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I want to take a moment out of my regularly scheduled moan-fest about my wordcount (I broke 20k!) to talk to you about the awesome people known as NaNoWriMo Municipal Liasons, or MLs. Today is ML Appreciation Day, and if you don’t appreciate your ML you better just take a seat and listen up, because I can guarantee that no matter how bad a job you think your ML is doing this year, they are working their butt off for you.
Your ML, if they are lazy, started working in September getting everything ready for NaNo. Many MLs start working in April towards the next NaNo, and some start the morning after the TGIO party. They are volunteers, working hard to make your NaNo experience a good one. They don’t get paid, they don’t get reimbursed. The goodies they give you come from their paycheck, and the time they give you comes from their family and friends. They are working behind the scenes constantly – making sure the calendar is updated, making sure the emails are going out in a timely manner, making sure the forums are a welcoming place and that all questions are answered. They probably didn’t start writing their novel until halfway through Day One because they are trying to get the Write-Ins planned, the questions answered, the goodie bags together and the prizes ready.
In short, they are working to help put on the biggest writing competition in the world for your region.
I won’t say it’s a thankless job, but I won’t say it’s an easy one either. What I will say is that the reason your ML is out there, working hard, is because of you. Because no matter how awful their day has been, no matter how dismal their word count, no matter how much they miss their family, or are getting reamed at their job for slacking off, spending two hours at a Write-In with you will cheer them up.
You are the reason they are ML. You are the ones that cheer them up. You are the ones they work so hard for. So if you haven’t yet today, tell your ML thank you. Let them know you appreciate all their hard work and all of their sacrifice. That’s all the reimbursement they need.