There are an ever-expanding infinity of writing discords, much like our own universe, or fanart of Hatsune Miku. I’ve joined and dropped many over the years, and ofc everyone needs something different. But here are two I’ve found genuinely useful, then another resource I use every day.
discord: invite
what I use it for:
nanowrimo replacement!
year-round events (I really like the prompt challenges)
active sprinting channel
I really loved the NaNoWriMo format, and mourned when the org was crushed under the weight of its genuinely baffling stupidity and short-sighted incompetence. Thankfully, Montreal-based publisher Stygian Society’s come into the space with an amazing alternative. I participated last year (and ran some workshops in the discord!) and loved the way they ran the challenge. I especially loved two things about it:
there are three kinds of challenges: The Novelist’s Initiation: Aim to write 30,000 words of a novel or finish the first draft of a new novel. The Trials of Verse & Vignette: Write either 15 poems or 8 short stories, with word counts ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 words. The Refinement Ritual: Revise an existing manuscript, whether it’s a novel, short story collection, or poetry collection. (She actually just posted a youtube video announcing this year’s challenge.)
it’s explicitly free of AI-content.
The server itself is very cozy. Small, approachable, personable. I recognize names and have writing sprint buddies. A good toe into the writing discord space.
ETA: like she heard me, Holly just posted this video describing the event:
discord: invite
website: instagram
what I use it for:
multiple active sprinting channels
Intermediate 6-month challenge that fits my writing needs
24/7 community (seriously, there is always company for whenever you want to sprint)
accountability, being surrounded by people who have finished and published their work
Bookdun touts itself as “a writing community focused on *actually doing the writing*, supported by numerous writing events!” and this is a very accurate statement. The writers there are very serious about finishing their projects, but not pretentious/stuck-up about it like I’ve encountered in other “literary” communities.
You can join the community just to lurk, but once you join the Initiate phase, you have 2 months to write 10k words. That graduates you to a team, after which there are multiple accountability check-ins until the end of the 6-month season — all in service of finishing (dunning) your book. I didn’t hit the most recent one, and got a ping; I need to write 7k by the end of the month or be bumped back down to initiate, which is very doable for me, and less than I’d want to write this month anyway. Knowing I’ll get bumped back down to initiate if I don’t meet goal is extremely motivating and focuses me on what I want to be doing anyway: writing.
For those at an intermediate phase of writing output, who want accountability and motivation to get the draft done… this community is for you.
website: link
what I use it for:
writing sprints
negative reinforcement 😇
The other day, Write Or Else was 404’d and I nearly had a panic attack. Thankfully, it was back up the next day, but it was a stark reminder how much I depend on this tool and its predecessor, the OG Write or Die, which took its title to heart and died about a year ago. Thank god someone created a clone of it.1
Write Or Else has a very simple premise: set a timer, press start, start typing. If you stop typing, the window will flash red and yell “YOU SHOULD BE WRITING! YOU SHOULD BE WRITING!” When you start typing again, the hellish audiovisual dissipates.
Now, this doesn’t work for everyone, nor does it work when I need to, like, edit, or think really slowly about something. But it has been my ride-or-die tool for generative writing, especially Get It Out Of Your Fucking Head first draft mode.
And if you can pair it with starting a sprint in a Discord sprint channel, all the better.
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