Welcome to the

2025 Fanfic Writing Challenge

A November writing challenge open to writers for all fandoms and projectsNow in our second year!

About the challenge

As multi-year participants of NaNoWriMo, we have both been disheartened and disappointed to see all the continually disturbing news that has come to light, as well as the poor decisions of the staff. We are certain that we're not alone when we say we no longer feel comfortable participating.But we've always enjoyed the things NaNo had to offer, like the resources, communities we built, and events that kept us motivated and on track. November has always been a month we looked forward to for some great productivity and fun with friends. And we don't want to miss that! Especially now, with NaNo officially no more, we wanted to make sure that writers still had a fun community event to participate in.So, we created our own!This challenge is for all writers in any fandom who would like to participate. Featuring more diverse goal options, lots of resources, events and activities, and a community to share the highs (and lows!) of writing. We're really excited to share what we've created and move into our second challenge year! We hope you will join us so we can meet our goals together!

Please note that, unlike NaNoWriMo, we do not support the use of generative AI

Meet your hosts

Getting started

Joining the challenge and getting started is as easy as 1...2...3!

  • Follow us on Twitter or Bluesky to let us know you're in and stay tuned in to news, updates, and activities

  • Join our Discord server to connect with other challengers and tell us all about your project

  • Choose your tracking spreadsheet from the Resources page and customize it with your project info

And that's it, you're ready to go!We'll have activities to help keep you motivated and on track throughout the month. These will be posted on social media and in the Discord community and everyone is welcome to join!

Resources

Writing Resources

Some of our favorite writing tools and resources

Tracking Spreadsheets

For us, one of the best parts of NaNo was the dashboard and word count tracking on the website. It was great to see progress, count writing days, and earn fun badges!Not wanting to give up that feature, we have created our own tracking spreadsheet to help you stay organized and provide fun motivational boosters along the way!We want to make sure this challenge is inclusive of multiple goals. Does 50k sound way too intimidating? We also have tracking spreadsheets for 10k, 25k, 30k, and 40k words! Or, for those who like an even bigger challenge, 75k! And if tracking words in general sounds like too much, we also offer a habit tracker where you can track your writing days for the month instead.2025's tracking spreadsheets also include the highly requested "Writing Session Calculator" to track your writing sprint sessions and the daily "Word Count Calculator" to help you track even more efficiently!And remember, even if there's only space for one section of "project info" you can work on multiple things during the month! The Fanfic Writing Challenge is all about choosing your own adventure!If you're looking for a spreadsheet to help you track all of your projects and words counts for each month and across the entire year, consider checking out deepslowpanic's project tracking spreadsheet.Check out our templates below, each has an instruction page to guide you, but don't hesitate to reach out to your challenge hosts if you have any questions!

To utilize the templates, simply open and click the "Use Template" button in the top left. You do not need to request access to the sheet to use it.

Stuck? Try a prompt generator

Sometimes you just need a little spark to ignite your ideas, and these prompt generators can help!

Trouble focusing? Try one of these

  • Reward yourself with a kitten photo every 100, 200, 500, or 1k words with Written Kitten!

  • Try using an Ohwrite sprinting room with friends. We've created one for the challenge here!

  • Hop into the Discord server and join us for a timed sprint!

  • Use Focusmate to find a bodydoubling partner

  • Try using a pomodoro timer

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method in which you do focused work during timed intervals (usually 25 minutes) broken up by 5 minute breaks. You can use a simple timer on your phone, use a kitchen timer, or try a pomodoro video on YouTube!

Check out some of our favorite pomodoro channels!

Organizational tools

These are some of our favorite ways to stay organized!

  • If Notion seems too complicated, try Asana for a platform with a little more built in framework

Ao3 resources

Need a beta reader?

We only know the beta reader service for BTS writers, if you know of any for multi/other fandoms, please reach out to let us know!

  • Check out the BTS Beta Reader services page here if you'd like their great team to match you with a beta reader. Or if you'd like to sign up to beta read for others!

Aglioeollieo's BTS Moodboard Maker

Ollie on Bluesky has created this amazing moodboard maker to assist in generating the perfect visuals for your fic! While this tool has been made for the BTS fandom, there is also the ability to upload your own photos, so you can use it for other groups and fandoms as well!The tool is constantly being updated with new features and images, check it out here!

Have a suggestion for a resource or looking for something in particular? Let us know!