On behalf of all the NaNo 2.0 volunteers, I’m so happy to welcome you to the start of the 28th-annual novel writing season. Let the countdown to NaNoWriMo commence!
If you’re just joining us, we launched NaNo 2.0 last year when we learned the nonprofit behind National Novel Writing Month had closed. Our goal was to provide some encouragement and resources for NaNoWriMo participants, and help keep the writing adventure going.
We had a wonderful, heartwarming, and delightfully frantic autumn. When NaNoWriMo wrapped, we asked the NaNo 2.0 community what tools would be helpful for next year. The most popular answer—by a landslide—was a way to track writing progress on the NaNo 2.0 site.
Did we know how to build a modern web-based progress tracker?
No, we did not.
Did we at least have a vague understanding of the wildly differing international laws governing data privacy that would make this endeavor challenging?
Also no.
We did, however, have talented, hard-working designers, coders, and writers who love any challenge with a scary deadline attached.
So we spent the summer building a progress tracker.
It should go live on October 7. (We’re kicking its tires now.) When it launches, you’ll be able to create a NaNo 2.0 account, set up a writer profile, and get a personal tracker that can chart and celebrate all your November accomplishments.
We wanted to move thoughtfully and not take on more than our volunteer crew can handle. So the site won’t have any social features like message boards or DMs.
It will, however, have a new array of beautiful writing badges, author pep talks, winner goodies, and mayhem-filled newsletters. We’ll also have NaNo prep advice, profiles of NaNoWriMo writing communities where you can find fellow participants, fun tips and challenges on Instagram and Bluesky, and expanded resources for teachers leading their students through the Young Novelist Challenge.
But the most important thing the site will have? You.
We’re so glad to have you writing with us this November. We can’t wait to go from dream to draft in one unforgettable month together.