Change
If any of you get the NaNo emails, you probably got the one from Chris today. I opened it up and started crying. I'll post it here for those of you who either haven't gotten the email or don't know what I'm talking about.
Dear Esteemed Writer,
Since founding NaNoWriMo back in 1999, I've had the pleasure of sending a lot of emails to participants. I've written pep talks, newsletters, exhortations, thank-you notes, apologies, and donation appeals. And, occasionally, I've threatened you with the release of face-eating guilt monkeys should your writerly output not increase.
Today, I'm sending you an email I've never written to participants before. I'm writing to let you know that this January, after competing in NaNoWriMo XIII, I will be stepping down as OLL's Executive Director. I am going to be taking a page out of one of my pep talks and heading off on the big, fun, scary adventure of being a full-time writer.
Eeeee.
Yep.
When NaNoWriMo began as a bunch of overcaffeinated yahoos, I never dreamed it would grow into a nonprofit with an office, a year-round staff of eight, Municipal Liaison-run chapters in hundreds of towns, and classroom programs taught in almost 2,000 schools.
Every day I come to work feeling lucky to be a part of it all, and so much of that has to do with you. It's no secret that OLL has the best participants in the world-a wildly fun, brave, supportive, and hilarious group. Through NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy, and the Young Writers Program, I've met so many people who have completely changed my life. We've laughed together. We've cried together. And several times a year, we've threatened each other with face-eating monkeys. Just to show how much we care.
I've loved every minute of it, and when I step down as Executive Director, I want to continue on as a participant. I'll also be taking on the role of OLL Board Member Emeritus, which is a fancy way of saying that I get to offer input and advice without actually having to do any work.
And when I head off to write in January, I'm really hoping you'll come with me. I'll need you to help me maintain my sanity as I sit in front of my computer all day long, so please stay in touch.
And now? Now we have some work to do, because another autumn of creative mayhem is almost upon us. Come December, we'll hire a new Executive Director, and the staff and I will train this person to within an inch of his or her life. There will be wind sprints. There will be broadsword instruction. There will be espresso-based endurance tests.
They will be judged worthy.
On January 20th, I will head off with you to my writing bunker, and NaNo, the Frenzy, and YWP will continue under the same Program Directors who have been running them with passion and vision for years. Our beloved Municipal Liaisons will keep organizing raucous get-togethers to boost our word counts and writerly mojo in April and November.
OLL's mission will deepen. The programs will grow and improve. The inspiration engine we've all built together will help kids and adults discover their creative potential for decades to come. It's going to be good.
Thank you for continuing to be such a central part of this organization, and for being an important part of my life these last 12 years.
With a few monkeys left in me yet,
Chris
Executive Director
The Office of Letters and Light
This comes as sort of a blow to me. First, having Harry Potter come to an end (of sorts) and now Chris leaving OLL. These are two things that set me on my writing path and I feel... sad. I'm crying right now. I can't stop myself. I'm blaming the fact that I still don't feel well.
I'll blame that for the actually replying to the email with a note of my own:
Dear Chris,
I'm crying right now. I don't really know why. Your email was so great and I should be happy for you. I am, don't get me wrong. Maybe it's because I've been home sick for two days and haven't had anyone to talk to buy my dog. Maybe it's the music I'm listening to. Maybe it's because I want to be making that step with you.
One day I really do want to shake your hand because you have changed my life. Without NaNoWriMo, I wouldn't have spent the last two days wishing I felt up to writing. I would have just watched TV and read my book and life would have been happy. But, no, I spent the time wishing I had the energy to sit upright so I could write.
I think this will be my 8th NaNo, or maybe my 9th. I don't know which. I found it completely by mistake one night in November. I think it was the 8th, if I remember it correctly, because I decided that I could join and still be able to get all the writing done I needed to do. That was the night that I went looking for some sort of online class to help me become a writer. And I found NaNo. It wasn't a class but it was good enough. Better than good, actually. It taught me that writing was better than not writing and no one had to tell me HOW to write. I already knew that. What I needed was inspiration and I get that every November.
Now what I really need is something that teaches me how to finish what I start so if you ever find that, could you send it my way? I'd be ever so grateful!
Happy writing. I can't wait to see how this journey of yours goes.
A fan,
Shelley Kimball
(who is still crying and thinks that maybe she should change the Slacker station in hopes of finding something that will make her smile instead)
I follow Chris on Twitter and the man is laugh out loud funny most of the time. He's even commented back to me even though I see him as a "famous person" when really he's just a guy who had a really good idea once who now has a ton of followers on all the social networking sites.
Gah! I've got to quit crying. Maybe I need something hot to drink, to soothe my frayed nerves. I just feel that change is in the air and I don't know if I want it to pass me by or pick me up and take me along for the ride.
Dear Esteemed Writer,
Since founding NaNoWriMo back in 1999, I've had the pleasure of sending a lot of emails to participants. I've written pep talks, newsletters, exhortations, thank-you notes, apologies, and donation appeals. And, occasionally, I've threatened you with the release of face-eating guilt monkeys should your writerly output not increase.
Today, I'm sending you an email I've never written to participants before. I'm writing to let you know that this January, after competing in NaNoWriMo XIII, I will be stepping down as OLL's Executive Director. I am going to be taking a page out of one of my pep talks and heading off on the big, fun, scary adventure of being a full-time writer.
Eeeee.
Yep.
When NaNoWriMo began as a bunch of overcaffeinated yahoos, I never dreamed it would grow into a nonprofit with an office, a year-round staff of eight, Municipal Liaison-run chapters in hundreds of towns, and classroom programs taught in almost 2,000 schools.
Every day I come to work feeling lucky to be a part of it all, and so much of that has to do with you. It's no secret that OLL has the best participants in the world-a wildly fun, brave, supportive, and hilarious group. Through NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy, and the Young Writers Program, I've met so many people who have completely changed my life. We've laughed together. We've cried together. And several times a year, we've threatened each other with face-eating monkeys. Just to show how much we care.
I've loved every minute of it, and when I step down as Executive Director, I want to continue on as a participant. I'll also be taking on the role of OLL Board Member Emeritus, which is a fancy way of saying that I get to offer input and advice without actually having to do any work.
And when I head off to write in January, I'm really hoping you'll come with me. I'll need you to help me maintain my sanity as I sit in front of my computer all day long, so please stay in touch.
And now? Now we have some work to do, because another autumn of creative mayhem is almost upon us. Come December, we'll hire a new Executive Director, and the staff and I will train this person to within an inch of his or her life. There will be wind sprints. There will be broadsword instruction. There will be espresso-based endurance tests.
They will be judged worthy.
On January 20th, I will head off with you to my writing bunker, and NaNo, the Frenzy, and YWP will continue under the same Program Directors who have been running them with passion and vision for years. Our beloved Municipal Liaisons will keep organizing raucous get-togethers to boost our word counts and writerly mojo in April and November.
OLL's mission will deepen. The programs will grow and improve. The inspiration engine we've all built together will help kids and adults discover their creative potential for decades to come. It's going to be good.
Thank you for continuing to be such a central part of this organization, and for being an important part of my life these last 12 years.
With a few monkeys left in me yet,
Chris
Executive Director
The Office of Letters and Light
This comes as sort of a blow to me. First, having Harry Potter come to an end (of sorts) and now Chris leaving OLL. These are two things that set me on my writing path and I feel... sad. I'm crying right now. I can't stop myself. I'm blaming the fact that I still don't feel well.
I'll blame that for the actually replying to the email with a note of my own:
Dear Chris,
I'm crying right now. I don't really know why. Your email was so great and I should be happy for you. I am, don't get me wrong. Maybe it's because I've been home sick for two days and haven't had anyone to talk to buy my dog. Maybe it's the music I'm listening to. Maybe it's because I want to be making that step with you.
One day I really do want to shake your hand because you have changed my life. Without NaNoWriMo, I wouldn't have spent the last two days wishing I felt up to writing. I would have just watched TV and read my book and life would have been happy. But, no, I spent the time wishing I had the energy to sit upright so I could write.
I think this will be my 8th NaNo, or maybe my 9th. I don't know which. I found it completely by mistake one night in November. I think it was the 8th, if I remember it correctly, because I decided that I could join and still be able to get all the writing done I needed to do. That was the night that I went looking for some sort of online class to help me become a writer. And I found NaNo. It wasn't a class but it was good enough. Better than good, actually. It taught me that writing was better than not writing and no one had to tell me HOW to write. I already knew that. What I needed was inspiration and I get that every November.
Now what I really need is something that teaches me how to finish what I start so if you ever find that, could you send it my way? I'd be ever so grateful!
Happy writing. I can't wait to see how this journey of yours goes.
A fan,
Shelley Kimball
(who is still crying and thinks that maybe she should change the Slacker station in hopes of finding something that will make her smile instead)
I follow Chris on Twitter and the man is laugh out loud funny most of the time. He's even commented back to me even though I see him as a "famous person" when really he's just a guy who had a really good idea once who now has a ton of followers on all the social networking sites.
Gah! I've got to quit crying. Maybe I need something hot to drink, to soothe my frayed nerves. I just feel that change is in the air and I don't know if I want it to pass me by or pick me up and take me along for the ride.