First Draft Detroit News – October 31, 2025

Hello Drafters!

November is soon! In fact, it might be November today! It all depends on when you open this email. It’s time for our second annual First Draft Frenzy!

First Draft Frenzy!

This November is our second annual First Draft Frenzy!

But Erin, what’s that?

So glad you asked! The First Draft Frenzy is our annual create-a-thon, happening every November. The goal is to create something new, from start to finish (or whatever you get done, because progress is success here) from November 1 to November 30. If you recall, First Draft Detroit grew out of the former Detroit region of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so this is naturally an extension of the events and support we provided under that name.

We want to encourage creativity, no matter what form that takes. Writing a novel? Great! Drafting a comic book or graphic novel? That’s awesome (please show us your art)! Painting a series of portraits? Please also show us your art. Crocheting a bunch of little bits and bobs? We want to see that too! All that matters is that you begin that project on November 1 and work on it until November 30 (or beyond). Have any more specific questions? Please do not hesitate to reach out! You can either reply to this email, or touch base on Bluesky, Instagram, or Discord (all linked at the bottom).

Are you having that Team Championship again?

We sure are! The theme this year is Seasons of Stories. We are inspired by the Anishinaabe, who believe in a season for every task, and winter is the season for storytelling! We will embody that with our creative work this year: a story in each thing we create.

The Team Championship is a friendly intra-group competition, meant to foster productivity through Seeing More Number Go Up. Obviously, you get to watch your own completion percentage climb, but through the magic of the Team Championship, you get to watch the completion percentage (on average) of your team go up, too! We All Love Seeing Number Go Up.

How do I join the Team Championship?

You simply fill out the Highly Scientific Sorting Questionnaire here, and The Algorithm will sort you onto one of three teams. Erika (aforementioned Algorithm) is going to keep sorting new members periodically, so be sure to fill out the questionnaire if you’d like to join a team, even if it’s for the vibes!

Once Erika has added you to a team, you will receive an email with links to our Pacemaker challenges for the season. There will be one overall one for everyone to see and compare with, and then three separate ones for the team championship. May the best team win (that is obviously Team Lynx)!

Upcoming Events

Are you all ready for writing?! It’s time to get those fingies warmed up, because we’re starting off hot with Frontloading First Weekend. We’ll then continue all through November until we finally breathe a sigh of relief in early December and cry the collective cry of Thank Goodness It’s Over!

Frontloading First Weekend

The Dovetail in Warren is once again generously allowing us the use of their space to try to cram in as many words as possible in this first weekend of November. The food and coffee are tasty, the vibes are wacky (in the best way!), and we’ll have plenty of creative sprints to keep you rolling.
The Dovetail Cafe
29200 Hoover Rd
Warren, MI 48093
November 1, 2025
4:00 to 10:00 PM

Night Owl

This is our annual late-night write-a-thon! We hold it over Zoom so you can be in your cozy jammies and not have to worry about driving yourself home at 1 AM. You’re welcome!
Zoom Link to be shared later
November 7-8, 2025
10:00 PM to 1:00 AM

More???

I will share more events in further emails. But if you want to see all of them RIGHT NOW, take a look at our Events page on the website! It has our full Google calendar for you to peruse. You can even import it to your own calendar!

Scribbles

Scribbles are our more low-key creative get-togethers. We have 4 every month (except December please we just want to sleep) but in November we have more!

You ready for the November list? You sure? Let’s go! (These are also listed on our Event calendar!)

• Monday: Online (Discord) with Gretchen, 11 AM to 2 PM; Panera (Royal Oak) with Pam, 4:30 to 7:30; VARA Juice (West Bloomfield) with Michelle, 6:30 to 8:30 PM
• Tuesday: Online (Discord) with Deirdre, 1 to 3 PM; North End Taproom (Royal Oak) with Lizzy, 6:30 to 9:30 PM
• Wednesday: Dessert Oasis (Ferndale) with Chesnaye, 4:30 to 7:30 PM
• Thursday: Monarch Market Cafe (Huntington Woods) with Michelle, 1 to 3:30 PM; Road Less Traveled Books (Farmington) with Erin, 4:30 to 6:30 PM; Panera (Taylor) with Raine, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
• Friday: The Office Coffee Shop (Royal Oak) with Owen, 5 PM to 8 PM
• Saturday: None yet because we’ve got a bunch of big events!
• Sunday: Online (Discord) with Beth, 8 to 10 AM; Cotton Cake Japanese Cheesecake (Troy) with Dira, 10 AM to 12 PM; Blue Hat Coffee (Farmington) with Erin, 1 to 4 PM; Eos Cafe (St. Clair Shores) with Erika, 1 to 4 PM

If you want to host a scribble, please let us know! You can absolutely host an online-only one over Discord, or you can host an in-person one. Be the scribble you want to see in the world!

Donations

As a reminder, we are a 501c3 nonprofit, which means any donations you make to us are tax-deductible! We have several avenues available for you to donate to, if you’re interested:

1. Kroger Community Rewards (search for First Draft Detroit)
2. Paypal: firstdraftdetroit@gmail.com
3. Cashapp: $firstdraftdetroit

If you desire the shiny gold donor role in our Discord sever, do any of the above (including signing up for Kroger Community Rewards) and let one of Da Board know! (Remember the NaNo halos? This is our version! It turns your name gold and everything.)

Find us online!

As always, you can reach us via this email and in several social media-type places!

• Discord: http://discord.gg/GZxdWjs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstdraftdetroit/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/firstdraftdetroit.bsky.social

Creatively Yours,
Erin
Director of Community Engagement
First Draft Detroit