FAQs

Plotterati is a non-profit organization with a two-prong purpose.

First, we aim to bring together writers - established and aspiring - as a community, regardless of location, time, and other factors. Writing can be a solitary, lonely pursuit and having others who understand can make a world of difference - and help you improve your writing!

Second, we aim to bring literacy to younger generations through book clubs, writing workshops, and more. We're still new, but as we grow, we'll reach out to community centers, teachers, and others to establish outreach programs.

There's a lot of ways to contribute. As a not-for-profit with pending 501(c)3 status, we accept donations. You can also buy products from The Plot Shop.

But help isn't always monetary. Volunteer to be a mod on the site or to run in-person events in your area - or to be a Plotterini mod!

You can also just stay active on the site - during challenge months AND year-round. Help other writers and keep the site going, so we have better numbers to show when we apply for grants. Also, follow us on social media for other ways to help as they arise!

At Plotterati, we believe strongly in transparency. Our bylaws are structured so that half of all donations, at minimum, goes directly into outreach programs. Never will the total of the salary budget exceed 1/3 of what is brought in - we're not looking to buy a vacation mansion.

And every year, we'll release our financial statements to prove it.

This is a complicated issue, and we won't lie and claim we have a flawless process in place. We're toeing a line between accessibility, inclusivity, and safety, and we're still building a lot of this. That said...

When you register, we ask for your birthdate. This lets us sort users into Plotters (over-18 users) and Plotterinis (underage users). Access to inappropriate forums will be locked to Plotterinis. In the future, Plotterinis will also see a separate youth-only forum, where they can support each other in a safe space. It is monitored, but we won't intervene unless we have to.

Any Plotterini mods are vetted - background checks in accordance with the laws in their country, references, and so on.

Our policy dictates that Plotters should not privately message Plotterinis and vice-versa. However, we also believe that mentorship is important, so if a Plotter wants to mentor a Plotterini, we'll set up a private group, with one Plotterini mod in it. That mod will remain silent unless necessary.

We also are setting up a system for Plotterinis to report any users who make them uncomfortable, threaten them, or otherwise compromise their safety - and this system will have avenues for both online complaints and complaints from in-person events. We take the safety of all of our users seriously, particularly Plotterinis, and we will be strict in regards to handling those complaints. Members violating the safety or comfort of Plotterinis can face a number of consequences, including having their account locked so they can still log on to the website but no longer communicate with others, being banned from in-person events, or being banned from Plotterati altogether. When necessary, we will also alert the appropriate authorities.

We don't want to be the police. We don't want to be your mother. We're not policing bad language or personal beliefs. But we DO have a responsibility to keep minors safe, and we will not compromise on that.

It is. And that goes beyond just writing. For minors who are facing any problem and need help, reach out to a Plotterini mod or directly to the board. We are not law enforcement, we are not psychologists or doctors, but we can help you find the resources you need to stay safe.

People of all ages can face dangerous or uncomfortable situations, and we don't take safety less seriously because you crossed an arbitrary age. If someone makes you feel uncomfortable or threatens you, please alert one of the moderators or the board. If that person is a moderator, reach out directly to the board. We can address the situation as far as Plotterati's reach allows, and help you to take things further if need be.

It's an established and comfortable tradition. We discussed increasing the number - 50k is the minimum  length to be considered a novel, but currently, most novels average around 80,000 words. However...it's just too long for most people to reliably complete in a month.

Also, 50k isn't a hard limit. If you can write more....go for it!  Set your wordcount goal higher!

If you think 50k is too many, or that you don't have time, that's fine too. Set your goal lower.

The goal is to build a writing habit. That's what's important. Set your goal. If you achieve it, you will get a trophy on your profile.

That said, 50K and higher goals get a gold trophy, while word counts under that get silver. This is simply because 50k is the organization goal, and we want to differentiate it a bit - and encourage all of you to push yourselves!

We want you to build a regular writing habit, so it may seem counterintuitive to only do the challenge twice a year. However, we have reasons.

1. To be honest and transparent, there's a fair amount of work that goes into a Plot Month. Doing that every month means we would likely drop the ball somewhere else - and that's not fair to you.
2. A lot of people like the anticipation of a less-frequent event. You can write all year long, but it's going to be fun getting hyped for Plot Month!
3. We have other plans for other months. Writing is important, but it's not the only step of writing a novel. We'll do a lead-in month to the challenge, and after the challenge, we want to have other programs that cover editing, beta-reading, and publishing!
4. It's less intimidating to newer writers who may just be testing it out.
5. Because I said so. (Just kidding!)

While we won't ban anyone from using AI, for multiple reasons with logistics of such a ban being a big part of that, we do not support using AI in writing. The use of AI to help plan, to spur ideas, to fill in a secondary character's name - that's all up to you. But when it comes to the actual writing - we say NO! Why? Because your story should be YOUR story. We want to hear what YOU have to say - and AI can't do that. Your writing, your ideas, your thoughts are what have value. There are other issues with AI, and there's reasons to use it - we've heard it all. Some people struggle with fleshing out a story, with editing or grammar or spelling. We get it. And there are ways to overcome all of that - but the story itself has to come from you. And for anyone who feels they aren't a good enough writer on their own merit? You are. There's always room for improvement, sure, even bestselling authors scrap pieces or have loads of editing, but none of that means that your story isn't good enough.