We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post to bring you news of (yet another) kerfuffle over at NaNoWriMo headquarters. Within the past two days, people in the organization have quit and volunteers have walked away. This is the third scandal that has rocked the inspirational author site since 2022, when they were promoting predatory vanity presses. Ten months ago moderators on the forums were accused of grooming children, with staff not doing enough to protect their younger users. And now they are not only defending the use of AI in their competition, but labeling those against it as “classist” and “ableist.”

Those are fighting words among creators of all kinds whose livelihoods are directly threatened by the growing pervasiveness of AI in all forms of art.

Last year, they made the statement that they accept works written with the assistance of AI, but cautioned that to submit an entirely AI-generated piece defeats the purpose of the competition. This year, as calls from creators increase to denounce generative AI in its myriad forms, NaNo released this statement:

“We believe that to categorically condemn AI would be to ignore classist and ableist issues surrounding the use of the technology, and that questions around the use of AI tie to questions around privilege.” Going even further, they say that “not all brains” have the “same abilities” and that AI tools can lessen the financial burden of having to hire writing assistants.

They go on to state that they know some of the writers in the community are staunchly anti-AI but that they believe that we all have free will and can choose to eat the apple . . .use the AI . . . if we want to. Because “freedom.”

Classist and Ableist

One of the things that is so infuriating about the NaNo stance is that they are couching their very unpopular opinion in language that already has a place and a purpose. Words like “ableist” and “classist” have actual meaning and this isn’t it. Using these words basically denotes those who want to disagree with the use of generative AI as classist and ableist, while implying that someone with less money or with a disability needs these tools.

We at Mint in Box Press support creators of all kinds and we strive to be inclusive and equitable in our creative works. We believe the celebration of diversity leads to great, even transformative, art. There are a great many tools already available for writers with disabilities (speech to text, etc) and there are peer writing groups for those who can’t afford to pay a professional editor. And these are great options.

And let’s face it, most of us also have day jobs and a lot of us might meet the criteria for disability. People who compete in NaNo are mostly hobby writers, not looking to hire writing assistants. That said, people who are harmed by generative AI are not only those with massive book deals. The theft of intellectual property affects all artists, big and small, and so to condone the use of generative AI is to condone theft.

Life After NaNo

So, in the absence of NaNo, which has spurred on so many to finally sit down and write “The Thing” they’ve always wanted to write, what’s next? Where do independent authors go? There are a great many writing communities online and in person, but our writers will miss the thrill of hitting those 1,667 words each day in November, and the panic when they inevitably fall behind. Several of our authors credit NaNo with helping them write their first novel, for helping them to prove to themselves it was possible.

There are other authors who are looking into creating their own events, mostly to compete with NaNo at the end of the year. But we are looking at going a different route entirely, one that will be supportive of the novelist and the writer of short stories. And one that doesn’t require one to juggle holiday dinners and family vacations with hitting a daily word count.

Our Consortium has a few ideas to fill the void left by NaNo (to be fair, NaNo continues, but our writers and many others will be forgoing the event from now on). We’d love to hear some suggestions as to what exactly would make a writing competition work for you? A different ending word count? Different categories? A theme or character to include each year? A moderated forum to discuss with others?

Let us know what you think and we will get to planning.

Until next time, cheers and happy writing!