On the NaNoWriMo forums, Heather Dudley is better known as “Dragonchilde.” She is immensely patient and helpful, even with the forum users are being crabby/whiny.
From her bio on the NaNoWriMo Staff page:
After spending more hours than she really likes to think about volunteering on the forums, Heather was invited to take over Forums Moderation from Cybele May. She spends entirely too much time at the computer, not getting sleep, moderating the forums and writing the Perfect Novel ™. She has discovered (the hard way) that it is physically impossible to have babies and write novels at the same time… it gets on the doctors’ nerves.
Heather has a blog, and you can also find her on Twitter.
She was kind enough to take some time out of her busy Moderator schedule to answer a few questions:
How did you get involved as a NaNoWriMo moderator?
Woo, now there’s a question. It started small; first, in 2003, I volunteered as an ML. Then as time progressed, I got familiar with the forums,and I started answering questions in the Rules and Regs forum.
When Rolnikov stepped down as a moderator for Rules and Regs, she asked me if I’d like to volunteer. I jumped at the chance, because, well, I have a bit of a power addiction. I LOVE it. Seeing my name on that forum was intoxicating!
I expanded my moderatorship to the three NaNoWriMo etc forums, until in 2007, I got the single most exciting PM I’ve ever received.
Cybele was stepping down as forums moderator, and she had recommended me for the job! I couldn’t believe it. I’d put in 40+ hours a week during the 2007 season as a volunteer moderator, and apparently had done something right!. Chris gave me a phone call, and we talked for about an hour about the duties, and whether or not I would be able to do it with the impending birth of my second child (due April of 2008, although she decided Saint Patrick’s Day was far more to her liking.)
The hardest part of the whole thing was sitting on it until the official announcement. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops that my favorite website in the whole world had decided to hire me as staff! Talk about a labor of love. I still adore it– it’s the best job I’ve ever had. the announcement was made on January 1, 2008, and I served Script Frenzy as my very first OLL event. It was exciting, although I have yet to successfully write a script. Cest la vie.
What kind of writing do you do?
Fantasy, mostly, although I’ve been known to pull a little cyberpunk out of my hat now and again. Even that tends to be more soft sci-fantasy-ish than true hard science fiction. I’ve noticed a bit of a dark streak running through my novels, and I’ve finally accepted that I really do like writing romantic relationships… in spite of my long-standing prejudice against Romance.
Are you paid for your work as NaNoWriMo forums moderator?
I am. To quote Chris: “We hired the best people we can find, and then don’t pay them nearly enough.”
How much time do you spend moderating the forums?
As much as 12-14 hours a day. Not constant, I do stop occasionally to wrangle the kids, eat, and err… powder my nose. But I regularly open the laptop at 9 AM, and finally get the heck away from it around 12-1 AM.
In November, how do you manage your time between moderating the forums and working on your NaNoWriMo novel?
Well… I don’t. I do, but I am a champion procrastinator, and having the whole forums to manage, I tend to put it off until right before bed. However, I’ve gotten in the habit the last few months to write for at least an hour a day (handwritten) so I think I’ll be able to be more efficient this year. Last year, I squeaked in a 11:45 AM with JUST over 50k… I had intended to go for 100k. I really can’t say it was the forums that kept me busy, either; I did other things, I just lost motivation on the story. This year, I’m going with a tale I love, and am planning for 100k or a complete novel, whichever comes first.
What are the pros and cons of being forums moderator?
PROS:
-I get to talk to Chris Baty on the phone. (Really, he’s every bit as charming as he seems on the radio and videos you’ve seen. He’s just *like that*.)
-Knowing what’s going on… It’s hard to sit on a secret, but it’s fun when you know exactly the moment the forums go live, or what fun stuff Chris is going to pull out this year (I got to see the first NaNo video before any of the participants!)
-Meeting Lindsey Grant. She visited Georgia this summer, and I got to meet her. VERY awesome, and she’s SO sweet.
-Getting to meet and talk to SO MANY people from all over the world.
CONS:
-Not being able to be as big a part of the NaNo community as I used to be. I have to be on my best behavior at all times, as a representative of OLL, and sometimes it can be hard. I still do try to participate, but I don’t have as much time to do fun stuff like plot critiques in Fantasy, or some of the sillier stuff in All Ages Coffeehouse.
-It DOES make it a bit harder to write my novel. However, it does give me greater motivation, because so many eyes are watching. I did a very public last-minute showdown last year (the details of which you can still see in my blog) with LousyWriter13, since we were both behind in word count and wanted to win.
-It can be a little frustrating from time to time, but really, it’s more love than labor.
What advice do you have for writers considering doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?
Do it by the book your first time; you can never get the thrill of that first, wild, wonderful NaNoWriMo back, and it will never be the same if you cheat, or do non-fiction, or continue an existing work. Start at word 0, with a new piece of fiction, and write every single word during November. Be a rebel, if you must, in later years… but at least try to complete the challenge your first time for real. Then you have bragging rights for real!
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Thanks for the interview! I enjoyed it, and it wasn’t too long.