What on earth is going on at NaNoWriMo HQ? Here's a high level summary compiled by an anonymous community member.
NaNoWordSprints
- The subject of this article is commonly referred to as @NaNoWordSprints. The article is titled NaNoWordSprints due to technical restrictions.
NaNoWordSprints (commonly written as @NaNoWordSprints) is the official Twitter account for staff-run word wars.
The NaNoWriMo staff ran word sprints on the @NaNoWriMo Twitter account in 2009 until moving to the @NaNoWordSprints Twitter account. NaNo staff and interns ran the 2010 sprints, primarily Dragonchilde, Sarah Mackey, Cybele May and Nora Coon.
In 2011 hand-selected volunteers, primarily Municipal Liaisons from around the world, joined the word sprint team to provide around the clock sprints. These volunteers led midnight sprints for time zones around the world on November 1st and 30th. (though not necessarily in their time zone--many of them were leading these sprints during their own daytime hours for a region across the world that was approaching midnight).
Starting in 2014, the @NaNoWordSprints account reopened for the Camp NaNoWriMo sessions. While the account is not as active as during November's event, one can still find regular word sprint sessions.
How Twitter sprints work
A member of the @NaNoWordSprints team tweets the beginning of a sprint. It might be something like, "Sarah here from snowy Edmonton. Who's up for a sprint at :00?" The :00 is included so Wrimos in time zones that are a full hour offset from UTC can figure out the start time. If space allows in the tweet, the sprint leader may include the start time for those in half-hour offset time zones. This unfortunately leaves out those in quarter-hour and three-quarter-hour offset time zones. Blame Twitter's character limit.
The sprint leader may post an optional prompt or dare for writers to include in their current scene; these are optional but encouraged for those who are stuck in their stories. They may also post a challenge to beat your previous time or a reminder to go to the bathroom or get a snack. Wrimos may tweet back saying that they're participating. This is optional but makes everything even more fun.
When the start time arrives, the sprint leader tweets "Go!" or some variant. Long sprints usually get a halfway warning. When the stop time comes, the sprint leader says "Stop!" and asks how the Wrimos did.
On occasions when the @NaNoWordSprints account is inactive, Wrimos can still use the #nanowordsprints hashtag to find writing buddies.
NaNoWordSprints culture
Many traditions and themes have popped up over the years.
#NaNoHouseCup is a series of sprints led by @ElaynaMae since November 2015. Like the the Hogwarts House Cup in the Harry Potter series, Wrimos choose a house at the beginning of the month and report their words written at the end of each #NaNoHouseCup sprint. The words written act as points toward the house cup. House winners are announced for each sprint and each sprint session (usually 2-3 hours), and the House Cup winner is announced at the end of the month. #NaNoHouseCup is typically a November-exclusive event, although it did make an appearance during April and July's Camp NaNoWriMo 2016 sessions.
NaNoWordSprints team
Note: See List of NaNoWordSprints leaders for a full list of past sprint leaders.
2014 Regular Sprint Leaders
- Aquadeo, @Labville, past Alberta::Elsewhere ML (2011-)
- Chocolatequeen, @Nancy_Kelley, Washington::Vancouver ML (2011-)
- chrisk0, @ChrisKelworth, Ontario::Hamilton ML (2014-)
- coderster, @JessAnn_, New York::Allegany-Cattaraugus Counties ML (2012-)
- Cosmic the Cat, England::Kent ML (2014-)
- Crogers, @writingfreak88, California::SF Peninsula ML (2011-)
- crowley, @serenalawless, Ireland::Galway ML (2011-)
- eensybeensyspider, Cylithria Dubois, Military Lounge moderator (2011-)
- Heather Dudley, @Dragonchilde, NaNoWriMo Lead Forums Moderator (2010-)
- Jupiter Star, @jupiter_star, Asia::Japan ML (2012-)
- KissofJudas, @KOrionFray, New York::Elsewhere ML (2014-)
- krakengoddess, @rorschahiv, Michigan::Upper Peninsula ML (2014-)
- Lauren E. Mitchell, @LEBMitchell, Australia::Melbourne ML (2011-)
- Lauren Harsma, @theonlyshape, 2013 NaNo intern and 2014 Nano staff member (2013-)
- LovelyLici, @_aliciaaudrey, West Indies::Bahamas ML (2013-)
- mmccubb, @cianano, Iowa::Central Iowa Authors ML (2012-)
- Paige Knorr, @paigeknorr, NaNo staffer and past Alberta::Edmonton ML (2011-2012)
- pearlrose, @pearlrose86, Florida::Tallahassee ML (2014-)
- sushimustwrite, @sushimustwrite, past Georgia::Atlanta ML and Wikiwrimo founder (2011-)
- syaffolee, @syaffolee, California::San Diego ML (2012-)
2013 Regular Sprint Leaders
- @_aliciaaudrey, West Indies::Bahamas ML (2013-)
- Chris Angotti, YWP Director turned Director of Programs (2011, 2013-)
- @cianano, Iowa::Central Iowa Authors ML (2012-)
- Cylithria Dubois, Military Lounge moderator (2011-)
- @essbee80, Scotland::Glasgow and West ML (2011-)
- Heather Dudley, NaNoWriMo Lead Forums Moderator (2010-)
- @honeyelle, Australia::Canberra & the ACT ML (2011-)
- @JessAnn_, New York::Allegany-Cattaraugus Counties ML (2012-)
- @jupiter_star, Asia::Japan ML (2012-)
- @Labville, past Alberta::Elsewhere ML (2011-)
- Lauren Harsma, 2013 NaNo intern (2013)
- @Nancy_Kelley, Washington::Vancouver ML (2011-)
- @LEBMitchell, Australia::Melbourne ML (2011-)
- @serenalawless, Ireland::Galway ML (2011-)
- @sushimustwrite, past Georgia::Atlanta ML and Wikiwrimo founder (2011-)
- @syaffolee, California::San Diego ML (2012-)
- @writingfreak88, California::SF Peninsula ML (2012-)
Past Sprint Leaders
- Chris Baty, NaNoWriMo founder (2011)
- Cybele May, NaNoWriMo site wrangler (2010)
- @cosmam, Alabama::Elsewhere ML (2011)
- @essbee80, Scotland::Glasgow and West ML (2011-)
- @fshk, New York::New York City ML (2011-2012)
- @karalianne, Saskatchewan::Saskatoon ML (2011)
- @noracoon, past NaNo intern (2010-2012)
- @honeyelle, Australia::Canberra & the ACT ML (2011-)
- @officeduckfrank, a guest sprint leader (2012)
- Sarah Mackey, NaNoWriMo Director of Community Engagement (2010-2012)
- @you_love_lucy, Georgia::Atlanta ML (2012)
