This is the summer that I decided nothing would stop me from getting a new novel draft saved on the external hard drive. I have a great idea. I’ve accumulated lots of material. The perfect title even came to me.
Then, I went to NaNoWriMo’s website to prepare for Camp NaNo, and the website was dead.
No, it’s still live; you can update your account with a new project. It’s just dead—nobody is there…
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With NaNo joining the ranks of AI shills today, it’s time to remind everyone I fucking despise the use and sharing of PISS (Plagarized Information Synthesis System) garbage, and I do block for it. Credit artists from whom you have permission to share their work, and don’t have a bot do your damn writing/editing/tone checking/sensitivity reading (have the ‘tell you to make pizza with glue machine’ tell you if something is pc- laughable).
make an awful, ill-conceived, sponsored post about "responsible"/"ethical" uses of ai in writing
immediately get ratio'd in a way i've never seen on tumblr with a small swarm of chastising-to-negative replies and no reblogs
start deleting replies
reply to their own post being like 'agree to disagree!!!' while saying that ai can TOTALLY be ethical because spellcheck exists!! (???) while in NO WAY responding to the criticisms of ai for its environmental impact OR the building of databases on material without author consent, ie, stolen material, OR the money laundering rampant in the industry
when called out on deleting replies, literally messaged me people who called them out to say "We don't have a problem with folks disagreeing with AI. It's the tone of the discourse." So. overtly stated tone policing.
get even MORE replies saying this is a Bad Look, and some reblogs now that people's replies are being deleted
DISABLE REBLOGS when people aren't saying what nano would prefer they say
As a heads up, @nanowrimo have begun suppressing comments on their latest Facebook post that are unrelated to the post (because they still have not made a post regarding the latest Board announcement, the new municipal liason contract, the revisions to their ToS, etc). Mine specifically was tagged for "spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation", which is very interesting coming from a page that is refusing to publicly address any concerns and is instead hiding those concerns.
As of the time I'm posting this, all of the comments in the above screenshots are hidden. These were all on their most recent post, which they made on February 22.
I have been posting comments on NaNoWriMo's Facebook page, to the most recent three posts there (copied and pasted). My latest one has apparently been blocked or something, so I'm going to start sharing here. Please do share this far and wide.
If you don't know what the NaNoWriMo fire is, I have two resources for you:
Reddit Post (took two to post the whole story)
Google Docs summary (being actively updated as things continue to burn)
So below the fold I'm pasting the comments I put on Facebook, in order. Enjoy!
March 5, 20204
It's becoming increasingly obvious that the goal here is to shutter NaNoWriMo as an organization. I wish you guys would just DO IT ALREADY instead of pretending you're trying to do right by the community. That ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS ABOMINATION of a new ML agreement is reprehensible. I hope NOBODY signs it, because it is BLATANTLY trying to put ALL BLAME for anything that goes wrong directly on the ML's. Which is ludicrous. On top of that, if people have concerns about the agreement they are automatically being removed as ML. That's not good faith. It's not transparency. I've been trying to believe the best but obviously that was really silly of me and I apologize for believing that everyone is capable of actually doing better.
March 7, 2024
The Board Update is laughable and reinforces the impression I offered in my previous comment. Basically, nobody on the Board right now was even there when all this stuff happened. NaNoWriMo the organization is not actually listening to the feedback from the community; supposedly there have been focus groups but none of the people I'm in contact with (which is a lot of people who have all been very heavily involved with the organization over the years) ever got an invitation. I am just one person, and I am aware that I am not owed anything. However, this entire thing continues to be mismanaged, and I do not for one second believe that the organization is heading in the right direction.
Again, I suggest you just shut things down completely like you're obviously planning. All the noises about trying to do the right thing, followed by this alarming lack of actually doing the right thing and incredibly tone-deaf approach, are not helping the situation. Support for the organization is dwindling, and I am not surprised. That's what happens when you ignore and/or woefully mismanage your response to concerns.
March 9, 2024
Well, I'm back for another round of "I thought I told you not to do this kind of thing." Again, I know I'm just a person and nobody has to listen to me, but I know plenty of people who agree with me.
First, regarding the FAQ for MLs, there are contradictions and missing words. I try not to criticize that sort of thing too much (in spite of being a trained proofreader) but this is supposed to be a writing organization, and you people at HQ are supposed to be writers. Do better.
Second, it has come to my attention that both the Terms & Conditions and the Codes of Conduct have been updated with no notification. That is ridiculous and unethical, not to mention poor business practice. Literally every organization I am connected to sends an e-mail to let me know when there are changes upcoming, and often those changes are outlined so I know what to expect. And then I have the option to leave if I don't agree with those changes.
If you did send a notification e-mail prior to these changes being implemented, well, hey, we already knew the e-mail system was borked so whatever. But it looks like literally NOBODY got a notification of the upcoming changes, which indicates that there was no attempt to follow best practices.
It is clear to me, and to many other people in the community, that nobody at HQ actually knows how to manage a non-profit. I'm also pretty sure you don't understand ethics or best practices. You're trying to get ahead of bad things that ALREADY HAPPENED, and if you're actually consulting a lawyer about all of these things before you do them, they are giving you horrible advice. You also needed a PR team back in like November (maybe even October).
There's a weird attitude that I've seen all over the place, that people who are being vocal about this disaster are being mean or trying to destroy NaNoWriMo or something like that. I want to be crystal clear here: People who are being vocal are speaking up on behalf of people who needed a voice. People were being abused and others decided to help them get out of that situation. When the expected solution (reporting to HQ) did not result in appropriate actions, they moved to make the situation public. (That's when I found out and got involved.)
When we were discussing problems and asking questions on the forums in November, we were trying to be productive. We were looking for answers, making suggestions, explaining what was wrong (because as we talked we learned that there was far more than just the Mod X situation that was wrong), offering our assistance... and we got shut down.
Now I'm also hearing that there has been a focus group. Who was in that focus group? How did you get the participants? Nobody I know was contacted to be on that focus group. Are you actually LISTENING to the participants? Are the people you're recruiting all folks who've made it clear they're mad at those of us who are using our voices to call out abuses of power, poor organization and business practices, and unethical behaviour? I don't care if I'm not approached to be a part of a focus group, but making sure you involve an assortment of viewpoints would be beneficial.
I am just incredibly disappointed in how everything has gone and is going. The yacht has sailed. It's time to accept that and move on.
March 12, 2024 (the one that isn't showing up)
Every time I turn around, it seems, there's something new to facepalm over. It is becoming increasingly clear that HQ is on the defensive. You need someone on staff, like, six months ago, who is actually capable of professional communication. Right now, we're receiving passive-aggressive whinges about how many e-mails there are and how you're giving up vacations in order to reply to them. At least some of the foolish "answers" on the FAQ (which again, why is that on Zendesk? That makes no sense.) have been removed. The thing is, nevermind Pepperidge Farm, the Internet remembers. EVERYTHING.
It is not professional to tell your subordinates (whether staff or volunteers) that you're giving up personal time in order to deal with a mess that is your responsibility to deal with. It is not professional to complain about having to do a job you agreed to take on.
It is not ethical to try and get anti-union verbage into an agreement for volunteers. It is not ethical to try and get volunteers to take on all liability for events they organize on your behalf.
It is incredibly rude to treat adults as if they are misbehaving children. Especially not when they are bringing you legitimate concerns and criticisms about how your organization is handling a serious situation.
And yes, a lot of this one is specifically about Kilby, because WTF? How have you been on multiple boards and not learned how to do all of this stuff properly? You were absolutely NOT the right person for the job, and it's laughable that you think you were.
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If Kilby is currently the interim ED then that means that nobody in the board was around for anything. Not CF, not the YWP meltdown, not the MLs, not the scam sponsors. None of the fires.
So are y’all keeping the YWP or not?
Y’all weren’t looking for a new ED already???
You kicked someone out for asking questions don’t even try this shit.
You don’t see or hear us, and you only value our wallets. Don’t try to kid yourselves.
This blog is gonna contain a lot of discussions of abuse, assault, and even terrorism. It will also include a lot of swearing. Proceed with caution.
DNI if - racist, homophobic/transphoic/lgbtq-phobic, support jkr, nsfw/18+, ableist, "MAP", proship, conservative, uses religion as an excuse to be bigoted.
I am neurodivergent and a minor, so sorry in advance if I screw up. Please yell at me if I do so ^_^
I’m a former YWP user, Nanopocalypse survivor and firestarter who’s dedicating this account to taking the Nanowrimo organisation down.
I also have a Youtube: https://youtube.com/@TheNanowrimoChronicles?feature=shared
The YouTube will be for longer and more composed content. I’m not too sure how this is gonna work yet, but it’ll be more thoughts, alongside the reports.
A group of Rogue Writers have managed to assemble a list of the allegations that have come out against Nanowrimo in the last year, below.
PROTECT KIDS FROM NANOWRIMO
NaNoWriMo and its staff have recently come under fire for their numerous unethical and predatory practices. These include, though are not limited to:
Hostility and inaction after numerous members raised child grooming allegations against a volunteer moderator who was in charge of teens within the NaNoWriMo forums.
Headquarters took nearly 2 months to quietly remove the accused moderator's leadership powers, and over 5 months to remove their account… which they only did after this former moderator threatened to damage NaNoWriMo's contract with an affiliate.
Refusal to protect kids in the Young Writer’s Program from predators. Kids were instead bullied and silenced by the staff.
Ivan the Icy, a scavenger hunt game that featured a terrorist-styled “supervillain” (which they admitted was a mistake).
Local organizers (called MLs) not being background checked, yet required to host in-person events with kids present.
Harboring volunteer MLs who were reported as racist, homophobic, transphobic, and/or abusive.
Ignoring and silencing MLs who begged for help regarding serious issues within the volunteer program. This resulted in at least one participant suffering an event-related assault.
Inaction when MLs abused fellow MLs with bullying and ableist discrimination.
Promoting multiple Vanity Presses (predatory, scam-like publishers), including Inkitt, even after outside sources confirmed and announced they were predatory.
Solicitation via email for donations from kids in the Young Writer's Program.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Do you know of a school or classroom participating in NaNoWriMo through the Young Writers Program website? Please bring these issues to their attention.
If you donate to the NaNoWriMo organization, stop. There are plenty of other charitable organizations far more worthy of your monetary support.
Continue enjoying the November writing challenge WITHOUT the NaNoWriMo organization. Many authors and writing groups have written 50k words in 30 days without even being aware that the organization exists.
hello, it's me, a random small tumblr account here to bring you some interesting details about a potential candidate for project for awesome and why you should Not be voting for them.
project for awesome is happening this year from february 16th to february 18th, so this is exactly a month ahead to warn you why you should not be voting for a potential candidate, the nanowrimo organization.
they have been a candidate over the years and they do not deserve being a candidate at all especially with their more recent fbi cases and child predation issues. the constant endangerment of the userbase is frankly ridiculous, and the amount of testimonies i can find and the amount that i have had to make myself is outrageous.
here is a short video that goes briefly into each of the issues and allegations [some of these are not confirmed and are only allegations or speculations. some of these i have seen firsthand. the information in this video is provided at random and some has more evidence then others] that the nanowrimo organization has had [there is a trigger warning at the beginning for child abuse, assault, predators, racism, ableism, terrorism, bombings, abuse]
issues and allegation including child grooming [from both mods and unchecked users who were creeps], incompetent moderation, emotionally abusing position of power over minors, banning and silencing users who would try to speak out, ableism, making light of terrorism
all this and it isn't touching on half of the firsthand accounts and the rampant racism and bigotry that was allowed on the nano forums, both for the young writers program and the official nanowrimo forums
if anyone wants screenshots, firsthand accounts, the child predation callout twitter thread, the tiktoks, or tumblr posts feel free to reach out to me or ask for them in the comments. i have so much shit on and against this organization it's not even funny
With Project For Awesome fast approaching and Nanowrimo receiving $224,674.11 from the organisation since 2014, I produced this video containing the allegations levelled against the ‘charity’, and some documentation of the alleged abuse.
But in summary: don’t vote for Nano for P4A. Vote but vote for others. This ‘charity’ doesn’t deserve any of its money.
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I think it needs to become common knowledge that "inability to read social cues" can show up as overcompensating.
You don't know how much misbehaviour is allowed, so you become the perfect child who never tests rules.
You don't know if someone is irritated with you, so you'll be extra generous and self-effacing.
You don't know how much is expected of you at work so you'll kill yourself in a minimum-wage job and not notice that nobody else is working like this.
"Hardworking and quiet" should be as much of an autism red flag as "ignores rules and doesn't know when to stop talking". Or why don't we just start using words to communicate so i can stop tracking everybody's eyebrow twitches, that would be great.
Sometimes (though not nearly as often) you get subtypes of this where overcompensating even grows into a special interest. I'm looking at you, autistic actors, psychologists, etiquette experts, interculturalists, anthropologists, sociologists, hospitality gurus, fiction writers, philosophers... All you bemused scholars of humanity.
"Ah, this doesn't apply to me... after years of intense study, I can reliably read most social cues!"
When you spend all day in a performance where you are so incredibly Normal and Socially Skilled and then collapse into a nonverbal puddle as soon as you get home, that's an autism.
...
Also. "Not picking up on social cues" is a frame of the situation which looks in from the outside, where "social cues" are a mundane, obvious facet of reality.
As an internal experience, it feels more like: "Most other human beings are weird and unpredictable, especially in groups. They seem to have shared sets of secret rules and nearly imperceptible ways of communicating which lead to erratic, disturbing behavior."
In addition: if you notice that your ability to parse and respond to social cues suddenly goes to absolute shit when you are tired or distracted... you might be looking at hypervigilant social compensation. like a swan gliding through a pond full of sailboats. sure, you might actually be more maneuverable and faster than the sailboats in some circumstances, but boy howdy are those little feets paddling underneath the surface..
One of my professors told me recently “You aren’t in the drivers or passengers seat when you write a story. The characters are in the drivers seat and they’ve locked you in the trunk” and I mean he’s not wrong.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but if the phrase "self care" doesn't resonate with you, try calling it "system maintenance" and see if that clicks.
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time travel fics where it’s Luke and/or Leia who goes back to the prequels as opposed to prequels characters going back to the prequels are incredibly funny because instead of emotional tension you could cut with a knife and horrible grief overlaying every action it’s just one (or two) ridiculously powerful people running around with absolutely no idea what’s going besides (a) that the chancellor everybody loves is pure evil and plotting the downfall of the republic and (b) that their dad (with whom they have a VERY complex relationship) is, at best, old enough to be barely out of space college. who needs complex and carefully rendered plans based on a million different remembered factors when you can have one of the space twins seeing Palpatine and trying to kill him with their illegal laser sword on sight
the order of the red and blue implies that leia kills him after she loses the gun. this has me thinking of the prequel cast having some epic quest to stop her from killing palpatine and when they finally get the gun she just strangles him
