, right?)....It's exhilarating, but it's also exhausting.”
– Lyndsay, Brant-Norfolk
“If you don't already have an established group of writers to come to your write-ins, it can be challenging getting the word out now that we no longer have a landing page that NaNoWriMo provided. But don't give up! There are tons of people out there who want to try a hand at creative writing. Just be as present as you can on different social media and keep spreading the word.”
– Teagan, Brant-Norfolk
“Don’t push yourself too far. Remember to eat and sleep and not neglect the day job if you have one.”
– Sophie, London
5. It takes a village
When I asked what advice they would give to someone who wanted to start a local group, they all had the same tip (which felt very appropriate for a community writing endeavor): Bring in friends.
“Don’t do it alone if you can avoid it. Having other people to turn to, bounce ideas off, and run things together is invaluable.”
– Sophie, London
“It's important to find a group/team you can work with to get this started and to keep it going. No matter how hard someone works, you can't do everything all on your own and you'll experience burnout.”
– Lisa, Toronto
“It's always so much less stressful when you have a teammate to lean on. It might look like working together with someone to run the group, or maybe you'll have group members who aren't able to help run the group but are willing to offer support. Take them up on it. You don't have to do it all yourself.”
– Lyndsay, Brant-Norfolk
“The key is to find a group of people who share your love of the writing craft, and are willing to encourage the other members of your group to do things you maybe didn't even think were possible.”
– Teagan, Brant-Norfolk
A huge thanks to Teagan, Lyndsay, Vanessa, Lisa, and Sophie for answering our annoying questions! Looking for local writing sessions outside of the areas above? Check out the list of local groups on NaNoWriMo.ca (which is also overseen by Lisa) or Shut Up & Write. And if you’re running a local writing group that started as a NaNoWriMo chapter, drop us a line! We’d love to hear how it’s going.