Some news. And a story.

Dear Writers,

I’ve got some news to share, but I want to start with a story because I've been reflecting on my time with NaNoWriMo of late. 

Nearly 13 years ago, NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty and the Office of Letters and Light Board invited me to be a board member (the Office of Letters and Light was the name of the organization that NaNoWriMo was a part of back then). 

To say that I was honored was an understatement. I’d been a writer my entire life, since my mother gave me a kid-sized, roll-top desk and a diary—with a lock and key!—for my 7th birthday.

My love of writing defined my life more than anything else and influenced all of my job choices. I worked as a writing teacher, a reporter, and a bookstore clerk—and even when I was a waiter, it was so I could read and write during the day. When I joined the board, I’d been working for the educational nonprofit, the National Writing Project, for 7 years, and I felt immensely fortunate to find a professional home helping teachers teach writing better. 

But being on the NaNoWriMo board was a dream. To add to the dream, when Chris told me the news, he said, “Oh, and by the way, I’m stepping down, and you should apply for my job.”

I was initially shocked that he was stepping down because, well, he was NaNoWriMo. He was a whimsical, magical creator; a brilliant and charismatic leader; a hilarious writer; and … one of the best human beings I’d ever met.

I resisted applying, but Chris encouraged me, and if you know Chris, you know he can be persuasive (he’s been known to convince thousands of people to write 50,000 words of a novel in a month, for one). Chris also knows the power of believing in yourself—and, actually … believing you are more than you think you are.

It’s funny, though, because Chris didn’t reveal the magic recipe for that empowering belief. Perhaps, like a good storyteller, he knew I had to discover it (so please keep reading). 

What does “Your story matters” mean?

“Your story matters” is NaNoWriMo’s mantra because every story starts with a fundamental belief that your story matters.

If you don’t believe your story matters, you won’t write the first words of your story.

If you don’t believe your story matters, you won’t be vulnerable on the page and write your truth boldly.

If you don’t believe your story matters, you won’t enter into a creative community.

As I’ve thought about the many layers of what believing in your story means, I think of my childhood diary with the lock and key.

In some ways, the lock and key are negative because they speak to how many of us feel like we have to hide our stories, hide ourselves. But at the same time, the lock and key speak to how our truths need to be protected, and we need to know that the world can’t trample them or ban them.

I wrote under lock and key for years. I didn’t show my writing to people, even after going to school to study writing. I was a solitary writer, and, without knowing it, a lonely writer. I slumped and mumbled and looked for an exit when anyone asked me about my writing. I didn’t truly believe my story mattered.

But then I found NaNoWriMo in 2009. The more I experienced NaNoWriMo, the more I experienced how unlocking one’s writing is an important part of writing—that by sharing our vulnerabilities, our truths, we connect with others, and in those connections, we are nourished and fueled (and even protected).

The NaNoWriMo community has helped a seemingly infinite number of writers believe in their story. Because of its kindness, because of its encouragement, because of its derring-do and wizardly whimsicality, NaNoWriMo doesn’t allow naysayers to take over this precious life-giving force we all possess: our stories.

That’s important because the world changes story by story. There are plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about this world, but if you compare a bookstore’s shelves from 100 years ago to now, we’ve actually come a long way. 

Don’t get me wrong, we still have a long way to go—we need more stories on those bookshelves by people who don’t believe their stories matter, more stories by people who are told their stories don’t matter—and that’s what has fed my passion at NaNoWriMo. 

NaNoWriMo is like a master locksmith whose main tool is an empowering community—because belonging is a superpower. By helping unlock stories, we’re actually changing the world … story by story.

That’s why those three little words, “Your story matters,” matter—because they are a statement of kindness and love. And what better way to change the world than through love.

Oh, I almost forgot: my news

I write all of this because I’ve been reflecting on the joyous positivity that is NaNoWriMo because I'm announcing that after 12 years as the Executive Director at NaNoWriMo, I’ve decided to move on (whew!). 

I've been working the last two years on a succession plan with the NaNoWriMo Board, and we agreed last September that I would step down as Executive Director after NaNoWriMo 2023 and prepare for a smooth transition for NaNoWriMo’s next Executive Director—and plan my transition to "the next."

My “next” is actually a continuation of all I’ve been doing: helping people write their stories. My side projects have grown and now demand more of me.

• I've been working as an Executive Producer to develop a TV show, America's Next Great Author;

• My little literary journal of tiny stories, 100 Word Story, has grown into a bigger journal and several books, with a new book in development;

• I'm writing a nonfiction book for writers on rejection (because I believe that how we respond to rejection determines who we become); and ….

• I'm planning a memoir-writing organization with a team of wonderfully creative souls.

This in addition to teaching and speaking opportunities, so I'll be pretty busy.

I also plan to be an ambassador for NaNoWriMo in many ways as well—always, in fact—so I will be around and I hope my NaNoWriMo writer friends will stay in touch. I’ll continue to co-host the Write-minded podcast, and I’ll continue to write this newsletter.

Oh, but the magic recipe Chris didn’t tell me about? How to be more than I think I am?

By working with others, trusting others, listening to others, experimenting with others, focusing on the with, not the me. By being in a community and trying to foster the love that brings people together to help them feel like they belong. 

Everything NaNoWriMo has accomplished in my time has been because of this amazing community of creative love that is made up of the NaNoWriMo staff, writers, volunteers, donors, teachers, librarians, funders, evangelists, bookstore clerks, and general helpers—this community who teaches me the magic recipe of believing in myself and my story every day.

It’s a creation that is so much bigger than a single organization or person, so I thank the millions of people who have written their story with NaNoWriMo and for simply believing that stories matter—which fuels this wondrous creative phenomenon.

Please keep believing in your story. Keep writing your story. Keep helping others write their story. 

And keep believing in NaNoWriMo!

Because a quote

“The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It's the lack of a deadline. Give someone an enormous task, a supportive community, and a friendly-yet-firm due date, and miracles will happen.”

~ Chris Baty

Because Luann does NaNoWriMo