We’ve emerged from our bat-infested winter slumbers, and our volunteer crew has officially kicked off work on site improvements for the fall. We’ll be posting about those efforts—and the community feedback that inspired them—soon!
In the meantime, we wanted to take a page from Laura’s book and share some things we loved, learned, and are still pondering from NaNo 2.0’s first year. (If you’re just tuning in, you might want to start with our origin story.)
3 things we loved ❤️
1. The enduring community
NaNoWriMo participants and volunteers had to deal with a lot of organizational chaos before the nonprofit shut down in summer of 2025. With the NaNoWriMo.org site gone and many writers still understandably angry or in mourning, we weren’t sure how many people would want to bash out a book in November.
We got our answer in October, when the internet began filling up with mood boards for soon-to-be-written novels, NaNo prep advice, noveling playlists, participant certificates, TikToks about the best word count trackers, classroom tips for teachers, and more.
In November, there was another huge wave of energy as writers (including all of us at NaNo 2.0) dove into our month of literary abandon, cheering each other on as our stories took shape. The nonprofit behind NaNoWriMo may have gone belly-up, but the writing adventure continued. That was enormously heartening.
2. The heroic groups
So much of NaNoWriMo’s longevity was due to hard work by hundreds of groups and online communities who stepped up to support writers. Some of these groups were new like us, but many had been around for years or decades.
Their creativity and moxie inspired us every day in the fall. We cheered the news of local kick-off parties and write-ins organized by former NaNoWriMo municipal liaisons. We reveled in updates from elementary school teachers about their students’ soaring word counts. And we celebrated the news of record-breaking sign-ups for online communities who were hosting their own unique takes on the November challenge.
We met with as many of these groups as we could to get their take on the current writing landscape. Some of our favorite moments were nerding out with nonprofits like 826 National and Shut Up & Write, talking with creators of beloved tools like Sprinto and Scrivener, and chatting with the local heroes organizing writing events in cafes, libraries, and classrooms around the world. Those conversations left us hopeful, energized, and full of ideas for 2026.
3. The joy of writing
More than anything else, it was just really nice to feel the madcap energy of NaNo flowing again. For many of us, that sense of playfulness had gotten lost in the last few years of drama. It was wonderful to have the fun back, and we loved using NaNo 2.0’s socials, newsletters, word sprints, guest pep talks, and badges to beam more can-do creative mayhem into the universe.
3 things we learned 💡
1. A grassroots, decentralized National Novel Writing Month is possible!
NaNoWriMo doesn’t need to be run by a single entity. It can be like Taco Tuesday—a delicious event shared by many and owned by none. (This taco metaphor is falling apart, but you hopefully get what we mean.)
2. Local writing groups need help getting the word out.
Nothing boosts accountability and productivity like attending an in-person writing event. When the old NaNoWriMo site went away, local organizers lost an essential platform for spreading the word about writing events and get-togethers. This made their already-difficult job even harder.
3. People want a central, integrated place to track their progress
This was the biggest piece of feedback we got about the NaNo 2.0 site. People didn’t miss the bells and whistles of NaNoWriMo.org. But they really missed being able to sign in, update their word counts, and see their progress without having to use other tools or spreadsheets.
2 questions for the future 🔮
1. How do we grow sustainably?
Working with an all-volunteer staff is really rewarding but it also means we have to be careful about trying to do too much, too quickly. This isn’t unique to us. Most leaders of writing organizations we talked to were juggling full-time jobs, families, and other responsibilities while keeping their passion projects going. We want to make NaNo 2.0 a better home for writers, but we also want to avoid getting in over our heads and letting the community down.
2. How do we steer clear of the issues that sank the old NaNoWriMo nonprofit?
This is the big one, and it spans everything from financial stability to communication to online safety. One example of the latter: Things like online forums and real-world write-ins are so important, but we don’t have the bandwidth to moderate message boards or vet local writing groups. How do we promote connection without compromising safety? There’s a tension between being cautious and being helpful that we haven’t resolved yet. We’re excited to work through it with you this year!
And before we say our final goodbye to 2025, we wanted to give a shout-out to all our volunteers, guest pep talkers, educators, library staffers, community members, and longtime NaNoWriMo participants and municipal liaisons who gave us feedback and kept us going with kind words and encouragement. If you have any ideas or suggestions, we’d always love to hear them. Please drop us a line!