There are two roles that would be really helpful in giving writers the encouragement they need. You can volunteer for one or both or neither.
(remember, you’ll be writing too, so judge your enthusiasm/capacity accordingly)
Opportunity 1: Friendly Faces
This role mostly involves doing what you’ll probably be doing anyway, which is showing up in the comments.
The Role
Friendly Faces will have a StoryADay user name and will take a little time to cheer on new writers, as they post about their success.
(Note: you do not have to sign up for this role to be friendly in the comments. I’m just trying to make sure I have a few people explicitly making people feel welcome.)
The Commitment
I’d like to have five or six people in this role, so that nobody has to check in to the site more than every other day or so, and make some encouraging noises in the direction of the newer writers.
Opportunity 2: Moderators
If you’re comfortable with the WordPress blog technology (or want to become so) and thrill at the idea of being able to bring down the hammer on sleazy scammers, you might be the perfect candidate to help moderate comments.
The Role
Check the ‘pending comments’ section each day for comments waiting to be approved, and click the ‘approve’ button.
Realistically, most comments do come from excitable authors and not sleazy scammers (I will give you a few tips on how to tell the difference) and, once someone has a comment approved twice, their future comments will sail straight through.
The Commitment
I’d like to have a 2-3 people in this role so we can check for comments a couple of times a day without burning anyone out.
The approvals take a few minutes at most.
Most of this work will happen in the first couple of weeks of the challenge as people comment for the first or second time. Towards the end of the month, I’d be surprised if there is much to do.
Other Stuff
You’ll have a special log in at StoryADay.org where you can identify yourself as a moderator (or not) and where you’ll have “Editor’ status, which gives you the power to approve comments
If any of this sounds like fun, volunteer. If it gives you any angst at all, or sounds like an energy-drain, don’t. Easy!
If you’re interested, fill in the form below. I’ll schedule a training session for each role for later this month.