USA :: Michigan :: Ottawa County-Grand Rapids

Camp Nano is looming on the horizon! Picnic write in on June 9 at Hager Park. See the thread below for details.

Missing NaNo? Don't forget that Script Frenzy starts on April 1!

Some of us are also planning on Camp NaNo in June. We may even have a weekend of actual camping involved! If that sounds like fun, watch your inbox/nanomail early in May when we'll be sending out more information.

Want to help make next year even more awesome? Tell us what you liked so we do it again. Tell us what you didn't and why so we know how to make it better. Location suggestions for DOKN? We're all ears...err... fingers and eyeballs? And yes, this survey is totally anonymous. Here's the end of season survey link.

Don't forget, today is the last day to submit your NaNo-Tastic nominations. Vote for a few categories or all of them, but get your votes in today!

Today's word goal: 48,343
Write. Write. Write!

Last Holland write-in tonight! I'm aiming for 50k while we're there and a cup of that awesome peppermint hot chocolate!!! Yuumm.

Only two days left to get your NaNo-Tastic nominations in. Even if you can't think of nominees for all of the awards, we'd rather have you enter only a few names than not nominate anyone at all. :)

Today's word goal: 46,676

The weasels have been re-supplied with fresh rolls of duct tape and they're coming for you! If you don't want to spend December scrubbing off tape residue, get that word count up!

Today's event: Last GR Woodland Write in at 6pm

Congratulations to _ML_, the winner of our final Back up your Novel contest!

Today's word count: 45,009

Cast your votes for our NaNo-Tastic TGIO awards! While you're at it, RSVP for our TGIO party. :)

Today is the last day to get your entries in for our last Back up your Novel contest! Win a Flashdrive!

Today's word count: 43,342
The weasels are coming for you!!!! Write! Write!

We had some epic catch up efforts in chat last night. Keep going guys! You can do it!

For those of you who have pacified your weasel or are looking to antagonize it further, don't forget to RSVP for the TGIO party. Everyone is inviited!

Also don't forget to cast your votes in the preliminary round of our NaNo-Tastic awards!

Today's word count: 41,675
Group weasel thread level: High

For those of you that are sitting anywhere in the 30s - Catching up is totally doable. Write!
Sitting in the 20s? Write. write lots. What are you doing in here? Go write!
Below that? I'm dispatching extra rabid cyborg attack weasels to your houses right now. Their mission: No distractions. All writing.

Come on people, lets win this thing! (And if you already have, validiation is now live.)

Today's word count: 40,008

Happy turkey coma day everyone! May you enjoy your feast and find at least a little time for writing.

Today we are thankful for chat rooms, adopted wrimos and Timmy's fridges. Hey, I wonder if we can we store leftovers in those...

Today's word count: 38,333

Can you almost smell the turkey? Better get some extra writing in today before the food coma sets in tomorrow. Weasels loooove turkey flavored ankles.

We thank all of you for your energizing, thoughtful and supportive messages by facebook, origami crane, NaNoMail and on the forums. OCGR wrimos (and all of you we've adopted) are the best!!!

Today's word count: 36,666
Today's event: Holland B&N write-in at 7pm with additional good times at Applebees afterwards.

Our last back up your novel contest has begun on facebook. Stop by to see all four ways to enter!

Continuing the thankfullness: Thank you to Adrianne for being such an awesome co-ML!

Today's word count: 35,007

Due to Thanksgiving, please make sure to check the appropriate write-in threads to verify any date changes or if they are in fact happening. We are a definite go for tomorrow at the Holland B&N but the rest of the week is rather up in the air.

And since we're being thankful this week: A BIG thank you to all of our wonderful wrimo write-in hosts!

Today's word count: 33,340

Last day to enter our weeklyBack Up your Novel contest. Send a pep talk, attend a write in or back up your novel for an entry to win a free flash drive!

Today's word count:31,673

It's the weekend folks. You know what the means... time to get that word count caught up! Thanksgiving is nearly upon us with it's distractions of family and feasty goodness.

And since we're on the downhill portion of our writing adventure, it also means it's time to start thinging about the TGIO party. We'll be awarding wrimo trophies (more details later this week), voting Rippy's elite squad of Borg-A-Weasels, raffling off a bunch more goodies, everyone will have a chance at winning a 80BG Zune, and we'll be celebrating our writing efforts (whether we make it to 50k or not). So if you can join us, RSVP here.

Today's word count: 30,006
Todays' events: GVSU - no host, but go ahead and have fun :)
Online Chatroom at 8pm - Let's pack the place and word war!

• Rippy would like to see his weasel minions. If you have a borg-a-weasel, please visit Rippy's blog and link a picture.
• Don't forget to enter this week's Back Up Your Novel contest! You could win a flashdrive!

Today's word count: 28,339
Today's event: Grand Haven Days Inn write-in at 7pm

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone that donated yesterday! We added $295 to our regional total bringing us to $730!

Need some inspiration to keep you going this month? Have some inspiration to share? Stop by the Why to you Nano thread.

Welcome to DONATION DAY!
This is the day we support this wonderful, crazy writing adventure so it can inspire even more people next year! If you're wondering where exactly your donations go, check out this link. Plus, when you donate $10, your profile pic gets to wear an awesome halo!
Oh and don't forget to write. Today's word count: 26,672
Today's events: Grand Haven library write-in at 6:30pm
Grandville Rivertown write-in at 7pm

HAPPY HALFWAY DAY!
Today's word count: 25,000
Today's event: Come celebrate halfway day with me (and chocolate) at the Holland B&N write-in at 7pm.

So many announcements today...
• It's HQ staff appreciation day! Stop by and give thanks for our awesome new website and NaNo itself
• Rippy's looking for photos of your Borg-a-Weasels. Stop by his blog and link your weasel and check out the others.
• A new Back Up your Novel contest has begun on our Facebook page! Find this week's tasks under the 'welcome' tab below Rippy.

Today's word count: 23,338
Today's event: GR Woodland write-in at 6pm

Things to today:
• Back up your novel
• Check your user settings and make sure your time zone is set correctly now that daylight savings has kicked in.
• Write :)

Welcome to lucky Day #13
Today's word count: 21,671

Only two days left to enter this week's Back Up Your Novel contest. You could win a flash drive! Check out this week's tasks under the 'welcome' tab (on the left under Rippy) on our Facebook Page.

WOW! This was definitely a day of Knockout Noveling!
Wrimos attended:35
Words written: 88,843
Funds raised: $65
Used books gathered: 55
Great job everyone!

Today's word count: 20,004

Welcome to the DAY OF KNOCKOUT NOVELING! Sounds like we're going to have quite a crowd at Jets! If you can't make it, try to take a couple extra hours to write today. Climb into those 20k word counts!

Weasel Threat Level: None. Rippy's highfiving me today.
Today's word count: 18,337
Today's events: GVSU write in at 2pm / Chat room at 8pm

It's 11-11-11 WORDSTOCK folks! Time to build up that Thanksgiving day/weekend buffer! Aim for an extra 1,111 words today. That's only two fifteen minute word wars in the chat room for most of you. Come on, you can do it!

Weasel threat level: Low
Today's goal: 16,670
Today's event: Grand Haven Days Inn write-in at 7pm

Aren't halos pretty? Get your very own by donating $10 at the donation station.

Weasel thread level: Low
Today's word count: 15,003
Today's event: Grandville Rivertown B&N write-in at 7pm

Do you get lost in the forum threads when searching for new posts with the nested view? You can switch to a flat view, which automatically places the newest post last. Just hover over the "Nested" at the top right corner within a forum thread to find the Flat option

Weasel threat level: Medium
Today's goal: 13,336
Today's event: Holland B&N write-in at 7pm. Hope to see you there!

Our Back up your Novel contests is up and running for week two. If you haven't backed up your novel yet, please do! See this week's tasks on our facebook page or Rippy's blog.

Weasel threat level: Still high
Today's goal: 11,669
Today's event: Grand Rapids Woodland mall write-in at 6 pm

When you scroll down our calendar, you'll see some events have purple stars. Those are events where an ML will be present--which means, raffles, donation jar, goody bags if you didn't get one yet, and The Jar of Awesome Horrors and Unnameable Kittens! This week there are 3 ML hosted events: Tueday in Holland, Wednesday in Grandville and Saturday in Zeeland.

Weasel theat level: High
Today's goal: 10,002

Have you uploaded an excerpt of your novel yet? Share your creative efforts with the curious by showing off a few pages of your novel on your profile.

Weasel threat level: Low - Thanks to last night's online write-in, I'm almost on track!
Today's goal: 8335
Today's event: Write in and craft day at 1pm

Things to do today:
• Post progress on your borg-a-weasel
• Enter back up your novel contest on facebook or blog
• Catch up on forums positings
• Get caught up on your word count. Ok, so that should have been #1, but we all love a little procrastination.

Today's goal: 6668
Today's events: GVSU write-in at 5pm
Chatroom write in at 8pm. If you haven't made it to our chatroom yet, I urge you to try it. Why? Word Wars!!!

Did you adopt a Borg-a-Weasel at Kick Off? We'd love to hear how your weasel is adapting to life at your home. Please post pictures and updates in our Borg-a-Weasel thread. Didn't get a weasel yet? There are seven left that will be available at Tuesday's Holland write-in and at DOKN on the 12th.

Day 3 and I'm already a day behind. Owww! Rippy's attacking me! I'll write more today. I promise! Owww!
Today's goal: 5001
Today's event: Grand Haven write-in at 7pm

Have you entered our Back up Your Novel contest yet? You could win a flash drive! There are only four days left to enter. See Rippy's blog or our Facebook page for details. You can find both of those in the Links section to your right.

Today's goal: 3334
Today's event: Grandville Rivertown write in at 7pm

Check out our Prompt of the Day thread. A new nugget of inspiration each day. Feel free to post a short excerpt of how you used the prompt. You just might inspire someone else!

Happy first day of NaNo! WooHoo!
Today's goal: 1667 words
Today's event: Holland B&N write-in at 7pm

Our OCGR chat room is up and running! If you have any problems or questions with the chat room please post them in the thread or NaNoMail either of us and we'll do our best to assist you.

It's our last day before the writing frenzy begins. Are you maddly plotting? Blowing off planning until tomorrrow morning? Sitting anxiously at your keyboard watching the hours tick by? Well here's some things you could also do:
• Enter our Back Up your Novel drawing either on our OCGR facebook page or Rippy's Blog. Both links are right over there ->
• Check out our calendar and threads for a write-in near you.
• Do your laundry, freeze a few meals and pay your bills.
• Fill out your NaNo profile and Novel information
• Stretch out those fingers and wrists people! Tomorrow, we write.

It was great meeting so many of you in person at Kick Off today! 30+ of you made it out and many of you left with weasels, raffle prizes and a donation jar full of good writerly karma! We raised $67 and 80 books were donated to our used book drive. WooHoo!

Our first big write-in is Nov 1 at the Holland Barnes & Noble. Hope to see you there!

Just got word that we raised just over $130.00 at our On The Border fundraiser! Thank you to everyone who helped spread the word and who came out on Tuesday!
~ Adrianne

Today's tip: 2 for one actually...
To see all our nifty regional notes, use the sidebar to scroll-->

If you haven't yet, please take a moment to fill in a few details on your profile page so people can know a little bit about you by clicking on your photo or name. A blank profile brings people to the NaNo homepage and we all know you're not really a homepage.

Todays Tip - To set OCGR as your home region so you'll get our spiffy regional NaNoMail messages and your donations will count torward our region's totals: Under My NaNoWriMo select My Regions. Find Ottawa County & Grand Rapids and select the option to set us as your home region. Hey, that was easy!

Thanks to everyone who came out and supported our On The Border fundraiser!

It's great to see so many new and returning faces! Make sure to:
• Stop by the Intro thread and say hello
• Check out the Newbie/Mentor program
• RSVP for the Kickoff party on Sunday, Oct 30.

Welcome to OCGR Headquarters! We have lots of fun stuff in store this season including raffles, giveaways, a regional bookdrive fundraiser, and Rippy's borg-a-weasel contest!

You know you like us... OCGR Wrimos are also on Facebook!