#but I've spent the last two days feverishly working on it

[snotsloth]

Hey y'all,

So, as you have all probably seen, I've been participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time in like a decade and having a fantastic time. I've written more in the last 15 days than I have in a very very long time.

But some stuff has happened. Unbeknownst to me, while I was having a grand old time writing my little (irresponsibly long) Baldur's Gate fanfic, the NaNoWriMo forums were on fucking fire.

And for good reason! Apparently, for basically an entire year, moderators and staff have been stifling dissenting voices of forum members who brought up legitimate and serious concerns such as, but not limited to, official sponsors who were scammers that had been previously identified and called out in the forums, inconsistent forum moderation (including favoritism and special treatment for people they were close with), and inadequate protections for participants under the age of 18.

It got so bad that the Board of Directors had to step in and closed down the forums on Nov 12. The posted a statement, and did leave a few specific threads open to collect community comments and answer questions. You can read what they have to say on the primary statement (CW for talk of harassment, mentions of transphobia and racism, and talk of child sexual abuse) here. That thread also has a helpful list of links at the bottom of the initial post that will help you get up to speed if you wish, though it is a lot of reading and potentially traumatizing if you've dealt with issues like this before.

I'm not going to rehash all the details here because even though I've spent a good chunk of the last two days reading up on this mess. I'm not a direct participant in any of these events and I would rather you read what happened in their own words if you're interested.

What I will say is it looks like the NaNoWriMo organization suffered from chronic under-staffing which resulted in employees working excessive hours at jobs that they lacked adequate skills, training, and support to do effectively. In an attempt to make every donation dollar count, they over-promised and under-delivered on programs and services offered by the org, and fundamental safety parameters were just never put in place.

It does appear like the Board is taking things very seriously and they are working on an action plan. However, none of those actions will be taken until at least Nov 27. So, for me, this is where my NaNoWriMo participation ends for the year. I am still working feverishly to meet my personal goal. I just won't be tagging any updates with NaNoWriMo or Nano2023. I will probably still be doing my daily word count updates because they entertain me and help keep me motivated, but it will just be tagged with generic writing and BG3 tags.

I hope that the Board of Directors is able to get things under control and that we see a new and improved NaNoWriMo organization rise in 2024. This annual challenge and the community around it has been a terrific influence in the lives of many writers. Until then, I'll just be over here, scribbling about blorbos.