National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an annual challenge to write an entire 50,000 word novel in the span of 30 days. The governing body behind it, which operates the official site, has announced its stance on AI generated text: according to them, it’s okay.

NaNoWriMo announced this late on the Friday leading into Labor Day Weekend, in a move that seems calculated to hide the announcement. Unfortunately for them, it has not gone unnoticed. 

But before we get into that, let’s give you a bit of background. 

What is NaNoWriMo? 

NaNoWriMo was founded in 1999 by Chris Baty and a group of friends who decided to challenge themselves to write a novel in a month. In the 25 years since, it has grown into an international organization in which many, many, many  participate every year in an attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That equals out to 1,667 words a day. 

I first encountered NaNoWriMo in 2011 thanks to the creative writing club at my university. From there I have participated almost every year. I’ve advocated for how valuable a tool it is for writers who need help establishing a writing routine, and have frequently written about it in a writing advice column I have hosted off and on for a decade. 

Last year, NaNoWriMo was mired in controversy; from sources I have within the organization, evidence was being swept under the rug as best as they could. This caused me to rethink my stance on the organization as a whole and I planned to step back and write unofficially with some friends that had similar views. 

As of late last week, NaNoWriMo has updated their official stance on the use of AI in writing. It is approved, with no restrictions. 

This is flatly unacceptable. NaNoWriMo is about creativity, and the chance to prove to yourself that you really can write, and that you really can explore your own creativity.

NaNoWriMo is about building community with others like you.

NaNoWriMo is about making something new, yourself.

NaNoWriMo is about the very human act of making art part of your life.

Or, at least, it was.

Their discussion of ableism slapped me in the face. As a disabled writer who has spent 15 years carefully honing my craft, I am offended at the idea that someone with a disability needs to rely on AI to write at the same level as those without—that those of us who have fought for years to overcome said disabilities and still produce art are lesser than our able-bodied peers. 

I’m sure as others join this discussion, NaNoWriMo is going to do their best to defend their stance. Perhaps one way is by hiding behind programs like Grammarly which is technically an AI-generated spell checker. But spell checkers within a document have been accepted practice since word processors existed. That’s not what we’re talking about when we want NaNoWriMo and any writing based community to take a stance against AI. 

Generative content is destroying the environment at a breakneck pace. Generative content is simply poor art. But, in this specific case, generative content not only destroys the community at the soul of NaNoWriMo, it defeats any challenge in and of itself: you can burn the environment to splatter 50,000 words of content on the page in an afternoon. (“Content” being the lowest word I can use to describe the generative output; it is not art, it is not media, it is simply content, like so many packing peanuts—what you make, as a human being, is art.)

What the entire writing community wants is for organizations with the reach and influence that NaNoWriMo has is to say NO. No, you cannot use Chat GPT to write your 1667 words every day. No, you cannot use AI to create your story, and with a click of a button, hit publish. 

Because at the end of the day that is no better than what the WGA writers fought for last year. Writing is a craft, it’s a form of art. It takes years if not decades to master. It requires trying, trying, failing, and trying again to get anywhere in this business. 

NaNoWriMo claims that AI can help close the gap between classism and ableism that appear in these fields. Anyone who thinks that has clearly spent no time investigating the market, or the ableism baked into the very core of AI generated content. 

AI generated text is not writing. 

That is little more than playing a point and click game and typing where the prompt is. That is little more than stealing the work of other writers that companies fed that AI to make it “perfect” its craft. And you know whose writing they stole? 

The writing of people NaNoWriMo claims to be defending in their very statement. 

On a practical note, AI generated writing cannot be copyrighted. The legal precedent is firmly set that a work’s ability to be protected by copyright depends on it being, directly, a human being’s creation. 

As a disabled writer, I struggle to write. From both mental and physical disabilities, there are days where I struggle to string words together. But never in my wildest dream would I begin to think of lowering myself to depend on an AI to write for me. 

I’d sooner quit. 

I used to champion NaNoWriMo. I used to be a Municipal Liaison and represent them in my hometown. I’ve hosted countless write-ins and events. I’ve attended even more. 

I quietly ended it last year. Any remaining public association I had with NaNoWriMo ends today. 

Today I withdraw any support I ever had for NaNoWriMo until they rethink their dangerous, and quite frankly abhorrent, stance on the use of AI and anyone involved in last year’s matter is removed. They hid behind platitudes that benefit no one. They took the coward’s way out. 

Whether they truly believe their stance on AI, or whether this stance is the result of some corporate sponsorship, who knows. Without an official statement on the matter, it seems this announcement was made to preserve their partnerships with ProWritingAid and Amazon Web Services. Both companies promote the use of AI in the writing process.

This November, I will be boycotting NaNoWriMo. And if you’re a writer, I suggest you join me and do the same.

Featured Image: Pixabay from Pexels

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