United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Library Events

TheLorax — Sat, 2 Aug 2008 21:16:40 -0700

I was in my local library last week and saw that they're doing their Aspiring Writers Workshop series again. It got me thinking about what's going on, writer wise, at the other libraries. I skimmed through the listed events for all the Durham & Wake county libraries. In alphabetical order, here's what I found:

Cary Public Library - all start at 7 pm:
Mysteries - Wednesday September 10
NonFiction - Tuesday, October 7
Screenwriting - Monday, November 3

Durham County Library - Main Library
Teen Writers' Workshop - Tuesdays in October -630-800

Eva Perry Regional Library
Mystery Author - Tuesday, August 12 at noon. You bring your lunch, library provides drinks & dessert
Local Authors - Tuesday, August 12 from 7-9pm
These two events have an author come in to chat. The calendar didn't list what author(s) would be there.

And that's it - through December anyway. More events are likely to be added so I've included links to the Durham & Wake county libraries. Find the one closest to you and check it out.

Durham County Libraries
Wake County Libraries
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_______
"I am idealistic, but I'm not a fool. And yes, I do think our ideals get us into trouble, but that's fair enough. You don't do something because you know you can win, you do something because it's worth doing." - The Edge

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Tell us a little about your novel!

Botrytis — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:49:03 -0800

It's almost the middle of the month, and we are all getting a little deeper into our novels. Probably a few of us are starting to feel confident in our plots, others probably at least have an idea of what the story is about. I thought it might be nice for us to share a few details about our stories with one another, if only for the sake of procrastination.

So here's another Botrytis survey:

What's the title of your book, how did you come up with it?
Describe your plot in 3 words or less:
Tell us three things about your main character:
Your first sentence:
Your worst sentence so far:
Your best sentence so far:
What's the greatest challenge you've encountered this month?
What's your favorite thing about your novel?

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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Writer Meetings Scheduled Please visit us anytime: You are welcome to visit Charlotte Forum too. Off Season Schedule posted...

BJLee — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:08:29 -0800

Please visit the Charlotte NC Forum where we have our entire NaNoWriMo off season schedule published.
Join our Writer's Round table... you are welcome anytime!

See you soon!

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Sincerely.
BJ LEE : Ghost.Scriber@gmail.com
- 2008 Charlotte NC Co - ML with Psuedo Joe
- 2007 Charlotte NC ML & NaNo WInner
- 2006 Charlotte NC Co-ML with Richard Smith
- 2005 NaNoWriMo Participant & Winner
- 2004 NaNo LURKER & unofficial winner

United States :: South Carolina :: Elsewhere

TGIO Partay!

Botrytis — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 10:34:38 -0800

Now that the Thanksgiving madness has passed, I've realized that we haven't really begun much planning for a TGIO party. This is an open invitation for everyone to voice their opinions about days, times, locations, and any other Ideas regarding the TGIO party.
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Raleigh-Durham NaNo Stats

TheLorax — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 08:25:05 -0800

As of November 4th, here are our Regional statistics

* Number of affiliated people = 524
* Number of active people = 200 (38%)
* Number of Raleigh-Durham folks = 351 (66%)
* Number of active Raleigh-Durham folks = 113 (21%)
* Total regional wordcount = 1004997
* Average wordcount (affiliated) = 1917.93
* Average wordcount (Raleigh-Durham) = 2863.24
* Average wordcount (active) = 5024.98
* Average wordcount (active Raleigh-Durham) = 8893.78

We're working on getting the last few bugs out of the program so that we can get updated daily. I will post them here as I find them out.

One caveat (at the moment, anyway) is that we're not really sure how many people who are affiliated with our region are people from last year, who didn't sign up this year.

The discrepancy between the number of affiliated people and the number of Raleigh-Durham folks is due to people in other parts of the word marking this region as one they want to watch. Only the folks who have Raleigh-Durham as their Home region are part of the 351 people.

Still pretty interesting to ponder.

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_______
"I am idealistic, but I'm not a fool. And yes, I do think our ideals get us into trouble, but that's fair enough. You don't do something because you know you can win, you do something because it's worth doing." - The Edge

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

I'm so excited!

Cailean — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 07:29:17 -0800

I finished the 50k! Now if I can just finish the book. I figure I've got at least another 100k to go.

Sorry to brag but I'm just so happy. I also mentor three kids and they are all really close. Another day or so and we'll all be there.

I want to thank TheLorax and parerclip for the great job they've been doing while I'm at it. I'm sure they are realizing that being an ML is a pretty thankless job since you can't please everyone. I can't do the write-ins (most especially the ones where smoking is allowed) but they've managed to show even those of us transplanted Yankees out in the boondocks of Durham county a lot of support.

Thanks so much!

Cai
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Greetings and Questions from Way Up North

Welestra — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:06:45 -0800

Also posted in NC Elsewhere region.

Hello folks! And greetings from my neck of the woods up in Canada. Anyways I have a few things I'd like to ask you guys about your state, if you don't mind.

In a nutshell, North Carolina is the setting for one of my previous NaNo novels, which I'm kind of making notes on at the moment while it's on my mind so that I can go back and finish it next weekend. And who better to ask about a certain place than the people who live there, right? The female MC in the book is part Cherokee, and she along with one of the male MCs are very much into the pagan/occult. So I'm basically looking for a real place in North Carolina that's kind of that artsy, bohemian kind of place where it wouldn't be strange to have pagan shops and such (mostly because the male MC owns one). Also a place that has kind of gothic architecture like a church or something would be great. Any old architecture, really, but gothic style would really do it. So if any of you lovely folks have traveled to or know of such a place, I'd be eternally grateful if you could help me out.

Another question I have is what precisely is the weather like? Very wet spring? Cold winters with little snow? Rainy winters? Big storms?
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Shameless Promotion

ryanedel — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:07:45 -0800

I love to write, but I'm not really that good at selling my writing. I'm hoping that this would be a good place for people can post snapshots of their novels-in-progress with the intent of selling them to potential agents and publishers. I'm including an example that I might try for my NaNo. Feel free to post your own novel pitch or comment on the other pitches present. Your story doesn't need to be done for you to have a pitch - in some ways, formulating a novel proposal can help you keep your story going.

Example Pitch:
In "Novelgeddon," the most witty, glamorous, and beautiful protagonist ever born wages war against her deranged narrator in a desperate bid for life beyond the written page. And yes, Dagny Daytona is willing to raise Jane Austen from the dead if that's what it takes to get a decent author to write the most brilliant story of all time. And forget those other characters - they aren't important for plot development. All they do is stand in the way of Dagny's wit and charm. People like Jonathan "oh I guess we should feel sorry for you and your memories of a fictional war that never happened" Mitchell try to reign in the story, bringing sense and justice to a world that is clearly beyond forgiveness. But other protagonists are in it simply for themselves, figuring they can beg and bribe the narrator for shots at demonic possession and world domination. Meanwhile, the narrator shows no regard for women, children, or human life. As the characters fight to overcome plotless tripe and defeat the twin horrors Satan and boredom, the narrator kills them off one by one - multiple times, as necessary - to avoid discussing any topic implying that he might possibly have feelings. As the protagonists struggle to become real enough for publication, they face the endless word-countdown, the ticking away to the fifty-thousand words that will bring the end of the story and the black void of the literary death.
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Rocky Mount?

KDub — Fri, 2 Nov 2007 20:56:46 -0700

Any Nanos in the Rocky Mount area, or am I flying solo in this part of NC - again!?
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Unofficial Write-ins

Botrytis — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 07:44:57 -0800

Since a lot of people seem to be trying to set up their own write-ins and it's been poorly organized and a bit stressful for the MLs, I've created a thread in which anyone (yes, that means you) can post a time and place and organize their very own write in. As we cannot guarantee that an ML will be able to attend, they won't be "official" NaNoWriMo events but that doesn't really mean a whole lot, especially since the MLs don't have swag yet anyway.

If you feel strongly about making your write-in official, send a PM to me or TheLorax, and we'll see if we can fit it into the schedule.
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Last Minute Write Ins

TheLorax — Fri, 2 Nov 2007 19:58:10 -0700

This is where we can post random Write Ins. Say you suddenly get the urge to go out and write in public, post it here! Well, post it if you're open to other Wrimos possibly appearing to join you.

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Parerclip & I will be at the Cary Borders tomorrow night from about 8 pm til close (11 pm). Likely by the comfy chairs and an outlet. If I remember, I'll even bring a power strip.

Address: 1751 Walnut Street, exit 293 off of 40 (at the corner of Buck Jones Rd & Walnut St)

Store info, map & directions

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_______
"I am idealistic, but I'm not a fool. And yes, I do think our ideals get us into trouble, but that's fair enough. You don't do something because you know you can win, you do something because it's worth doing." - The Edge

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Raleigh Area

TheLorax — Wed, 7 Nov 2007 08:20:09 -0800

Too keep the Last Minute Write Ins thread for what it is meant to be - announcements of last minute write ins. We now have this thread to plot other locations and times for Write Ins around Raleigh.
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_______
"I am idealistic, but I'm not a fool. And yes, I do think our ideals get us into trouble, but that's fair enough. You don't do something because you know you can win, you do something because it's worth doing." - The Edge

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Thanks, I guess

bibi rodriguez — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:11:03 -0800

Anybody out there besides me have a crappy Thanksgiving? Commiserate with me. Here's the absolutely sincere letter I wrote last night to my brother in L.A.; the letter I have to write today after the bitch-fight at my other brother's house in Raleigh should be even more pathetic.

Bobby, Sta', Bella and Deanie,
Hi!
We had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Bianca, Celeste, Bethany, Jorge, Hawaii, Sandra and my new daughter, Becky all came. Rayshawn and Fred were also invited, but couldn't make it for separate reasons. I fixed a really bangin' turkey, broccoli, carrots, whipped red potatoes, french rolls and pumpkin pie (which I hate, but everyone else likes). I put on the long white tablecloth, Bobby Darrin's greatest hits and those religious Mexican candles for the kids, while Sandra and I sat on the couch with our Pinot Grigio and Marlboro Ultra-Lights 100s. It's amazing how much stuff we learned about the kids! Bethany's baby will be here before Valentine's Day, and the guy she thinks might possibly be the father might possibly be in Durham, maybe. My old new black daughter, Jessica, got arrested for assault and it was video-taped by her other friend on his cell phone. Becky's boyfriend, Mario, moved back to Brooklyn today, and should be there shortly after midnight (hopefully) before the BOLO goes out on the vehicle. Celeste was able to make it through the entire meal without using any silverware; did I mention the whipped potatoes? Hawaii's sister's lover is the same dike that always flirts with Sandra at Best Buys. Jorge's driver's license says his name is Chiang Sum Yung, and he paid 200 bucks for it. (In all fairness to him, he recently quit carrying it for fear he'd get caught and deported to the PRMC.) Sandra's daughter spends over 500 dollars a month on weed. Bianca loves her classes. Sandra got a second job for the DHS at RDU. A good time was had by all.
Tomorrow, Ingrid is having the family Thanksgiving at their house. While I told Ingrid that I was behind on my book, and needed to catch up, I told Granny, mind you, I told GRANNY, that since Ingrid was inviting some friend who just recently got dumped with three babies, two of them 1-year-old twins, the other under three, I didn't think I'd feel comfortable getting all liquored up and cussing at the table they way I usually would, as I know those kids would be dandled on mommy's knee and spoon-fed right there in the dining room with the adults, and I'd be obligated to issue the perfunctory "aw how adorable" no matter what. (Long sentence.) That was why I wanted to do this dinner for my kids tonight so they could have their friends all together around the table... we'd have done it tomorrow except that Ingrid made the plans for her house for tomorrow, and both Bianca and Jorge work Friday. Today, Granny called me up to say that Ingrid wanted to let me know that we could come at 1:00, and the dumped friend wouldn't be there til four, so she (Ingrid) hoped I'd change my mind and come after all. (See above for chain of info.)
Apparently we'll all be out there tomorrow, but I might take my laptop to do a little sumpn-sumpn on it upstairs after getting liquored up and cussing at the table, and before driving home on expired tags. (I got a ticket for that today.)
I hope that all y'all have a really great Thanksgiving! I guess you're thankful about reopening contract negotiations. I hope you get the share you deserve for downloads. DVD's are going to decrease in sale as people start downloading it all instead, anyway. Good luck!
Love always,
sis
PS: My Name Is Earl ROCKS!!!
-
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be careful what you say to me; you may end up in my next novel!
' width=100 height=100 border=0 alt='Official NaNoWriMo 2007 Winner'>

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Downtown Raleigh Lunch Gathering

space_samurai — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 14:50:07 -0800

Bibi and I have been discussing the possibility of a lunch time meet up at Port City Java some time this week. We both work downtown, and I know there was at least one other person who mentioned working there. If you work in or near downtown and would be interested in getting together, what day would work best? I normally do lunch from 1-2, and I think Bibi does as well. My schedule can be slightly flexible, but only slightly. I'm also thinking Tuesday or Wednesday would be best, as Mondays tend to be hectic, Thursday is a holiday and Friday might see lots of folks off or taking a vacation day. Let me know!
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Mid Month Meetup - Nov. 16

TheLorax — Fri, 9 Nov 2007 07:54:28 -0800

Botrytis has the spiffy keen idea of holding a region wide meet up for the middle of the month. Build camaraderie, share ideas, mutual banging of heads on walls or tables about plots and characters going awry, etc.

She's got it set up on the Events Calendar for November 16 - so start sending/posting suggestions to her for places & times to meet that are between Raleigh and Durham - to keep folks from having to drive too far. Maybe people can get together to arrange carpooling.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it, but I hope the majority of you can!
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_______
"I am idealistic, but I'm not a fool. And yes, I do think our ideals get us into trouble, but that's fair enough. You don't do something because you know you can win, you do something because it's worth doing." - The Edge

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Anybody goes to Panther Creek High School?!?!?! Or did they go to Salem Middle School?

vidhyadhari7 — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 14:23:04 -0800

Hi everyone! I am Vidhya and I am a freshman in Panther Creek High School! Is there anyone else in Panther Creek High School? I am really curious... Or if you even went to Salem Middle School I would probably know you... I am just so curious! Well reply if you do or don't if you just want to introduce yourself like what school you go to, what class, etc etc... :) :) :) : ) ; )
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~ sincerely ~
Vidhya

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Let's get to know each other a little better.

Botrytis — Sun, 4 Nov 2007 12:02:12 -0800

Since as of yet most of you are just names and Nano stats to me, I thought it would be nice to know a little bit about everyone here, I've written up a brief questionaire, so anyone who wants to fill it out can share a little bit about themselves. If course it's fine to leave some questions blank if you don't feel comfortable sharing personal information! Also, sorry if this is too lame for anyone.

A picture of yourself if you want to share one:
Your name:
Your favorite color:
Tell us something interesting about you?:
Your favorite book/author:
Your preferred genre:
Writing experience:
Tell us a little about your novel this year:
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Cary Area

TheLorax — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:28:53 -0700

Since we don't really need the ML's to schedule meetups, thought I'd start a Cary thread. Granted the MLS do bring the spiffy souvenirs.

- Barnes & Noble (B&N) across from the Cary Mall (think it's the intersection of Walnut & Maynard) - Address: 760 SE Maynard AND they're open 9-11 Every day (yep, that means Sundays too)
- Borders at the 440/40/1/64 area by Crossroads. Buck Jones Rd & Walnut St - Address: 1751 Walnut Street

- Caribou Coffee at Preston Corners - Address: 4214 Cary Parkway
- Caribou Coffee at Maynard Road - Address: 109 Maynard Road

Those are the locations I remember reading that someone mentioned. (wow, that was an awful sentence). Anywho, what do yall think? What times/locations are good for you?

Currently I'm heading for the B&N at Crabtree. I'll be there til 11.15 or so :)
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_______
"I am idealistic, but I'm not a fool. And yes, I do think our ideals get us into trouble, but that's fair enough. You don't do something because you know you can win, you do something because it's worth doing." - The Edge

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Raleigh-Durham Chat Room

TheLorax — Fri, 9 Nov 2007 10:56:57 -0800

That's right, folks! We have our own regional chat room (provided by a fantastic ML in Canada) to inspire each other & commiserate on our NaNo experiences. We'll also be having Virtual Write-Ins!

Some info:
- All rules, regulations and guidelines on the NaNoWriMo site are the same for the chat room.
- The room will be open & available 24/7 – barring any internet issues.
- When you first go to the link, a random login name is given to you. If you want to change it (No inappropriate language), simply click on the name in the user list and a box will open for you to type in a new one.
- It is not moderated. If you see something upsetting, send a NaNoMail to myself or Botrytis and we'll see what (if anything) we can do about it. If abusers of the room don't respect the rules they'll be blocked or the room will be shut down.
- Please keep the talk of sex, violence and language to a PG-13 level

Guidelines above are ever evolving, so check back here for updates. Dates & Times of Virtual Write-Ins will also be posted in this thread. However, if you're online and logged into the chat room, feel free to post about it here. Others may join you!

Chat Room Link
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_______
"I am idealistic, but I'm not a fool. And yes, I do think our ideals get us into trouble, but that's fair enough. You don't do something because you know you can win, you do something because it's worth doing." - The Edge

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Durham Bean Traders - Saturday

Robust_McManlyPants — Wed, 7 Nov 2007 16:20:32 -0800

I feel a bit the fool for missing Monday so I will be at Bean Traders at Homestead Shopping Center on Saturday no later than 2 pm. I'll be the tall big guy in jeans & a red t-shirt that says ACHEWOOD in baseball team script. Homestead is at Fayetteville Rd & NC 54, near Southpoint.
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"Sudoku is probably the single best thing that ever happened to vampires." --Withrow Surrett

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Calendar Question

Davian.Lore — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:47:30 -0800

The calendar is confusing me!

It gives a number of hours until the next write-in, right? Then it gives the time of the scheduled meeting. However those two times never seem to agree.

I believe the meeting times are off by one hour because it lists our time zone as being GMT -4? Aren't we GMT -5?

I'm so confused!

- Davian
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Anyone I Know on Here? XD

Someday — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:00:33 -0700

Okidoki
Well i'm thinking that some of us might actually know each other, as we all live in the Raleigh-Durham area. so I think 'twould be helpful if we gave our first names an' the school we go to or place we work
Here, I'll begin

Alias Leesh/Physhe
School: Enloe

And then we can meet up somewhere at the place you work/school at, with the people who are also wrimos :D
Twould be cool to know other people who go to the place you go doing the 'xact same thing you're doing :]
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~*clicky here for photography

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Keeping up Steam/Motivation Techniques

Parerclip — Wed, 7 Nov 2007 21:10:20 -0800

Okay, so my story started off with a bang! I was pushing out a few thousand words a day in the beginning. And not just a few thousand words, but a few thousand LINEAR words!

Now I am starting to only be able to write about eight hundred to a thousand words before getting bored with a scene.

It could be that my characters aren't behaving like I want them to - two of the semi-main characters had to go and have life changing events that have thrown my story a bit out of wack.

And the MC's love interest? Yeah, well, he's acting like a boy - and not doing or saying anything he's supposed to be doing or saying.

With all that, I am thinking, darn, I'll never finish this the way I'm going. Luckily, I'm still writing, so I guess that's all that matters.

I used to motivate my staff to reach lofty goals by breaking down a big number into smaller ones - it always worked for them, and when I just did it for my word count, it made me feel a lot better....

How it works:

Say you have written 10,000 words. That means you have 40,000 left to write.
40,000 divided by 22 days left is 1,818 words a day. Still a lot.
But, with 24 hours in each day, that brings it down to 75 words an hour. But, I have to sleep and work you say? Okay, so make it a solid 6 hours that you have as free time, and that's still only 303 words per free hour that you aren't working or sleeping.
And in that 6 hours of free time, you have 360 minutes. So less than a word a minute.

Anyways, that helps to motivate me. I can so write a word a minute! I can so do 300 words an hour for only 6 hours!

Michelle
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Michelle
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All this group needs is shoes and coffee, and then the world would be perfect!

United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

Meeting at Starbucks

abbeness — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 04:33:33 -0800

I'm planning to spend a few hours on Sunday, Nov. 11 at the Starbucks in North Hills close to Harris Tetter and Pancera. Not the one close to the movie theater or Target. I'll be there at one until...whenever. If anyone wants to join me...feel free. I'll be the one with ol' fashion spiral notebook amd purple rim glasses. abbe
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham

How do you Nano?

Botrytis — Mon, 5 Nov 2007 10:35:47 -0800

Yes folks, it's installment two of trying to keep the Forums active, I think this one ought to be more fun than my last little survey. It's just a few questions about how you write, not writing style, but the things you do to get yourself focused or into the zone.

What do you write on/with?
Where do you like to write?
What does your writing space look like?
What do you listen to when you write?
Are there any special drinks or snacks that help you write?
Do you use any other tools or totems?
Do you have any unusual writing rituals?
Do you use writing exercises to get yourself thinking? if so what?
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United States :: North Carolina :: Raleigh-Durham