That’s right folks. NaNoWriMo has again found themselves embroiled in yet another controversy. We’re only two short months away from Nanowrimo 2024. With yet another controversy afoot with the organization, this author wonders if we’ll make it to November before the organization completely implodes.

NaNoWriMo Controversy 2023

Some of you probably remember the scandal of 2023 that began bubbling in May of 2023 and finally blew up during NaNoWriMo 2023 with the help of an FBI investigation. Forums were shut down, and a mass exodus of volunteers quickly followed. People wanted to quickly distance themselves from the stink that landed on the organization. 

When the drama finally began to pass, NaNoWriMo representatives promised to do better and to provide more transparency to its members. From the scuttlebutt on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, those promises were empty at best.

You can read about the NaNoWriMo Controversy of 2023 here.

September 2024

Fast forward to just a few days ago, when some genius at NaNoWriMo thought it would be a brilliant idea to make a statement about how they will not be taking a stance on using AI in writing. From what I understand, this very public statement was made in response to arguments within the organization’s private forums. Nobody, not even their sponsor, ProWritingAid requested this statement. Then, they followed that ‘no stance’ policy with one of the most asinine and elitest statements made in a long time.

This clearly contradicts their declaration to not take a stand either way on the topic of AI. Worse, they instantly alienated much of their author base by calling authors who disagree with them ‘classist and ‘ableist’.

Pushback

As anyone might have predicted, the blowback that followed this statement, was quick and fierce. Authors took to Reddit to express their displeasure with NaNoWriMo’s no-stance declaration. Many pointed out how classist and elitist the organization appeared in believing that authors of ‘lesser’ circumstances, didn’t have the ability to write without the aid of AI.

This pushback forced NaNoWriMo representatives to ‘clarify’, by trying to explain what they meant.

This second statement makes it appear as if the organization is taking responsibility for the ‘miscue’ in their original statement. It would have been nice to see them finally take responsibility for something they did wrong. However, when I clicked on the link, it took me to the letter they mentioned.

My first problem with this is they never really took a position of neutrality. Instead, they called authors who dared to disagree with their position ‘classist and ableist’. I’m sorry, but how is that not an abandonment of writers’ legitimate concerns about AI?

Next, they suddenly agree that there should be a conversation about the use of AI in writing, but they clearly don’t want that discussion on their platform. Instead, they try to redirect by stating ‘That debate should continue to thrive within the greater writing community as technologies continue to evolve.’ The problem with this statement is NaNoWriMo used to be part of that greater writing community. Obviously, this is a hot-button topic they want nothing to do with and they desperately want someone else to deal with it.

Finally, the next paragraph somehow manages to both back peddled on their use of the words classist and ableist while also implying that we as the writers/readers have ‘misunderstood’ what they meant to say.

My Thoughts

The only sentence in this entire letter that feels even remotely sincere is ‘Not being more careful about our wording was a bad decision on our part’

Honestly, I don’t believe this controversy is over. I also don’t see much of this so-called ‘clarification’ being sincere. What I do see happening is yet another mass exodus of authors. These are authors who stuck by the organization through the last controversy with the hopes things would get better only to have the same organization they continued to support call them ‘classist and ableist’ or worse yet imply that they’re too ‘poor’, ‘disabled’, or somehow ‘marginalized’ to write a good story without the use of AI.

Sadly, much like the Romance Writers of America, this is just another great organization that has fallen with mismanagement and is now swirling the drain.