Welcome, Wattpadders! 

Every year, authors from across Wattpad gather for the Open Novella Contest (ONC), a one-of-a-kind challenge where you try to finish a prompt-based novella in 13 weeks. A novella is a form of prose fiction that is longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel. For the ONC, these wordcount limits are 20k to 40k words.

Normally, the ONC is one of the most beloved and well-attended writing contests on the platform.

Unfortunately, this year was different.

When the ONC's official rules went live on January 21, 2022, pandemonium ensued. The rules stated that winners would give up all rights to their books in exchange for small prizes, a deal that stoked the ire of old-time and first-time ONC-goers alike. These rules were quickly reverted to those of previous years, but for many authors, trust in Wattpad and the contest was not so easily restored.

Over in the Chuck Taylors writing community, this left a void for many. Founded in 2019, the community had a history of events and celebrations surrounding the ONC, as well as an excellent track record in the contest: in 2021 alone, community members took home 10% of the ONC Shortlist, 13% of the Honorable Mentions, and 2/6 of the grand prizes. When many of us decided not to enter this year's ONC, then, we immediately began looking for ways to participate in the ONC without needing to participate in the ONC. 

The result was this. 

Welcome to #NONC2022, the Chucks Open Novella Festival! That's No-NC, or "nonk," depending on your affinity for geese. This is an ONC-adjacent celebratory event where we follow the prompts, milestones, and deadlines of the ONC itself, but don't submit our books to it. Instead, we will have our own raffle prizes, cross-promotion, group write-ins, and other hype. While the core of the festival is run by the Chucks mod team, it will continue to expand as community members find things to take on and add to it.

#NONC2022 is based out of the Chucks community on Discord, with this book as an ancillary component. If you're not part of the community and are interested in joining us, send this profile a DM and we'll get back to you!

Contest Disclaimer

This event is not affiliated with Wattpad or the official ONC. It is not ambassador-run, nor sponsored by Wattpad. We are simply a group of community-oriented writers interested in recreating the writing challenge and community of the ONC without worrying about our rights to our work.

(Meme credit goes to astrophile )