The training layer: a meta-aggregator / NaNoGenMo
NaNoGenMo
empirical comparatorReception becoming compositionField history and indexes of electronic, generative and computational literatureactive
The archive's reading. The archive reads NaNoGenMo as an inspectable program/output community in the machine-composition direction: each novel is shared with its code under a participant's account, so what a program makes from its source texts (a Project Gutenberg novel, a pooled corpus) can be read beside the program that made it. Practice varies by participant: crediting of the generated text and of any source it draws on is left to each ('ultimately it's on your head'), so a claim about an edition rests on its particular repositories.
| Relation to this census | empirical comparator |
|---|---|
| Record type | event series |
| The question it answers | generative transformation: what does a program make into a novel of 50k+ words, from which sources, with code and output shared together? |
| Kind | an annual month-long activity: write code that generates a novel of 50k+ words, organised as a community on GitHub |
| Operator | its official admins @dariusk and @hugovk; the community is organised in GitHub repositories, one per edition; based on an idea Darius Kazemi tweeted |
| Evidence | event archive |
| Unit of record | a participant's issue on an edition's repository, declaring intent and carrying dev diaries, sample output, at least one generated novel and its source code |
| What it records | code-generated novels of 50,000 words or more and their source code, shared by participants each November since 2013 |
| In the layer | not recorded; the rules allow a 'novel' made from existing text (it 'could literally grab a random novel from Project Gutenberg') and point to corpora, a repository of public domain lists |
| Under whose name | a participant declares intent in an issue under their own GitHub account; the saved page states no rule on how a generated novel is credited, and the source code 'does not have to be licensed in a particular way' |
| Found and read back | each edition's repository issues, with a resources issue per edition, 2013 to 2025 |
| What the apparatus makes from it | a generated 'novel' of 50k+ words shared with its source code; the rules allow it to be made from existing text ('grab a random novel from Project Gutenberg'), and each edition pools libraries, corpuses, APIs and techniques in a resources issue |
| Method | open participation: a participant opens an issue on the edition's repo, works through November, and shares at least one novel and the source code |
| Coverage | geography: not recorded (an online community); period: editions 2013 to 2025 listed; each runs 12:01am GMT November 1 to 12:01am GMT December 1 |
| Count | value: 13 editions listed (2013 to 2025); as_of: 2026-11-01 (home page read; no 2026 edition listed) |
| Holdings | editions 2013 to 2025; a resources issue for each edition (libraries, corpuses, APIs, techniques); sister events NaPoGenMo, NaOpGenMo and NaMoGenMo |
| Stated limits | 'The only rule is that you share at least one novel and also your source code at the end.'; 'Please try to respect copyright. We're not going to police it'; the source code need not be licensed in a particular way nor be on GitHub |
| Data access | public GitHub repositories, one per edition; issues readable without restriction |
| Licence | 'The source code does not have to be licensed in a particular way, so long as you share it.' |
| Lifecycle | state: active; detail: editions every November from 2013 to 2025 listed; the saved page, read on 1 November 2026, lists no 2026 edition |
| Version and time | first_edition: 2013; latest_edition_listed: 2025; read: 2026-11-01 |
| Founded | 2013 |
What its record can settle
- who declared participation in an edition and what novel and code they shared
- what resources participants pooled for each edition
What it cannot settle
- whether any generated novel or its source text is in a training corpus or a model
- the authorship or licence of a generated novel (no rule stated)
- how many participants or novels any edition had (not stated)
Kept apart
- NOT National Novel Writing Month: it borrows NaNoWriMo's definition of a novel as 50,000 words of fiction
- NOT a curated anthology: the only rule is sharing a novel and its code
- NOT an AI or LLM project by its own statement: the rules name code, with the novel 'defined however you want'
- NOT a copyright authority: it states it will not police copyright
- NOT uniform in attribution practice: the rules leave crediting to each participant, and particular repositories are unread
Relations
- uses: Project Gutenberg (the rules give grabbing a random novel from Project Gutenberg as an allowed 'novel')
Evidence
- self_description (the resource's own statement):
National Novel Generation Month - based on an idea Darius Kazemi tweeted on a whim .
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - goal (the resource's own statement):
Spend the month of November writing code that generates a novel of 50k+ words. This is in the spirit of National Novel Writing Month 's interesting definition of a novel as 50,000 words of fiction.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - rule (the resource's own statement):
The only rule is that you share at least one novel and also your source code at the end.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - code_license (the resource's own statement):
The source code does not have to be licensed in a particular way, so long as you share it. The code itself does not need to be on GitHub, either.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - github (the resource's own statement):
We're just using this repo as a place to organize the community.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - novel_defined (the resource's own statement):
The "novel" is defined however you want. It could be 50,000 repetitions of the word "meow". It could literally grab a random novel from Project Gutenberg.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - copyright (the resource's own statement):
Please try to respect copyright. We're not going to police it, as ultimately it's on your head if you want to just copy/paste a Stephen King novel or whatever
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - period (the resource's own statement):
This activity starts at 12:01am GMT on Nov 1st and ends at 12:01am GMT Dec 1st.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - participate (the resource's own statement):
Open an issue on the edition's repo and declare your intent to participate.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - diaries (the resource's own statement):
Feel free to post dev diaries, sample output, etc.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - admins (the resource's own statement):
Official admins for NaNoGenMo are @dariusk and @hugovk.
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - resources (the resource's own statement):
There's an open issue for each edition where you can add resources (libraries, corpuses, APIs, techniques, etc).
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - corpora (the resource's own statement):
You might want to check out corpora , a repository of public domain lists of things
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - editions (the resource's own statement):
Editions 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0… - sister_events (the resource's own statement):
NaPoGenMo : National Poetry Generation Month NaOpGenMo : National Opera Generation Month NaMoGenMo : National Movie Generation Month
https://nanogenmo.github.io/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 d831aaf0d1a4efc0…
Unchecked
nanogenmo--org (github.com/NaNoGenMo): http 403, a refused API path, unread and unquoted; nanogenmo--wikipedia: http 404, Wikipedia has no article with this name; unread; the edition repositories and their issues (participants, novels, code); whether a 2026 edition repository exists (none listed on the saved page)
Cite: Lee Sharks, ed. "NaNoGenMo." The training layer: a meta-aggregator, traininglayerliterature.org, compiled 2026-11-01. https://www.traininglayerliterature.org/aggregators/nanogenmo