Wattpad: On Passion, the Democratization of Storytelling, and Pizza Money
Today, we have an interview with Nicholas Jones: staff at Wattpad HQ in Toronto, Canada, and past NaNoWriMo winner (Nicholas’ NaNo Profile; Wattpad Profile). Aside from being a great launching point for a complete NaNo-novel, Wattpad is also sponsoring NaNoWriMo 2013, and looking to reward one lucky NaNoWriMo participant with $2000 for sharing his/her completed novel on Wattpad!
Q: So who is this Nicholas Jones person?
A: I’m Wattpad’s resident wordsmith, and though it’s my day job to write these days, I’ve been writing, in one form or another, since the seventh grade. My passion for writing makes me feel very fortunate to work at an organization that believes in connecting readers and writers through great stories.
Q: What have NaNoWriMo and Wattpad got in common?
A: At Wattpad we believe that if you’ve got a story that you want to tell, that is reason enough for it to be out in the world. This is all NaNo ever asks of you: an idea, some words, and a drive to weave them together. In both places, the only thing standing between you and being a “serious writer” is motivation. At Wattpad, we like to call this approach the democratization of storytelling, and it’s something I believe in very strongly.
Q: When did you participate in NaNoWriMo?
A: I was encouraged by some friends to join their NaNo writing circle in 2010. With their near-constant cheerleading, I successfully got my novel The Building to 50,000 words. It didn’t hurt that there was a distinct lack of other distractions in the 3,800-person Japanese fishing village where I was living and teaching at that time!
Q: What’s this about a prize for one lucky NaNoWriMo participant?
A: Yes! Wattpad is so into NaNoWriMo that we’ve decided to offer a cash prize for a NaNoWriMo writer who successfully completes his or her work of 50,000 words in the month of November and posts the complete work on Wattpad. I mean, this is all about the words and the accomplishment of completing a novel-length work in 30 days, but $2,000 can buy a decent amount of celebratory pizza.
Q: What do participants need to do to qualify?
A: Anyone who wants a chance to win the prize must be registered with NaNoWriMo, have a Wattpad Profile, and must have completed and posted to Wattpad a work of 50,000 words or more by December 8th. We’ll be drawing the winner from all completed stories, and interested Wrimos can find all the details here.
Q: So you will be NaNo’ing again this year?
A: Ha! Absolutely. I pretty much have to now. I’m hoping that writing my NaNoWriMo novel on Wattpad will save me some sanity. If I’m at an actual computer, I can write my novel on the Wattpad site. When out and about, I can access and add to the same story from my phone using the Wattpad app. I’m looking forward to getting a decent amount of writing done on the subway.
Q: Can we track your progress?
A: Certainly. I’m aiming to publicly post my writing each day. Once you create a Wattpad profile, other writers and readers can follow you to get updates on your work. It’s a great way to write serially and to find fans for your book before it’s even published. I’m serializing my NaNoWriMo 2013 novel right here.
Q: Do you think you’re going to make it to 50,000 words this year?
A: One of the things I love most about NaNo is the pressure motivation factor. When I came up with the idea of posting my daily progress publicly on Wattpad, I hoped it would be even more motivation to make it to 50,000 words.
NaNoWriMo is also about sharing your writing experience. I’ve already followed a bunch of people on Wattpad who are also NaNoWriMo writers, and I look forward to encouraging them and offering feedback by leaving comments on their posted stories.
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