USA :: Illinois :: Naperville

Have you started thinking about your novel for November? Summer is a great time to play with ideas, seeing what excites you, what you might want to pursue, and gather background data. Yes, it really can be time to get started.

Looking for things to do? Join our year-round writing group, the Journey, come out with us to watch Les Miserables January 6th, and consider submitting a short story for the Other Worlds anthology.

Looking for ideas on how to tackle that first draft? See this thread.

Thread for people continuing to write in December.

Congratulations for every word written during November!

Win or lose, come to the TGIO party on Saturday, Dec. 8th - RSVP here with what you're bringing to our awesome potluck.

If you can't make it -- there's an alternate the following Thursday evening.

We'll talk a bit about the Journey (our year-round writing group) and share a lot of laughs. If you RSVP, Dave will know to include you in his icebreakers, Tim will make you a special award card, and Katherine will bring a purple bar. So, sign up!

You can only validate up to 11:59 on November 30th--make sure your time zone is correct, and validate as soon as you get above 50K . You can keep writing and updating your word count, but if you wait until the very last minute to validate, the site might be too slow or you may be a few words short -- the site counts words differently than some tools.

There will be people on jabber chat cheering people on. And some coffee shop write-ins today.

Win or lose -- come to the TGIO!

Don't forget to validate -- if you have 50K, then do it now. You can keep writing. You only have to validate once, then you can just update your word count like you do now. But if you wait until the last minute, the site might be slow. (Also, you might want to verify that your time zone is correct if you plan on writing right up to midnight on Friday.)

Need something to push yourself a bit more? Sign up for the 18K challenge. Tim counts the words you wrote since the 22nd (not just from when you sign up.)
See this thread.

It's not too early to RSVP to our pot-luck Thank Goodness It's Over Party!

Need motivation to write through the Thansgiving weekend? Post your word count goal for Sunday evening in this thread, then track your progress here. Need motivation to write till the end of the month? Take the 18k, 7 day, 20 nanobots challenge (Track your progress here). Top wordcount in the second challenge wins this nanoborg:

It's not too early to RSVP to our pot-luck Thank Goodness It's Over Party!

Need motivation to write over Thanksgiving weekend?
Post your word count goal for Sunday evening in this thread, then track your progress here.

Further evolution of the nanoborg bot (available 25 November at the 95th Street Library); and I am starting work on a new series of black nanobots...

Not yet finished, but here is the start of the nanobot borg, which I probably will give away in a word war at the 95th Street Library write-in November 25th:

Need a tiny name card to balance atop your laptop so others can see your first name and NaNoWriMo handle? Here is a PDF you could print to cardstock (or print out on paper, cut out and then glue to cardboard). It makes six placards (each 2"x4", or, when folded, 1"x4")

Don't forget to add yourself to our regional wordcount graph--it is a great motivational tool to see how you are doing relative to the others in the region. See the graph and NaNo Faces page.

Photos from the kick-off are now available, including the signed small poster you can download and print out.

All right. I felt the pressure, so in addition to gold paperclips that can be chained together, I'll
also be awarding the following creatures at write-ins.



KatherineWriting

Did you add anything to your outline from the writing exercise at the kick-off? (If you missed the kickoff, the exercise is posted in this thread.

Commit to a write-in--so people know you're coming and so you know you're committing to it.

Just a reminder that we have a standing jabber chat meeting on Thursday nights at 8 pm. Stop by for some writing-related chat and writing exercises.

See our calendar of fall events and our Frequently Asked Questions (faq). Visit our useful resources for writers. Need more help?. This fall, we will have NaNoBots (visit the store)!

Today is a good day to start your planning for NaNoWriMo 2012. Tomorrow is all right, but today is better.

Look at the threads below for information on the Journey--and check out the google calendar for get-togethers with other writers. Feel free to plan more by creating a thread below.

Take our survey! Help us plan for next year!

See our video reply to Maryland (and their response to us)

Now that November is past, consider coming out to the TGIO pot-luck lunch party December 3rd or an alternate dinner party December 8th (and/or 10th). Also consider signing up for the Journey, our year-round writing group. There is also a thread for those wanting to finish/rewrite/edwrite their novels in December and January.

RSVP for the Dec 3 TGIO! Sat Nov 26 write-in? Join the Journey (year-round writing group)!

In response to requests to have graphs that people can see themselves on, we've created a number of threads with 'Graph for ...'
Please pick the thread that will most motivate you, or where you can help motivate others. Note, it takes an hour or two to see yourself on the graph.

If you can't make it to a write-in, think about logging in to jabber chat. Rumors are that word wars run rampant there. Or do write-ins and jabber chats multiple times. Many people find word wars very useful to stay focused.

The Naperville region's wordcount graph is now available. You can add yourself to the graph by introducing yourself to the region.

Let us know if you have any questions. Be sure to introduce yourself.

Almost time to begin writing (Nov 1st). Take note of the write-ins on the google calendar or at our events page. Try to start with a bang! Ready, set, ...