#nano ywp

[pigeonentity]

since its november, a reminder that nanowrimo using ai should be an afterthought compared to the shit that happened on the their young writers' forums:

kids having to step up and moderate when the actual mods did nothing, inc. situations where a user was a threat to other users

a vent space where it was good often to be able to talk safely about problems but at the same time i'd check it every day and see a friend talking about how theyre trying not to kill themself, a friend talking about how much they hate themself, multiple friends talking about how hurting themselves, i was always so worried. not blaming the ppl posting there but the mods created a space where we (kids) were exposed to that kind of stuff constantly and a lot of us (me) became dependant on it

mods taking too long to block someone who we'd confirmed (or at least gathered a ton of evidence?) was a predator then instantly blocking ppl complaining about the mods

again, just a lot of kids having to try to sort out situations ourselves

grooming.

after ppl started complaining they started shutting down the more social forums and just keeping the writing-based ones, which really did feel like a punishment: you complained so we're taking away your time w friends

eventually complaints got to the adult forums

the nano board didnt know there was a young writers site.

the nano ywp forums are now shut down, its been about a year, i still havent been able to speak to some of my closest friends since then. they basically just left us w nothing

ik there's more and some parts i didnt talk about enough and some might be a bit off? but i wasnt involved in everything, nearly all of this is my direct experience but ik others on the ywp had worse. also its late and like i said its been a year

anyway i keep seeing nanopocalypse be used for the ai thing and its weird cos thats our thing thats what we used when it all went to shit. alternatives to nano keep coming on my dash "bc i dont support their ai policy" "finally decide to do nano but they support ai :/" but hey i think we should care a little more about the safety of kids than that, dont you?

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

Nanowrimo has paused all sign ins to the YWP

This was most likely in response to concerns raised about the fact that although new educator accounts couldn’t be made, classrooms were still open, users could still join classrooms and access private messages. There was no warning, and there is currently no way for users to retrieve material on the site.

[nanowrimo]

Back to School: Interview with Sarah Lile, Young Writers Program Educator

NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program helps over 85,000 kids, teens, teachers, and families set creative goals and tell stories they care about. We asked some of our amazing YWP educators to share how they take on the NaNoWriMo challenge in their classroom. Today’s advice comes from Sarah, a middle school ELA teacher in Richmond, Virginia.

Q: What grade/ age level do you work with? What type of NaNoWriMo group is it (whole class, club, homeschool, elective, etc.)?

A: Whole classes, grades 6-8

Q: How long have you been doing NaNoWriMo with your students?

A: Since 2019

Q: How do you structure the entire project (for example, do you start prepping in October and write in November, do you have kids work on it all year, etc.)?

A: We don't do much prep and I always regret it. Students use class time to write throughout November. Some students already have an idea of what they'd like to write, others are pantsers like me!

Q: What does a normal NaNoWriMo day look like for your students?

A: Arrive to class and settle in, open laptops and begin feverishly typing!

Q: How do you set and manage word-count goals?

A: I allow students to set their own goals, though I've started to require no less than 7,000 words.

Q: How do you manage grading? Do you grade?

A: I ask students to submit an excerpt of their novel each week and post them on the wall in the classroom. This helps with accountability and sharing.

Q: How do you approach revision/ publishing (if at all)?

A: I don't grade their novels, instead they revise an excerpt for a grade and a public reading.

Q: Any NaNoWriMo tips or tricks to share with other educators? Hard-won lessons? Ah-ha moments?

A: Every year I wish we had done more prep.

It's more fun when I write WITH them.

Students really like it when I read their work, so the excerpts are key.

My writers always hit a wall at some point, but I trust the process (and tell them to just keep typing) and the NaNoWriMo tools and they always get through it! They are natural-born storytellers.

Q: Have you ever run into resistance from your administration about doing NaNoWriMo, and if so, how did you manage it? What do you say to people who don’t see the point of having students write novels? 

A: Thankfully, no. I do send the Common Core standards to parents and admin so they see how this aligns.

Q: What are the most meaningful things you or your students take away from the project? What's your best NaNoWriMo memory?

A: That they CAN DO IT! The first class that participated set their own goals and wrote feverishly every class period and during the weekends. One student was out of town for the last couple days, sick in a hotel bed, and stayed up to meet her goal. Her parents were absolutely amazed at her commitment.

Q: Anything else you'd like to add?

A: In order for this to really work, students need to write everyday. It's hard to keep momentum over weekends and especially over a week-long Thanksgiving break. I'd love advice on how to keep students writing at these times—maybe set short term word count goals?

Sarah is a middle school ELA teacher at Sabot School in Richmond, Virginia, a progressive Reggio-Inspired school for children ages 2-14. She is a wife, mother, dog-mom, writer, food-lover, and amateur potter.

[definitelymanitoba]

anyways setting my nanowrimo project for this year in manitoba >:)

[serenfire]

logging onto nanowrimo for the first time in a couple years and i'm looking through my project history that dates back to 2009... 🥺 maybe i truly am a writer

[full-of-malice]

me and my friends are being bitter about ai and nanowrimo again. as one of the kids who was part of the group that made the tag of "#nanopocalypse" as a term for what was happening on our website as we were silenced and groomed and our lives went to shit. our lives were falling apart. it was the nanopocalypse for us. that's why we called it that and have referred to the entire situation as that. and we were the only ones who actually put anything in the "#anti nanowrimo" tag to begin with to talk about our hatred and struggles with being groomed. a desperate and ignored attempt to call awareness

so as someone who put in the work and lost days of my life and will not be the same person again and put tears and long days while trying to juggle my school and personal life, checking in on my friends and ensuring that they were okay, it feels really shitty honestly to watch tumblr take the nanopocalypse tag so they can make themselves feel good by talking shit about the ai policy. it's Exhausting. you guys are a solid year late in support and hatred for nano that we could've used when we were trying to get the website halfway shut down. we have been Trying to tell you. there were tiktoks, twitter, threads, youtube videos, tumblr posts, and it's just exhausting that suddenly the trendy hatred of ai is what gets popular. idk if feels like you all just jump on the trend to be the cool savior and hate on ai and write their posts that do nothing informative of helpful and just say "fuck nanowrimo" instead of hating on it for the actually important reasons.

nanopocalypse was the specific instance a year ago in november of 2023, when ywp (young writer program) website users were sick of being abused, neglected, and being in the dark. the mods started banning us just for voicing our issues and wanting change. we took to. the adult forums and talked to adult users who were in the midst of the own issues as well. we finally found adults who believed our struggles and were on our side. on their website there was child grooming involved too, the fbi was allegedly getting contacted it was so bad. after years finally someone was listening. yet within days they turned on us and told us we were too young and had no place in "their home" of the website and that our concerns for our community and wanting to be involved were no necessary. they started twisting our words against us and picking us apart. i spent days fighting with adults just for basic things, adults who claimed not two or three days ago that they supported us and would fight for us and were so sorry for the way we were treated only to turn around and treat us remarkably the same. there was one nanopocalypse.

it's exhausting to have to reiterate our struggles to people on the internet who don't and won't listen, but don't use our terms that we a group of abused and groomed teens made for a one time occurrence and tag that was for us and our struggles a place for us to talk and raise awareness. a place that got ignored until a year too late so ai issues could talk over us.

so fuck nanowrimo. not for the ai, but for the children who suffered for years in silence. the ai should be an afterthought, not the front of the problem.

if anyone's interested either in a separate post or in the reblogs i'll make an extensive list of any youtube videos, tiktoks, tumblr post links, and twitter links that i know of on the situation if you want. i will gladly answer any question anyone has because i've tried to educate people on this for a long time and no one will listen

[shadelorde]

Hello,

I’ve been a participant of NaNoWriMo for six years now, and a forums participant on the Young Writer’s Program for three years.

You might be wondering what’s happening on the forums, either on the YWP or the main NaNo site.

As far as I’m aware and have been involved, we brought up some concerns about neglectful moderation behavior on the adult site. Several adults supported us, and came out with their own allegations about neglectful or abusive moderation (for example, a moderator luring teens to a fetish website, who was fired but not banned, another one posting openly about porn who is still a moderator, and similar concerns.) On the YWP, our moderators, Rob Diaz and Marya Brennan have allowed open bullying and instead tone-policed those who fought back. They have allowed predator behavior on the site in several circumstances under the statement of “it does not explicitly violate our Codes” (despite it being open predatory behavior), and Rob Diaz has said racist things to another user in response to a Thanksgiving PSA.

The Board of Directors has now said that they did not know there was a separate YWP forum in the first place.

On the YWP side of things, the forums are being shut down indefinitely, and we are awaiting another response from the Board of Directors.

Please do not donate to NaNoWriMo.

Contact local schools and make them aware of the situation, and discourage advertising the YWP to kids.

I will reblog other posts from my fellow YWP users that h give more specific details.

[thimblelin]

hey everyone. none of this is going to make a lick of sense if you don’t know me. but for the past few years, @ghostpunked and i, as well as many others who have shared and reposted as well, have been forced to take up jobs as volunteer moderators on the nanowrimo ywp in light of the mods incompetence.

we did not want this job. we had this job forced upon us by the sheer fact that if we hadn’t, the ywp would have fallen apart. many of us would have lost the one place we called our “internet home”. as a teen in florida, where i struggle so often irl with laws and my identity, this was especially hard. i fought for what i knew was right because i knew the mods would never do it for me.

this is wrong. on so many levels, the actions of the nanowrimo organization’s moderation team are wrong. nothing will ever stop me from saying that what they have done is wrong. what they did was inherently harmful to so many kids and teens on those websites.

what did they do? others have already said it, but here’s what i’ll say: they created an inherently harmful environment for kids and teen writers to exist in, advertised it as “safe and fun,” and refused to act upon dangerous situations within the community. and they did this over many years.

i am tired of being silent about this. i will not shut up. i will not let marya erase the words i have said. i will keep coming back.

do not support the nanowrimo organization until this is fixed. don’t donate a drop of your money until they finish their investigation and reform their moderation team. tell your school what is happening and remind them why they should pull out of supporting the program. tell your kids. tell the parents of writers you know. tell your teachers, and teachers tell your students.

i will not sit down and shut up any longer.

Days since the NaNoWriMo staff has disappointed its community:

0

[magiccarpetman]

Once again I’m in the “NaNoWriMo’s AI statements are totally in line with other aspects of the organization’s stated ethos and most of the responses to those statements pull them greatly out of context” camp and also the “Why is this the centerpiece conversation about NaNo’s failings as an org and not the provable child endangerment on the YWP forums?” camp.

[shifting-shadows-writes]

hi. i'm back.

to my lovely lovely friends, i am so sorry for abandoning y'all. especially @sorrowlovingbirds i hope you are doing alright and i would love to stay in contact with you.

it's almost november again and i'm finally in a good spot to share a bit about what has happened in the past year and honestly before that too.

i'm putting this below a cut. this is long and chaotic and i'm really sorry that this is my returning post to tumblr and my little ywp community but i owe y'all an explanation, and i'm hoping i can speak out now about what i experienced.

this is my turn to step forward about the nano drama of last year, and my apology letter to any friends i've worried.

(tw the nanodrama, mental health spirals, toxic/abusive friendships, bigotry and threats)

for any of y'all who see this post and don't know me, my name is shadows. my first foray into the online world was the nanowrimo young writers program forums.

i'm sure many of y'all have heard about the abuse and trauma many of us have faced, and if you haven't, my friends have plenty of posts about it.

i joined the forums in april of 2020. i was lonely and isolated and the community there helped me figure myself out.

i wasn't particularly active most of the time. i had a few friends. people i knew and liked drifted in and out, and i had no way to contact them.

i ended up in a toxic friendship with someone on nano and it took a year to cut that off. i was going through my own separate mental health shit at the time so i didn't really realize how bad that person was for me for a while.

that was the first time i really learned people on nano and the internet weren't always who they said they were. i had learned internet safety and i kept my own life fairly private, but it didn't occur to me that other people who didn't keep their lives private could lie about the details.

at some point i joined the ywp discord server, moderated by basically the popular kids of the forums. (i hope y'all don't mind that i say this; it's how i viewed it.)

i learned other kids had been going through some of the same stuff i had--bullying, grooming, etc and had received little to no support from the moderators for it.

collectively we had a very jaded view of nano, but i think we all felt it was our duty to protect other younger users. (this led many members of this server to spiral in mental health because they had to deal with all the drama.)

but things were okay ish for me. i had recovered and i was pretty active on both the nano forums and the discord server.

then october 7, 2023 happened. (it will become very clear why this is relevant soon.)

i am not a politically involved person. i know a little between history class and what my parents have explained to me, but political dynamics always confused me and upset me so i generally avoided things.

being a jewish kid, i had a vague understanding of israeli history. i knew it existed and how old it was and i could recognize it on a map. i knew there was an ongoing war and that it was complicated. i knew the idf had mandatory service from my israeli camp counselors (most of whom had served roles other than active fighters) and i was confused that people would attack gal gadot for having served when it's mandatory. but that was it. my working knowledge of israel was basically nonexistent.

and all of a sudden, i was expected to know everything.

nano had a lot of jewish kids, all of whom seemed to know way more than i did. i got most of my information from them, and from my parents. (a little from school.)

in theory, i'd had lessons on the history of zionism and different branches of what zionism agreed with, i'd read israeli founding documents, i'd had a brief history of the conflict explained to me.

in practice, i hadn't paid attention to any of that. i didn't know what was going on, but i knew that i was expected to. i also didn't trust non-jews to give me information, in part due to a specific incident on nano which happened a few weeks later.

on october 13 somewhere in my community was targeted with a bomb threat. i told my friends on nano about it because it was scary and i wanted support. they gave it to me.

i also ended up writing and posting a brief overview of antisemitism (using knowledge i'd gathered from hebrew school and the internet for fact checking). here is the link to that if anyone wants to read it. the wording was last updated in december 2023.

it was pretty common practice on the nano forums to write a psa about something you'd noticed or that had affected you recently, and i had several other people say they would like a psa on antisemitic tropes and dogwhistles.

not long after i posted that, someone in a "diverse character help" thread asked for help writing a palestinian character. i will call them eva as that was part of their username and i need to refer to them.

one of my friends who is from northern israel responded with a bit of basic background information.

the response eva provided did not seem to line up with anything my friend had said. i was already wary of a non-jewish non-palestinian person writing a story about israeli/palestinian dynamics as that is incredibly complex, and i could tell eva was not well informed.

so i responded to the thread, warning eva that this was a sensitive and complicated topic and as a jew i felt someone israeli or palestinian should be writing this book. if eva isn't from israel like my friend is, maybe don't write a main character from the area. let actual palestinians tell their stories.

(unfortunately, i do not have my exact wording, though i did save their posts. i will be paraphrasing my responses to the best of my ability; i will paraphrase eva's and pull relevant quotes.)

eva responded to my message by saying: "Im not from PALESTINE, but I am VERY familiar with the topic" (even though they didn't seem to be).

they continued: "I want to inform people about the TRUTH. [...] Maybe you should try doing more research as to what is ACTUALLY happening, not what the internet and social networks have been lying to you about."

a reminder here that i had not mentioned anything more than: leave talking about palestinian trauma to palestinians. not what "side" i took (it is so much more complicated than that).

they continued to accuse me of not having a heart or having a bit of human in myself.

my antisemitism dogwhistle alert was blaring. i had just spent a week writing that psa, and here were real life examples of exactly the tropes i had been talking about!

but i kept my cool. mostly. i held a hope they could be reasoned with. "don't write this, please. you do not know what you're talking about. i think your perception of the conflict is just going to hurt people."

i need to include most of their next post.

"Netanyahu even said he will not stop bombing, killing and torturing Palestinians. The media has really gotten to you. Even some Jews are on the side of the truth, because they know, killing thousands of innocent civilians is wrong. Are you going to ignore the protests that are going on, because HUMANS actually care? You don't have to be Muslim to support the ones who are oppressed. I hope God puts you in the same situation as the Palestinians are going through right now. And I hope that you get to experience that. Does it really not hurt you to see kids bombed into pieces, getting Phosphoric Acid on you? Have YOU ever talked to a Palestinian because I have. You are blind as to what is going on. And don't come at me saying, "WeLl WhAt AbOuT hAmAs? At least they know who to challenge. You evacuated from Germany because of Hitler, and now you're doing the same. Netanyahu is Hitler in disguise. Beheading babies! Is that normal to you? If so, I hope you figure out what is right and what is wrong, and not being influenced by the media."

this whole paragraph was full of antisemitism accusing jews of being inhuman and controlling the media. and accusing me of being inhuman and unable to tell right from wrong.

the kicker is that i mentioned zero politics. i did not mention netanyahu or how i feel about him. i did not mention hamas or how i feel about them.

but what really got me was this: "I hope God puts you in the same situation as the Palestinians are going through right now. And I hope that you get to experience that. Does it really not hurt you to see kids bombed into pieces"

i had received an active bomb threat about a week beforehand. i didn't need to imagine going through that--i very nearly had.

i couldn't respond. i knew i would respond poorly and i would say something i didn't mean.

luckily, my friend stepped in once again and agreed with me, telling eva to stop and that they were misinformed. my friend, having lived in israel, had more knowledge of the active situation than me and tried to explain this to eva.

and eva responded with this:

"At least YOU actually have some knowledge but not enough. I will not say any more because I don't want to waste my precious words on you guys. [...] But, at the end, false knowledge doesn't work on me. Israelis and Jews are different, as I've heard and seen from different Jews myself."

if someone who lived in the area doesn't have enough knowledge, who does?

this rant is cut down because after saying they "don't want to waste [their] precious words" on us, they continued to accuse us of being immoral, uninformed, and duped by the media.

then finally: "israelis and jews are different." what? does the media controlling immoral inhuman stereotype only apply to israelis? are half of the world's jews different from the other half?

more of the same conversation happened. other users stepped in defending me from a literal bomb threat and the accusation that jews or israelis or "the media" or whatever else were corrupt, immoral, and inhuman.

the whole thread was removed, though some people asked for my original response (leave these stories to people who have actually experienced it) to stay up, as it was an important point.

this was one of many frustrating moderation decisions made recently on the site, and one of many where a mod stepped in only when things got wildly out of hand. (not to mention the speed of moderation response suggested the mod had been active while that conversation had been ongoing.

it was also one of the last straws for us. just a few days later, we posted about what we had faced on the ywp site to the main forums.

y'all can find what happened next on my friends' accounts. there was drama and investigations and a ton more stuff we didn't even know about.

i was glad we had kept receipts from all the times we had felt hurt. we had evidence that we were being mistreated, and the adults on the main site rallied to our side.

it turns out the main staff didn't even know the teens had a separate forum space on our own website.

the forums were shut down. i don't know if i was relieved or upset. there was a lot of community and collaborative work and safe space for so many kids out there. i know many kids from abusive families who got away with having the social media of a writing forum and found friends and explored their identities. and at the same time we faced so much shit on that site.

the discord server continued though it turned into much the same problems as the site. there were cliques and constant gossip and now it wasn't even moderated by adults but by involved teenagers.

by febuary i was stressed. it had been a rough few months for a lot of reasons, and i had happened to have a particularly bad day with people getting mad at me that i vented about. even though i put it under spoiler marks and tagged it, i was told not to post it there, which frustrated me since i'd posted much the same stuff before. then later a fight where some people disagreed with me just set me over the edge.

that was when i last posted on tumblr. i was having a meltdown and not in a good headspace.

i took a hard break. i deleted every single messaging/social app from my phone, even the ones that had nothing to do with the drama. i stopped responding to or checking things entirely.

(it turns out the discord server shut down just weeks later due to drama anyway.)

i genuinely believed that everyone hated me and the only way i could make myself deal with that was to cut off contact with everyone.

i've spent the last 6 months dealing with my shit, getting better therapy, and slowly re-engaging.

to be honest i am proud of myself that i survived until now because things were very rough and i wasn't dealing well.

i'm in college now. i'm meeting new people and making new friends. things are going a lot better.

thank you to all the people on nano that gave me advice and encouragement about college and applications, and about my family emergencies and grief.

thank you to all the people on nano who stood up for me and supported me through the toxicity i faced while y'all dealt with your own.

i hope i've been able to do the same for some of you.

to some degree, this is the grad post i'd always hoped to make. i know most people won't see this, and i don't know how many of y'all will care. but i'm ok with that now. i'm sharing to get this off my chest and maybe also hope that my friends who see this will know where i've been.

i know what the worry is like when someone disappears and we don't know if they're in trouble with their parents or if they've had a mental health crisis or something. i've seen that play out on nano before.

to anyone who knows me, you're welcome to reach out. i won't be super active on here. but i will be here for any of you who need my support. y'all gave me yours.

this is a bittersweet goodbye to nano as well. the forums have been gone for nearly a year and i will not be participating in the challenge this fall.

i will remember our little community, the good and the bad. i hope i will remember what i've learned from it.

keep writing, lovelies. keep being your amazing selves.

-shadows

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

So, followup to my NaNoWriMo rant last week, more complaining about the breathtaking incompetence here. The YWP (offshoot of NaNo supposed to be specifically for kids and teachers) implemented a verification process this year to confirm if people signing up for educator accounts really are educators (not a bad idea, surprised they weren't doing it before). I submit my credentials (nothing they can find on my state records page isn't public record anyway and my last name is unique enough that if you know how to spell it, you WILL find me in the state database that anyone can look up, so whatever).

But then I notice that my account (that I've had for, again, like a decade now) has not been locked in any way except that I can't create new classes. All my old classes are still there with my admin privileges still active. Thinking they could not possibly demand all these hoops to jump through for verification and then leave the barn door standing wide open anyway, I went ahead and created new accounts for my students (no personal info whatsoever, don't worry), added them to my old classes that still had like a hundred open slots, because I'm starting the project on Friday and still had not heard back that I was verified. And wham, bam, thank you ma'am, fully functional NaNo class for the month. No verification required.

Just...really guys? Really?

[quicktimeeventfull]

not to be glib but i truly from the bottom of my heart cannot imagine anything less surprising than the nanowrimo forums exploding. i stopped using them entirely a few years back after. hm. i can't even describe this moderator's actions without putting it under a cut for self-harm and transphobia.

i stopped using the forums a few back when one of the moderators of the LGBTQ+ forums (and also the teen forum, but not the YWP afaik) decided to liveblog herself self-harming in response to the concept of neopronouns existing. i genuinely don't know if they were removed from the LGBTQ+ forums specifically but they were a mod for years after until they were eventually suspended for threatening people.

like the rot in the forums is not even remotely new, it's been out in the open for years. everyone has known about it but there's literally no one to report it to because it's the mods that are the problem. i genuinely don't know if it's a fixable problem at this point -- i've been doing nano for over a decade so i'd hate to see it go down (and i sincerely doubt it will) but jfc this is not some weird little one-off thing.

ANYWAY at the end of the day it's just a challenge -- you don't need a forum to write 50k on your own. it's unfortunate that they have an absolute stranglehold on community organization but honestly at this point that's literally the only positive thing the company is contributing.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

What the fuck Kilby

So there was an email.

RIP to the YWP.

The fact that regional forums and affinity groups are going to be the only places for writing related questions that can’t be handled in discourse’s discord-style format and require their own thread is idiotic. So if you live in a rural area and don’t have a ML willing to take on mod duties, and you’re not LGBT+, disabled, neurodivergent, chronically ill or of colour, you’re fucked.

The new ML situation is. A whole thing. But I don’t think I can go public with that yet. But TLDR: it’s fucked up.

Nano this is why we’re done with you.

[nanowrimo]

The Young Writers Initiative: Finding Your Writing Community

The Young Writers Initiative, a.k.a. TYWI, is a non-profit (founded by former NaNoWriMo intern Riya!) that provides resources for high school and college-aged writers through both their website and their on-the-ground chapters program. Today, some of the TYWI members share a little about how their programs help foster creative community:

Writing can often seem like an activity that involves sitting in your room alone, frantically typing on your computer. And yes, sometimes it is, but writing is a passion shared by millions of people around the globe. That means wherever you may be, you can find a community of writers to support you and your journey. This can include a few friends in your locality, an online server of people brought together by a love for writing, or anything in between. Being an active member of such a community means having people to keep you accountable, to bounce ideas off, and to empathize with your struggles as a writer.

Bounded by community, The Young Writers Initiative (TYWI) is dedicated to offering writing resources to help young writers develop their craft. From pre-reading and editing to mentorship opportunities with established authors, TYWI offers a multitude of free services. Volunteering at TYWI is also a great way to get more involved with the writing community! Additionally, TYWI’s Chapters Program helps students start creative writing clubs, forming tight-knit communities of young writers in their localities. 

Running a TYWI Chapter at Hollins University 

By Sophia Kunkel

It has been an honor to watch as the development of the first university chapter of TYWI unfolded on the Hollins campus. This opportunity to grow our branch has strengthened my leadership skills and helped me connect with other writers. The very act of writing is solitary, and it is amazing that The Young Writers Initiative brings together so many people all over the world, challenging the notion that we have to pursue our creative dreams on our own. 

After the founding of Hollins’ chapter, I discovered that the encouragement of a solid and reliable community is essential, regardless of majors, genres, or writing experience. We might do most of our work in our dorm rooms and the library, hunched over our laptops with headphones and sitting in quiet focus, but there is certainly so much benefit from getting together with like-minded, driven peers. Additionally, our virtual discussions with several authors—Cassie Gustafson and Kris Spisak—provided much welcomed insight and wisdom into the world of writing, editing, and publishing. The idea of networking and creating relationships between successful writers and aspiring writers continues to impact our club members as we seek to learn from our panelists and speakers. 

Running a TYWI Chapter at Wenatchee High School 

By Miranda Nayak

I drafted my first novel during the pandemic, spending my free time inside of a story. As months passed, writing’s role in my life evolved. While I had once perceived it as a trusted friend, writing began to feel more like the ghost of a companion—present but not tangible enough to hold on to. I was suddenly desperate for a connection to a writing community.

It was only through discovering The Young Writers Initiative's Summer Write-a-Thon that I realized how many other people my age were passionate about creative writing. While isolated in my home, I felt more connected to others than I had since beginning my writing journey.

The most gratifying part of starting a TYWI chapter has been feeling those connections within my high school. Spending an entire lunch period discussing craft, completing writing sprints, or talking about writing struggles together has shown me that writing does not have to be a lonely hobby. The members of my chapter inspire and motivate me to keep writing; they are invaluable partners. I can already see the beginnings of creative innovation and collaboration that will blossom in tandem with the meaningful connections that our TYWI chapter fosters.

All in all, building a writing community makes the craft even more enjoyable than it already is. If you are interested in starting a TYWI chapter at your school or library, we encourage you to apply at tywi.org/chapters. 

Yessica Jain is a high school junior from New Jersey. An avid reader, she has always been in love with the magic of words. When she started creative writing in sixth grade, she quickly discovered she could wield the same magic with passion, hard work, and time. Since then, she has written short stories in various genres and a fantasy novel titled The Prison of Magic. Learn more about Yessica and read her weekly writing blog at yessicajain.com.

Lydia Wang is someone who loves stories so much, she decided to create her own. She writes magic—plant mages singing to bluebells, silver rings laced with protective spells, paper cranes that come to life as you fold them. She has been recognized by Iowa Young Writers’ Studio (‘21 & ‘22) and published in Ice Lolly, Metaphysical Review, and more. When not starting her thirty-first story, Lydia can be found tracing shapes into the clouds.

Sophia Kunkel is a literature-lovin’ college sophomore at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. She loves nature walks, has endless enthusiasm for the Beatles, and adores her troublesome mini Goldendoodle, Bielka {the space dog}. Sophia writes primarily speculative fiction and fantasy. Her debut self-published novel, Starless Skies and Broken Dreams, can be found on Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Readers can find her at sophiakunkel.com or writinglife.blog. 

Miranda Nayak is a high school senior from central Washington State. In addition to being involved in robotics, she loves running her school’s Equity Club and playing the cello. She is an avid reader and adores writing fantasy and science fiction stories. You can find her on Instagram @barrybookish or on her website https://mirandanayakwritin.wixsite.com/website.

[honeybeeofficial]

Hey, Ezra! It's Rose from the ue olde YWP nano group. So I've recently decided to get top surgery to alleviate my dysphoria, but I don't know where to start. What were the first steps you took to get the care you needed?

Hi Rose!! How are you?

I think one of the first things I did was just join the r/topsurgery subreddit and start reading through posts and comments on there to work on desensitizing myself to the medical anxiety/squeamishness I’d been feeling. (This is totally not an issue for everyone but before I started looking, I couldn’t read about the details of the procedure or recovery without tons of anxiety and revulsion even though it was definitely something I wanted, and reading other people’s accounts and (cautiously) looking at recovery pictures helped.) This can also help you get a sense of what type of results are possible, and what type of results you personally want.

At around the same time, I started researching top surgeons in my area. You can look for recommendations on reddit, or google “gender affirming surgery [state]” or any combination of relevant terms. You’re looking for plastic surgeons, ideally ones with top surgery explicitly mentioned on their practice’s website.

As you find some surgeons near you, check for reviews and results online– lots of people post about their experience with specific surgeons on reddit and on transbucket.com. (You have to make an account for transbucket.)

Once I found a couple of surgeons I felt I’d be happy with, I called around to their offices to schedule consultations. I just said “Hi, I want to schedule a consultation for top surgery/mastectomy with [surgeon]?” and the receptionists took it from there! God bless our troops (kind receptionists who know what to do when nervous dweebs call them)

At some point, you will likely need a support letter from a therapist or psychiatrist. If you already have a therapist, start talking with them about your goals and bring up the need for a letter! If you don’t, look into either starting to see a therapist or services that will help you get your letter. Most insurances require the letter in order to preapprove the procedure, and my surgeon required that I get the letter –> preapproval before they would schedule me for a surgery date.

I can say plenty more about my experience but I don’t want to overwhelm you haha 😅 but please feel free to ask questions!! I am more than happy to talk about it (and am no longer squeamish about it! no question too TMI)

[rrivlet]

Even without the AI sponsorships, nanowrimo has so many fucking issues.

look at the Inkitt fiasco (also an issue of taking money from shadey sources)

Look at the local organizing stuff with their "MLs" not being background checked or moderated at ALL and the shitstorm that caused.

Look at the emails sent to participants in the YWP asking minors for donations.

Look at the racism involved with "Ivan the Icy"

And, most importantly, the negligence from the board allowing actual grooming in their youth programs that got so bad that the FBI was involved. The most problematic moderator here only had his account removed after he threatened to cause problems with an affiliate...

Nanowrimo's been dead for ages and is only alive through sheer inertia. Taking money from a shady AI company is just an act of desperation, no matter how you view LLMs/Generative AI in the first place

Like, the concept of nano is great! Fun, if you feel up to it! but the organization itself has severely poisoned the water with greed, desperation, or both. This link has a good summary of the fiasco in 2023 (and the time leading up to it).

There are far worse core issues going on with nanowrimo than AI money, but it's certainly icing on the cake and an indicator that they haven't really changed, especially with the claims of classism and ableism.

I suppose its also worth noting that prowritingaid wasn't always generative AI, but that the AI was stapled onto an already existing program after it had been made as a sort of Grammarly alternative with a few extra bits sewn on there.

At the end of the day, I really don't think nanowrimo is going to recover from their poor decision making and lack of intention. In my opinion, they aren't worth giving any money or engaging with in any capacity, but that's just me.

So it looks like NaNoWriMo are happy to have AI as part of their community. Miss me with that bullshit. Generative artificial intelligence is an active threat to creativity and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in creative fields.

Please signal boost this so writers can make an informed choice about whether to continue to take part in such a community.