Welcome (back) to NaNoWriMo 2009 -- say hi, pass out cookies, whatever...

hey Gallifreyan, thanks for getting us launched again and hello to everyone!

my name is Katherine, and this is my fifth NaNo. I hope to win again this year. I tend to write best tucked away somewhere, so I don't come to many write-ins. I do rely on the forums for support and encouragement, and also like to provide some of that as well!

so who else is here?

2005 Now Serving Lunch 50k
2006 Starts Friday 50k
2007 November Weekend 50k
2008 Good Girl 50k

I'm here. :D

Hi. :D My name is Megan, and this is my second NaNo. I didn't finish my first NaNo last year due to some RL issues, but I'm ready and raring to have at it again. I probably won't make it to many write-ins, since I live in San Jose, not San Fran. (SF was the closest I could find unless a new region's been made...) But I will probably visit on the forums.

Hi Megan, look for the South Bay region... I've been a South Bay NaNo since 2002, sometimes remotely from San Francisco, so it's definitely not "new"...

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/168

There's also the Peninsula region, which covers most of area code 650.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/282

Rob/Gallifreyan * Sunnyvale/San Francisco, California
Bay Area Writers Retreat coordinator
ML Emeritus for San Francisco and Peninsula Regions
Keeper Emeritus of the South Bay Bars of Power

Hi Gallifreyan,

Nice to touch base with the locals!

I'm a newbie and I'm willing to have a write-in, or more than one, depending on how it goes. I live in the Russian Hill area in a very large and quiet studio apt. and I think 4 writers can very comfortably work here. Only challenge is the parking. So my suggestion is to either have the write-ins on the week-ends, when parking is more possible; or else take the bus here on week-nights. I'm right on Van Ness, near 4 bus lines (30, 47, 49, 45).

Is this the same as "getting in touch via Nanomail" or should I be sending this message elsewhere?

I'm also very curious about cafes to work in around here, where the music is not too loud, there's not too much foot traffic, and they don't hassle you about hanging out. Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

lavender blue

Hi everyone! I'm a Student at SFSU. Any other students planning to participate? This is my first Nano and i'm super excited. I hope to have a horrendously stressful and fun month with you all :)

Hi everyone, the name's Helene. This will be my third year participating in NaNoWriMo. =) Hope to meet some of you at some write-ins this year...I couldn't make it to any last year, sadly. =\ Well, I look forward to more info from Gallifreyan!

~ Helene Kwong
Featured on i live here:SF http://iliveheresf.blogspot.com/2009/10/helene.html
Website: http://www.helenekwong.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hkwong/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Helene-Kwong/60706411

Hullo San Fran!

I'm Daestwen and this is my sixth year for nano... I've only won twice, though, so i better win this year to round things out!

Usually I am in Toronto, Canada for nano (save last year, i was in New Zealand) but this year I'm probably going to be in San Fran most of (if not all of) the month, so it looks like I'm joining your ranks. :]

I have to say, for the number of participants, it's pretty quiet in here!

Nice to meetcha

:D

04: Age of Blood - Pass
05: The Captain and the Samurai - Fail
06: Gently Dreamed Destiny - Pass
07: Untitled - (Sci-Fi)- Almost Pass
08: Untitled - (Lit Fic) - Fail
09: Oberon's Children

Yeah, SF Nano 09! I'm looking forward to it.

I hope to get out to or even organize at least one write-in up here in Pac Heights. We might have to dodge the Bimmers and elbow past little old ladies, but it's worth it for the relatively serene atmosphere up here on the hill.

I'm wondering if any venues in the cities have self-selected themselves as hospitable environments for write-ins. I love to hang out at the Grove, but I think any place that does that much business is going to hate a bunch of laptop campers. For that matter, even the libraries north of California aren't even friendly to study groups. The venue issue may take some serious strategy.

Jeff

jeff

Hello all!

I'm With Anticipation, back for my 5th year - hard to believe when my thoughts the 1st year ran something along the lines of "What the H was I thinking?!" - As a sidebar, I've learned the punctuation mark "?!" is called an interrobang - my new favorite word. Okay, now that the ADD diversion has gone . . . I'm really looking forward to connecting with the Nano old hands and meeting the newbies. Since that 1st year, which resulted in about 10,000 words, I've won each subsequent year and intend to this year as well. I hosted write-ins last year in Pac Heights (Jeff? Martha & Bros. on California and Divisadero is bigger than the Grove and I've stayed there for entire work days) and also in the Inner Richmond (Cafe La Flore on Clement and 12th Ave has great, friendly new ownership, a number of small tables and lots of outlets; French Press coffee and although I haven't had them yet, yummy looking sandwiches for cheap). I'm available to host write-ins this year and/or help with the ML duties.

I'm a good coach and cheerleader for anyone who doubts they can pull this off, so please ask me stuff whether it be online or in person!

With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)

Hi all!

I'm Kristen and I've done Nano a couple of times in years past, most recently two years ago, though I didn't win. I skipped last year but am looking forward to WINNING this time around.

I'm up for write-ins as I can in the evenings. I'm in the Richmond.

Does anyone map out their novel before November rolls around, or do you just begin start from scratch come Nov. 1? I am thinking about drafting an outline, which I hadn't done last time to my detriment - that's when I hit a wall and ran out of steam.

I wonder if anyone wants to do pre-November get togethers for this purpose?

Looking forward to it!

Hey Kristen! Welcome back and can I just say, I saw the pic on your website and your kid is CUTE!
Okay, back to business;-) I've done it all ways - year before last I mapped out *everything* ahead of time, but not that far into it I hit a snag. A character - very minor character - was supposed to essentially make a drunken comment to the main character and that would be the end of his presence in the novel. His sole purpose was to provide yet more evidence of why the MC needed to leave his small town and not look back. The problem was that I started thinking, why would this guy say something like that? I mean, I knew why, I needed someone behaving obnoxiously and he got elected. But then I thought, WHY? whywhywhy???
And, well, I got really interested in his back story and how he might come to make this stupid remark to the MC and that did it. He became the other MC. I had to dump the rest of the marvelously detailed outline because it didn't fit anymore. At all.
Last year I didn't have anything until two days in - no characters, no plot, nothing. I literally started with a scene on an airplane because I didn't know where it was going to be set - which I then dragged out with excruciating minutia until I figured out who the hell these people were. But I finished Nano 24 hours early. No idea what this year will bring. Flexibility may be the only requirement.

With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)

Hi, I'm new this year so we'll see how it goes! I'm in lower Pac Heights, so lavenderblue, Jeff, others in that area I am also looking for good work venues around here. Lavenderblue, I know they play a lot of scrabble in the Royal Ground over by Russ Hill Bookstore so that is a good sign...

Richmonders - I'd love to write-in with you all at Cafe la Flore or anywhere else... Looking forward to it (I haven't had the sandwiches at la Flore yet but the coffee and the owners are both great.)

2009- Ventajas/Ventanas
2008 - The Diary of Andre Levinsky (won)
2007 - The Brothers Bolano (won)
2006 - John Brown's Body (won)
2005 - Lost in Nicaragua (won, barely)

Hi, everyone,

Just stopping by to see how my old friends in SF are doing, and to welcome new NaNoWriMo Authors. This will be my 9th year, if I decide to write another novel this November. (I never completely decide until the night of Oct. 31st, always thinking I'm too busy, have nothing worthwhile to write, etc. ;-) )

As some of you know, I lived in SF for about 30 yrs. and now live in Berkeley, but I'll always consider SF to be my heart's home, in many ways. So, I keep up with what's going on in SF, as well as the E. Bay, S. Bay, and other regions.

Hope to see some of you this year! I haven't checked yet—will there be one big kick-off party, or will there be regional ones?

Cheers, Cathryn

8 year Winner!
http://www.CreativeSage.com
http://www.CreativeSageArts.com/blog
http://www.CreativeSage.com/blog
http://www.CathrynHrudicka.com/blog
http://twitter.com/CreativeSage
http://CreativeSageCircle.ning.com/
Creativity & Social Media Coach

Newbie here! Looking forward to my first NaNoWriMo.

I'm in the Noe/Mission area and definitely interested in some write-ins. Anyone else?

Hi Gallifreyan - I met you at some South Bay write-ins last year - now I'm in SF in Lower Pacific Heights.

A good cafe for a daytime write-in might be Apollo on Divisadero and Turk. It's not very crowded and the owner is nice. It closes on the early side - 7 or 8 I think.

I'm looking forward to actually completing this year! Go NaNos!

LeeAnn

Hello folks- this is my first NaNoWriMo, and I'm way looking fwd to it!
Am up for write-ins.

Samovar in the Castro can be nice-
some hubbub, but great tea, great staff, great food, & grabbing a table in the way back gives you kinda your whole own room

I know I have some other fave writing spaces- I'll suggest 'em as I think of 'em

There's a very nice new branch of Ritual in the Mission maybe around 22nd and a littl south of Mission- light, airy, not crazy loud- full of laptops...

Regards,
Marcus a.k.a. Dog Scribe

I could manage Apollo during the day sometimes; I work in the Haight - Hayes and Shrader.

With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)

Hello Everyone!

My it is much too calm in this forum considering the large number of members we have. This is SF! Let's get crazzzyyyy!

Anyways, I'm Sabster and this shall be my first year participating in this ever so exciting challenge. I only just found this website while playing around online. I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to hit 50K. It's like running a marathon; you prepare physically (fingers braced just above the keyboard), brow furrowed intelligently, slight smirk of self confidence, shifty eyes avoiding direct eye contact as you lay out your character's next move, and of course. pondering methods to thicken your already coagulated plot!

Hope to see all of you at the write-ins (of which I am expecting many). I don't live in SF but spend a great deal of time there, so a write in on a Saturday morning at a cafe sounds lovely!

--Sabster

Hi Everyone!
This is my first year in NaNo and my first year in SF. I'm so excited to get started...(and a tiny bit nervous...that's normal right?)

I'm so happy to see such a thriving NaNo community! I live next to Duboce Park (Church and Market-ish) and I'm up for write-ins on the weekends..Mission, Castro, Richmond, Pac Heights, Russian Hill.. wherever!
I love the idea of Cafe la Flore and Apollo. I wonder if Coffee Bar in the Mission would be a good spot, it's huge and has lots of natural light...it does get sort of packed on the weekends though...hmmm.

Can't wait to get started!

-molly

First timer here. I've got a buddy who's been doing this Nano thing forever, and while I haven't written anything for years I got a dang story idea stuck in my head, it won't go away no matter what, and I figure this is a good opportunity to get it out. I have no idea if I'll "win" or not since I work pretty long hours and there's Thanksgiving and all that, but I figure I'll give it the 'ol college try.

I reside in the Richmond neighborhood myself. I'd definitely be interested in some write-ins, as I figure this would be a good chance to meet some like-minded people (even if they will be spending a majority of their time with their nose set to the proverbial grindstone)

Hi all-

I'm Brian. I'm a newbie, but have some writing background. I'm really excited. I expect to not only win this year, but also to try and reach 100,000 words if possible. I set my standards high :)

originality |əˌrijəˈnalitē| (noun): undiscovered plagiarism

Sorry about the delayed response--I've been out of town for a week but now I'm back and really getting psyched up!

RE write-in cafes in the Russian Hill/ Polk Gulch area: There's also the It's a Grind, further on down Polk, @ Washington. There are always lots of serious worker bees in there, and the cafe has *very* good snacks and coffee. However, it's very popular so seating may be a problem.

Outer Sunset: There's a dandy, HUGE cafe across the street from the Balboa Theater -- if the close proximity of a half-price double-feature is not too tempting. Whenever I'm out that way I always see lots of students studying.

Lavenderblue

lavender blue

Dkittels - if there are enough folks at a write-in, they will surely alternate nose grinding with chatting;-) I look forward to meeting you in the Richmond!

With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)

I just want to remind everyone, especially our newbies, to fill out your author page with LOTS of information. It's a great way to find other writers with common interests, favorite novels, writers and music. And it's an icebreaker; to wit - "I perused your author page with excitement; I too have read "Harry Potter" in Latin, Irish Gaelic, Japanese and Welsh! Could we be Nano buddies?"

With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)

hi (cookies)

i'm an Official Rebel this year, as i was last year, since i am writing nonfiction (my autobiography). also, since it's an ongoing work whose total word count (not figured in to this year's totals) is 76,000+ words. part two is my NaNo effort this year, starting in the late 1980's and going on to as far as i get by the end of the month or 50,000 words, whichever comes first.

and i prefer not to write with others, as it's too tempting to look at what they are doing. i require a Room of My Own, so no café suggestions from me. sorry. but good luck to the rest of you.

(more cookies)

v

veedub
==
NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo
Hey heyyyy
goodbye

hi all,

i'm a new resident to the city (british student studying at state for the year) and i'm definitely up for some good cafe suggestions, especially in and around the sunset area. going to be interesting mixing heavy studying with NAno but i'm going to give it a shot!
(also i have literally no plot, am going on the various tangents that live in my brain a lot of the time)
nice to meet you all, happy typing!

“You must do the things you think you cannot do“ - Eleanor Roosevelt

Hi folks,

This is my fourth NanoWrimo, and I'm going to be breaking the rules. I guess I won't be "officially" participating, because I will be working on a manuscript I've already started. But I do plan on participating in Nano events as a way to facilitate the work on the manuscript.

I live in Pacifica, which is the Peninsula technically, but it's extremely close to SF, and all the Peninsula events are in San Mateo, which is actually pretty far away. Also I work in Emeryville, so I drive or BART through the city every day.

I'm looking forward to participating in lots of SF Nano write-ins during November!

-Michael B.

Another good place in SF for writin'-
Oakside Cafe- near the DMV near the Panhandle-
they have an upstairs that feels like a treehouse fort or something-
a few of NaNoWriMos could colonize the whole top level...

Hello San Francisco!

My name is dominic and this is my second Nano attempt. Last year, I moved to SF from Singapore (I'm British but have lived all around the world) on November 4th so trying to write and unpack and move into an apartment left me a little low on word count.

This year, however, I'm not going anywhere. I live in the Marina so it's easy for me to get around to a write-in, and I'd love the support.

Looking forward to hearing more from you all!

runtime

2008 Soul Trader [13k]
2009 Motley's Crew