Novel November with Scrivener: Your Complete Guide and Writing Tools

What is Scrivener?

Our app is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its true focus is on helping you get to the end of your first draft.

Your Complete Writing Studio

Combining the power of a word processor with project management tools, Scrivener stays with you from your first unformed idea all the way through to the final draft.

• Bring all your notes and research together
• Outline and structure your ideas with Scrivener’s Outliner or Corkboard
• View research alongside your writing
• Write your story in any order, in sections as large or small as you like, and re-order with ease

Scrivener won’t tell you how to write—it just makes all the tools you have scattered around your desk available in one application, leaving you free to focus on telling your story.

For more information about Scrivener, see our main product page.

What is Novel November?

Novel November is a free, month-long writing event that runs throughout November, organised by the team at ProWritingAid. The goal is simple: write 50,000 words of a new novel between November 1st and 30th.

It follows the same spirit as the original November writing month that so many writers grew up with: a community-driven push to get a first draft done, with the accountability and camaraderie that makes the whole thing actually work. Writers from all backgrounds take part: first-timers, published authors, hobbyists, and everyone in between.

Registration is free. You sign up via ProWritingAid’s platform, set your project, and track your progress throughout the month. There are community spaces, writing resources, and, if you hit 50,000 words, winner recognition and some irresistible discounts (read more to find out).

Is Novel November the Same as NaNoWriMo?

Not exactly, though it fills the same role for a lot of writers.

In March 2025, NaNoWriMo, the nonprofit organisation that ran the original November novel-writing event, officially closed. The closure was announced publicly, and while it marked the end of the organisation itself, the writing community didn’t disappear with it. So, what replaced NaNoWriMo in 2025 / 2026? Writers regrouped, and several community-led alternatives emerged, including NaNo 2.0, which was built and run by former participants.

Novel November, run by ProWritingAid, has become the most prominent organised NaNoWriMo alternative with the same 50,000-word target, the same November timing, and the same underlying idea: that a deadline and a community can unlock a draft you’d otherwise never finish.

If you’re a former NaNoWriMo participant looking for a home this November, Novel November is the natural next step.

How Novel November Works

The target is 50,000 words in 30 days, which breaks down to roughly 1,667 words per day. That’s less than most people think: about the length of a long email chain, or a detailed scene or two.

To take part:

1. Register on ProWritingAid’s website at prowritingaid.com – it’s free.
2. Set up your project and start writing on November 1st.
3. Track your word count throughout the month using their platform.
4. Verify your 50,000 words before 30 November to be declared a winner.

Winners get recognised on the platform, and this year, Literature & Latte is throwing in an extra.

Scrivener’s Novel November Tools and Discounts

We’re sponsoring ProWritingAid’s Novel November this year, and we’ve put together a set of offers, including an extended trial and a novel writing template pre-loaded with a 50,000 word target.

Extended Trial: Mid-October to Early-December

Scrivener’s standard trial runs for 30 days of use. For Novel November, we’ve extended that so you can download Scrivener in mid-October, use it for plotting and planning, and carry it all the way through November without the trial expiring mid-draft.

The extended trial runs until December 7th. Plus, it works even if you’ve previously used up Scrivener’s 30-day trial.

Tips for Finishing Your 50,000 Words

Getting to 50,000 words in a month is less about talent and more about consistency, and a bit of planning never hurts. Here’s what tends to work.

Know your style before you start

Some writers need a detailed outline before they can write a single scene. Others need to charge in, discovering the story as they go. Most land somewhere in between. Neither plotter nor pantser is wrong, but knowing which you are saves you a week of staring at a blank document, wondering why it isn’t flowing. Understanding your story arc before November 1st, even loosely, gives you something to write toward.

Build your characters first

Flat characters are one of the fastest ways to lose momentum mid-draft. Take a bit of time before November to develop your characters, their histories, voices, and goals. Think about character motivation in particular, a character who wants something and faces real obstacles in getting it is one who drives a story forward.

Don’t underestimate conflict

Conflict in a story is a must; without it, your story stalls. It doesn’t always have to be dramatic, the smaller friction that runs through every scene plays a part too. When you’re 20,000 words in and wondering what happens next, the answer is almost always: more tension, not less.

Outline first, edit later

This is the single most important rule for November. Your only job is to get words down. Don’t fix yesterday’s chapter, don’t rewrite the opening, just keep writing. Your main goal is to meet your daily word count. The edit comes in December.

Use Scrivener to stay organised

A few features that earn their keep during Novel November:

• Corkboard: Move scenes around as your structure evolves without touching the text itself.
• Session targets: Set a daily word count and watch the progress bar fill up.
• Scrivenings mode: Read your draft as a continuous document, even when it’s written in separate sections.
• Snapshots: Take a snapshot of any section before a big rewrite, so you can always go back.

Keep an eye on our social media channels @ScrivenerApp for plotting, planning and writing tips through October and November. If you have any questions about Scrivener or our offer, just ask us at: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/contact-us

Questions about Novel November? You’ll find all you need to know here.

Good luck with your prep and reaching your 50,000 words!

The L&L Team