Challenge November 2024 Word Race!—LAST DAY!

Hey JCF Fanfic! It’s time once again for the…

November 2024 Word Race!​

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As the year begins to draw to a close, we all could use a little motivation to keep ourselves writing. Fortunately, that’s what JCF Word Races are all about! You simply set a word count goal for yourself to accomplish during the month of November—as large or as small as you want—and then try to achieve it. Easy, huh? (And you’re not really “racing” against anyone besides yourself!)

Links to past word races: November 2023, November 2022, November 2021, November 2020, November 2019, February 2018, November 2018, February 2017, February 2016, June 2016, May 2015, December 2014.

Here’s How It Works!

1. To sign up, post in this thread saying so between now and November 1, stating the word-count goal you would like to set for yourself.
2. Beginning November 1 (at midnight in your own time zone), keep track of your word count. Don’t start counting before that date! (Or, put another way, any words you write before that date don’t count toward the Word Race. Honor system, here.)
3. Throughout the month of November, use this thread to keep us posted about your progress and generally let us know how you’re doing. We’ll record all participants’ word counts in the index below.
4. Keep writing through your 11:59 pm (23:59) on November 30. Post your final count on December 1 or 2.
5. As with all challenges and all writing projects to be posted here, please adhere to the TOS and to the JCF AI Policy for Original Content. (More below on why I’m emphasizing the AI policy.)

FAQ!

Q. All right, what’s in it for me? What do I get if I achieve my goal? Are there prizes?

A. The main things you get are the satisfaction of having gotten words written and hopefully also the motivation of a supportive community! But because we know it takes a lot of work and effort to achieve writing goals, I am pleased to say that this time we have decided to offer more concrete awards in the form of COLORS! Yes, this year, for the first time, you can win COLORS for achieving Word Race goals of 1000 words or more. Here’s the breakdown:

• Anyone who meets their goal of 1000 to 5000 words wins 48 hours of colors.
• Anyone who meets their goal of 6000 to 10000 words wins 5 days of colors.
• Anyone who meets their goal of 11000 to 20000 words wins 1 week of colors.
• Anyone who meets their goal of 21000 to 49000 words wins 10 days of colors.
• Anyone who meets their goal of 50000 words or more wins 2 weeks of colors!

Q. Is there a deadline for signing up? Can I sign up even after the challenge starts?

A. Yes, you may sign up at any time during the month of November if you decide to take on the challenge, but you will of course have that much less time to build up your word count.

Q. Do I have to specify which projects I’m working on? Does the word count I report have to apply only to those specific projects?

A. Nope! That rule only applies to our WIP Month challenges, in which participants commit to working a certain amount on their unfinished stories. For this and other Word Races, you don’t have to commit to a specific project, and your word count can come from whatever project(s) you want. (Provided you adhere to the TOS and the AI Policy; again, more below.)

Q. Why should I even try? I know I won’t make my goal.

A. Do you? Here are some things to consider. First, remember that a little encouragement can go a long way! With your fellow participants cheering you on, that might be just the motivation you need to get into a writing groove. And second, even if you end the month writing less than your goal, you will still have that many more words to your name than you had at the beginning of November—which is still worth celebrating! That’s the main point of the challenge in the end, even more so than achieving exact numbers.

Q. What about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo for short)? Don’t you usually run this Word Race in conjunction with that? What if I want to participate in both and track my NaNo progress here?

A. Yes, we have indeed run this challenge in conjunction with NaNo in the past. However, we have made the conscious decision to distance this challenge from NaNo this year, and here is why:

This year, the official NaNo administration announced in their Zendesk FAQ that they are not disallowing the use of generative AI in their challenge, on the grounds that to do so would be insensitive to the “classist and ableist issues surrounding the use of the technology.” Without getting into detail, we Fanfic mods don’t mind saying that we are extremely disappointed in this stance: it defeats the purpose of a writing challenge, essentially condones plagiarism, insults disabled and economically disadvantaged writers, and is at stark odds with our own forum’s policies concerning the use of AI. (You may read more about the NaNo controversy here and here, among other places.)

Can you still participate in NaNo along with this challenge and track your progress here? Sure—but with this extremely important proviso: per the AI policy of these forums, NEITHER your word count, NOR the stories you post as a result, may include ANYTHING written using AI. Yes, I have both bolded and italicized this for emphasis, and thrown in a dose of ALL CAPS too—because there is zero tolerance here: anyone who is caught violating this rule will be immediately disqualified and banned.

And that’s it for the rules and regs! Sign on up, and may the muse/moose/mouse/etc. be with you!

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Index of Participants and Goals!
devilinthedetails: 6000 | 5152
Happy Sando: 18,000 | 10,138
earlybird-obi-wan: 12,000 | 15,000
Kahara: 6000 | 300
Mira_Jade: 50,000 | 30,124
Findswoman: 3000 | 3527
Chyntuck: 13,000 | 30,674
ViariSkywalker: 15,000 | 15,450
Gabri_Jade: 25,000 | 25,072
Kit': 6000 | 6039
Raissa Baiard: 1000 | 1056
Pandora: 7000 | 11,131
amidalachick: 2000 | 2000
DarthIshtar: 20,000 | 2,654
Mechalich: 55,555 | 68,500

 

Index of Champions!

Goals reached or exceeded:
Mechalich: 55,555 | 68,500
Chyntuck: 13,000 | 30,674
Gabri_Jade: 25,000 | 25,072
ViariSkywalker: 15,000 | 15,450
earlybird-obi-wan: 12,000 | 15,000
Pandora: 7000 | 11,131
Kit': 6000 | 6039
Findswoman: 3000 | 3527
amidalachick: 2000 | 2000
Raissa Baiard: 1000 | 1056

Different tier reached:
Mira_Jade: 50,000 | 30,124
Happy Sando: 18,000 | 10,138
devilinthedetails: 6000 | 5152
DarthIshtar: 20,000 | 2,654

 

Ooh, yay, so excited to get writing for this event in November



I'll humbly set myself a goal of 6000 words this time around, and consider any progress I make toward it a victory.

Especially since I'll be in charge of the library where I work (including doing payroll and running the Board meeting) for three weeks while the director is out for three weeks.

So November will be a bit of a busy month for me, but I will persevere

 

@devilinthedetails sounds great! Got you in the index now. Good luck as you navigate this busy month; you are absolutely right that any amount we can make toward our goals counts as a victory! Sending all best vibes.

 

I AM SO READY FOR THIS

This year, I'm going to go all in. I've only ever signed up for NaNo once, ages ago, and failed quite spectacularly; even 30k has been beyond my grasp the last few Word Races. But I have a good feeling about this year. It may just be the one. Let's see!

Sign me up for 50k words, please!


And thank you so much for hosting this Word Race, @Findswoman! Everything looks to be off to a smashing start already.

 

Hi again, everyone! First of all, the index has been updated: @Happy Sando @earlybird-obi-wan @Kahara @Mira_Jade you’re all in the index now, and it’s wonderful to have you all on board. You got this!

Sando, I hope you are all better soon. Drink those fluids!

Re AI: @Chyntuck and @Gabri_Jade , I had the same reaction as that Picard gif when I found that out about NaNo! There was a time when I thought sometime in the future I might just give NaNo a try... now, however, I have no intention of doing so until such time as they definitively abolish this nonsense. I too am grateful that we have that policy in place and that we put it in place before things had any sort of opportunity to spiral out of control.

Now to answer the excellent questions that have been raised:

Looking back through our past word race threads, yes, it looks like words written in the process of outlining has indeed counted in the past, and we are fine with counting them this time, too.

And to address Gabri’s and Vi’s queries together:

&

Thank you both for raising these points, as they didn't occur to me at all—but should have—when I was contemplating the mechanics of awarding colors for this challenge. We mods talked about this, and since we generally believe the more colors the better, we are completely happy to award the appropriate duration of colors for both these scenarios as well:

• If your word count goal is in a higher tier but instead you achieve the word count of a lower tier, you still receive colors for the lower tier.
• If you exceed your word count goal enough to place you in a higher tier than your original goal, you receive the colors of that higher tier.

Progress, after all, is still progress and deserves to be recognized!

And finally, while I'm here, I am going to set my own teeny tiny goal of 3000 words, or 100 a day. I'm hoping even that small amount can motivate me to conquer my phobia of working on more than one project at once!

 

Sounds great, Chyn, and you're most welcome! Got you signed up in the index now for 7500.

 

You absolutely got it! Just added you to the index. Glad to have you on board, and sending good vibes your way!

 

Excellent! You're all signed up, Gabri. Great to have you on board—and I believe in you, too!

 

Sounds great! I've got you signed up, and I too am looking forward to seeing "how it ends"!

 

Great! I can totally sympathize, as my October has been packed with holiday stuff as well. I’ve got you down in the index; thanks so much for joining up!

That is great to hear! All best to you for the speediest recovery possible, and you are so right: we do indeed got this!