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Every November, hundreds of thousands of writers around the world sit down and do the same slightly ridiculous, slightly wonderful thing: they try to write 50,000 words in one month.
Novel November has always been about more than word counts, though. It’s about proving to yourself that you can do something audacious. That the story in your head can become real pages, real chapters, a real finished thing.
To celebrate the writers who accomplish that fear, ProWritingAid supports a different charity each year.
In 2026, for every Novel November winner (every writer who writes 50,000 words or more), ProWritingAid is donating $1 to First Story, a UK charity that helps young people discover exactly the kind of creative confidence we’re all chasing this month.
Who is First Story?
First Story is England’s leading creative writing charity for young people. Their work starts with the idea that access to quality creative and cultural education isn’t distributed equally across schools or communities.
Their flagship Young Writers Programme places professional writers-in-residence inside nonselective secondary schools serving low-income communities. Over the course of a full academic year, these writers work closely with the same group of students, building their skills and confidence week by week, all building toward a shared goal: publication in a printed anthology that the students can hold in their hands and call their own.
Beyond the classroom, First Story runs national writing competitions, festivals, and events, and provides ongoing training and resources for teachers. They also provide a growing pipeline of opportunities for alumni of the program to keep developing as writers long after their residency ends.
Why this partnership matters
If you’ve taken part in Novel November, you already know something firsthand: writing is an act of agency. Finishing a story—even a messy, imperfect, 50,000-word first draft—changes how you see yourself. It proves you can commit to something hard and see it through.
First Story exists to give that exact experience to young people who might never otherwise get the chance. Nurturing a passion for reading and writing is vital, and First Story’s work fosters the creativity and talent of students in secondary schools serving low-income communities across the country.
That’s a mission worth backing with more than good intentions.
How your Novel November win helps
The mechanics are simple:
You write. You take on the Novel November challenge, same as always.
You finish. Every writer who reaches the finish line and is declared a Novel November winner triggers a donation.
We donate $1 per winner directly to First Story, supporting their programs that bring creative writing to young people who need it most.
It costs you nothing extra. It just means that this year, your late nights, your plot twists, your hard-won final chapter—all of it adds up to something beyond your own manuscript.
Want to do more?
If First Story’s mission resonates with you, you can support them directly too. You can learn more about what they do and how to get involved at firststory.org.uk.
So this November, write your novel. Hit that word count. Cross that finish line. Every winner helps a young writer somewhere get the chance to tell their own story too.
Ready to start? Let’s make this Novel November count for you and for the next generation of writers.
