How to use the Novel November dashboard

After you sign up for Novel November, you will have access to the Novel November dashboard page when you visit your dashboard. Your Novel November dashboard is where you'll manage the challenge — name your manuscript, log your word count, watch your progress, collect badges, and grab your sponsor offers. Here's how to use it.

How to open your Novel November dashboard

There are a few ways to get to Novel November.

From the Challenges page

In the left-hand menu, under Activity, click Challenges to open the Challenges page. Your current event is under the Active tab (previous Novel Novembers now live under Past). Click Open Dashboard on the Novel November 2026 card to open your dashboard. We've highlighted this in red in the image below.

From your dashboard homepage

Your Novel November banner also appears on your dashboard homepage, just below your main writing options, under Featured event. Click Open NovNov2026 to jump straight in. We've highlighted this in red in the image below.

From the ProWritingAid apps

Once the challenge begins on 1 November, you can also join and log progress without leaving the app you write in. Look for Novel November in the Home tab, on the Timer end screen, and in the Log Session panel — just tag Novel November in your writing session.

How to name your manuscript

At the top of your dashboard, you'll see your challenge manuscript, called Untitled to start with. Click the pencil icon next to the name to give your novel its own title. We've highlighted this in red in the image below.

How to log your word count

To record your progress, click Log progress at the top of your dashboard, enter your total word count for the day, and save it. Your progress bar and stats update straight away. We've highlighted this in red in the image below. Once the challenge begins, you can also log without leaving the app you write in — just tag Novel November in a session from the Home tab or the Timer.

A few things worth knowing about logging:

Logging opens on 1 November. Until then the button is inactive and your dashboard shows "Start logging your progress from November 1, 2026."
Days are counted in UTC. Each day's total is measured in UTC time, so log before 11:59 pm UTC for your words to count toward that day.
You can edit what you've logged. You can change a word count you've already saved, and if you accidentally delete a day you can go back and add it again.
There are two deadlines. You can log progress for a day right up until the challenge ends on 30 November at 11:59 pm UTC. After that you can't add new days, but you can still make changes to your dashboard and word counts until 31 December at 11:59 pm UTC.
You keep track of your own word count. Novel November works on trust, so just log your words honestly.

How to track your progress

Scroll down to Your progress to see everything you've logged. Use the buttons in the top-right of the panel to switch between a table, a line graph, and a bar chart of your word count over time. We've highlighted these in red in the image below.

Higher up the page, three quick stats — Days before challenge starts, Daily word goal (1,667 words), and Average daily words — help you see whether you're keeping up.

How to earn badges

As you write, you'll unlock badges for reaching milestones — from The Starter and your first 1,667 words all the way to 50k and The Finisher — as well as badges for building a writing habit and joining in with the community. See your full collection under Your badges on the dashboard, or open Badges from the left-hand menu. We've highlighted this in red in the image below.

Novel November comes with offers from our sponsors. Click See sponsor offers in the Meet your Novel November Sponsors panel to browse them all and get your codes. We've highlighted this in red in the image below.

How to join writing sprints and events

Throughout the challenge we run live writing sprints and workshops to keep you motivated. You'll find them in the Upcoming events panel — click View and RSVP on any session to sign up, or View to see the full schedule. We've highlighted this in red in the image below.

Did you know… ProWritingAid has 25+ specialized writing reports to help you craft better stories, and you can run them in your favorite writing apps. Read more.