After having participated in the event since 2011, it was heartbreaking to learn earlier this year that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) went under. A lot of reasons led to the collapse of this organization, so I won’t get into it here, but it was still a sad moment.

NaNoWriMo had been the experience that not only convinced me that I wanted to be a writer, but also that I could handle the writing workload of an English major. So, as an English teacher, writing coach, and novelist, it’s easy to say that NaNoWriMo significantly affected my life.

Over the past few months, I’ve been mulling over what I could do in place of NaNoWriMo that still gives me the motivational kick in the pants to actually keep me writing. If I just set my own goal to write 50,000 words in a month, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I needed tools to help me keep track, a community to support me, and achievements to earn as I write.

I freakin’ love achievements.

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that ProWritingAid is doing its own version of this, with all the same tools to go along with the challenge. While I have some trepidation about working with a program like ProWritingAid, I am still going to try it out this year.

The reason I feel a little uneasy about this company is 1) it’s a company, rather than a nonprofit organization like NaNoWriMo was, 2) it was the main sponser for NaNoWriMo and connected to the main reason it went under fire about AI near the end, and 3) associating your writing with any sort of AI is a bit risky for your career, especially with how many people are using it to write entire novels.

But these are all just worries. I have yet to hear anything troubling about ProWritingAid. Because of this, I’m going for it!

This year, I plan to spend my November writing 50,000 words on a novel I’ve already soft-pitched to an agent who is interested in me sending it to him when I’m done.

Here’s what this story will be about:

A New Adult Paranormal Mystery/Romance (I know… that’s a lot…) about a young woman who moves to her mother’s hometown after her mysterious death. While in this town, she has to navigate the trials of being an adult on her own for the first time, while dangerous, supernatural forces start to creep in around her. It is a coming-of-age story that highlights the real fear of entering adulthood with a supernatural, gothic twist.

So far, I have the first three chapters drafted, a beat map outlined, and the lore and worldbuilding fully established. All that’s left to do is get the draft written, so this November, with the Novel November (NovNov) from ProWritingAid, will be the perfect opportunity to do it.

I will try my best to keep my progress updated here, on my YouTube channel, Instagram, or all three, so stay tuned!

If you’re participating in NovNov this November, or just doing your own writing challenge, leave a comment and tell me all about it!