Penpoint & Novel November
It's time to write your 50,000-word novel. Penpoint can help. Entirely free.
Write your novel with incredible software, free now through December 1st. No strings attached. No account, no credit card, and no data lock-in: export at any time.
Plot it in October. Write it in November.
How it works
Two months. One novel. Both free.
October · Preptober
Plan it.
Outline on the Corkboard. Build your cast, your places, and your timeline.
November · Write
Write 50,000 words.
Draft in Manuscript Mode with your world open beside you, aiming for 1,667 words a day.
Starting late? You still get at least 14 free days.
December 1
Finish line!
After November, Penpoint is $40 once to keep writing, and Penpoint Cloud becomes an optional paid subscription. Either way, you can export your books at any time.
Write on the go
Your novel, in your pocket. Free all November.
1,667 words a day is a lot to find at one desk. Minipen, the new Penpoint phone app, launches this November, so the bus ride, the lunch break, and the line at the coffee shop can count too.
+412 words on the bus!
Write
Add words anywhere.
A full manuscript editor on your phone. Ten minutes on the bus is a couple hundred words toward today's 1,667.
Look it up
Your whole world comes along.
Characters, places, items, notes, and your chapter outline are all there when you need a detail mid-scene, and you can edit them too.
Sync
Back at your desk, it's already there.
Penpoint Cloud keeps your phone and computers in step, so the scene you wrote at lunch is waiting in Manuscript Mode tonight.
Launching this NovemberiPhoneAndroid
Minipen runs on Penpoint Cloud, which is free for everyone all November. Turn on Cloud in the Penpoint desktop app, then sign in on your phone with the same account.
Download
Get Penpoint.
Free through November.
Your books stay on your computer, and you can export them to Word, PDF, Markdown, or plain text at any time, even after the trial ends.
- No accountJust your email for the download link.
- No credit cardNothing to cancel, ever.
- Works offlineNo internet needed to write.
Already on the 14-day trial? Get your link above, then install that build over your current copy. You keep everything and your trial runs through December 1.
Before you start
Questions writers ask.
Planning
“How do I plan a whole novel in a month?”
Lay the story out on the Corkboard, one index card per chapter, and drag the cards until the order feels right. Every chapter holds its own scenes, so October's outline becomes November's list of what to write next.
Your cast
“How do I keep my cast and timeline straight?”
Every person in the story gets their own page in Characters, and the Timeline shows who appears in which chapter. While you write, the Minipen sidebar keeps that whole world open beside the manuscript.
Word count
“Can I really hit 1,667 words a day?”
Click the bar chart icon at the top of the screen and Writing Stats shows the words you've added to your manuscript today. Fifty thousand words over thirty days is 1,667 a day, and from November, Minipen lets you chip away at it from your phone.
Week two
“What do I do when I hit the week-two wall?”
Fullscreen Mode hides everything but your words, and Writing Stats keeps your writing streak in view. The plan you built on the Corkboard is still there, telling you which scene comes next.
Safety
“What if I lose my draft?”
Penpoint saves as you write and makes automatic backups you can restore from. From November 1, Penpoint Cloud adds an encrypted backup off your computer, free all month.
What now
“The November challenge is still on. What do I use now?”
Penpoint gives you Manuscript Mode for the draft, worldbuilding pages for everything around it, and a daily word count to pace the month. All of it is free through November.
After November
What happens on December 1.
Your books stay on your computer. They are yours, trial or no trial.
Export always works. Word, PDF, Markdown, or plain text, even after the trial ends.
Keep writing for $40, once. No subscription for the app.
One-time payment, lifetime license. No subscription, free updates, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Penpoint Cloud becomes an optional subscription. Minipen, the phone app, comes with it. Your books stay on your computer either way, and you can export them or delete your account at any time.
Already own Penpoint?
Your free month of Penpoint Cloud starts November 1. Claim it inside the app: write on your phone with the new Minipen app, plus encrypted backup and sync across your computers, free all November.
Know a writer starting a novel this November? Here's how to share this page.
Installing
Quick setup guide.
- Run the downloaded
.exeinstaller. - Follow the installation prompts. Penpoint will launch when finished.
Penpoint won't open? Check or repair Microsoft WebView2.
- Open the downloaded
.dmgfile. - Drag Penpoint to your Applications folder.
- Open Penpoint from Applications. It will launch normally.
.AppImage (recommended: works on any distro and updates itself)
- Make the AppImage executable. Open a terminal and run:
chmod +x Penpoint_*.AppImage - Double-click the
.AppImagefile to launch Penpoint, or run it from the terminal:./Penpoint_*.AppImage
.deb package (Ubuntu, Debian, Pop!_OS, Mint). Installs through your package manager, but you update it manually each release; the AppImage updates itself.
- Double-click the downloaded
.debfile. Your package manager will handle the rest. - Find Penpoint in your app launcher and open it.
Need help?
Start with the guides. Our Discord community is the fastest way to get an answer they do not cover.