Meet Our Team: Heather Dudley, Forums Moderator

NaNoWriMo has a whole team of folks that make the November magic happen from afar. You've seen them in the forums, and heard their names mentioned in NaNoVideos and emails, but we thought it was time to put a face—and a story—to their names.

Up first: Heather Dudley (also known as Dragonchilde), NaNoWriMo's Forums Moderator.

Heather, how long have you been moderating NaNoWriMo's forums?

I started volunteering with Cybele the same here I first became an ML—2003. Wow. That's um… a lot of years. I volunteered mostly in the "Mechanics, Logistics, and Other Technical Stuff" forums for five years, and have been staff moderator for three. When I try to add up how many hours I've spent on the NaNoWriMo website, my ears start smoking and Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" starts playing in the background.

In those many years, what are the biggest changes you've noticed in forum content and traffic?

The broadening of the user base. It used to be a very niche event, with a certain sort of person who tended to come, the crazy-writer type. These days, it's so mainstream. We have participants from all walks of life, all skill levels, all ages, and it's amazing to see the cultural significance go from nonexistent to downright polarizing. The crazy writers are still there, of course, but now we've added kids who've never written a word in their life, grandmas who want to write the Great American Novel, and some people who just don't get it at all, but want to try anyway.  I've watched the traditions we all know and love, like the Trebuchet Club, the Spork Room, even the Traveling Shovel of Death, all grow from funny ideas into icons of NaNoWriMo culture. I've watched that culture change and grow into something nearly alive on its own!

What's your favorite part of modding?

I love the "oh god, thank you!" I get when I answer a question or solve a problem in just the right way. Every year, some kind soul starts a "Thank you, Dragonchilde" thread somewhere in the forums, and it really makes me blush. We get a lot of complaints, so the kudos are true treasures.

How many NaNo-novels have you written? And how many were winners?

I've written nine novels since 2002, most unfinished. Six of those were winners. All of them were terrible… but there were a few redeeming qualities in every one.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you tend to write in any specific genre?

Total pantser. Every year I've written an outline, or tried to plan out my novel, I've failed. When I jump in with an idea and a prayer, I win. I do tend to write fantasy more than anything else, though I've been known to venture into sci-fi (the soft stuff). This year, I think it's going to be horror/supernatural.

What is something Wrimos would never guess about you?

I'm a redhead. A real one. Okay, that's pretty easy to guess. I think that what most of them would never guess is that once upon a time, I was just a plain old participant. A scared first-timer who didn't think she could write a novel that fast, even if she'd been writing all her life. Someone who has failed at NaNo more than once, and who really sucks at finishing what she starts. But loves starting new things anyway.