USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Declare your Word War here!

slauderdale — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:22:42 +0000

It is the final week of Nanowrimo, and I am in a Word War with elee2007 - who is NOT of this region but who has a current word count roughly comparable with mine. Last night she was 35039 to my 37229, but at some time in the wee hours of the morning she shot ahead: 37841 to my 37553.

That is a difference, for my honorable competitor, of 2082 words from where she was at midnight.

I know elee2007. When she's on, she is hurling. Yesterday, she was behind, but now that we have engaged combat she will most likely crush me. I don't care. I Will Not Be Dominated. On Wednesday night, at 10pm, we will see who has the higher word count.

If you feel that you are flagging, or feel comfortable but desirous of a little friendly competition, hurl your gauntlet here. Find someone who is somewhere near you word-wise, and ENGAGE.
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Hamilton-Wenham Public Library loves Nanowrimo. Consider writing YOUR novel here!
http://hwlibrary.org/Nanowrimo.html

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Another Recycled Inspriational E-mail

tyketto — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:00:40 +0000

Hey - I have my computer! Yippee. Here is another recycled inspirational e-mail from 2007. Enjoy, and keep writing! Hoping to make it to Beverly tomorrow, Beth
**********************************************************************************************************************

Ahh the sweet smell of November 21st... week three is finally rolling to an end.

*ties Week up with a very large ball of rope and stuffs it into the closet, ignoring the screams of invective when it lands on her Inner Editor*

I don't know about you, but Week Two/Three always seems to be the longest of my year. Not just Nano - my year in general. *laughs* And this year it's the Week That Will Not Die, apparently, overstaying its welcome... but we're into the home stretch - the last ten days...

Most of us will have broken that magical halfway mark by now. (I think I'm within hailing distance of 35k, which is pretty close to on track.) At this point, either your characters have decided to cooperate - or if you're one of those whose characters aren't quite as, um, animated as mine ("All of you, quiet in there for a minute, this is a pep talk... I'll get back to you later"), you've managed to flip through enough mental channels to find something to relate to the reader that's more interesting than the channel showing the special on the mating habits of the three toed sloth or the Bowflex infomercial...

It's really all downhill from here. Even if you've decided that your life won't let you hit 50k, you've still (ideally) been writing a little bit every day. Even if it's complete bat guano, you're building the habit of writing. As the pep talk from Neil Gainman suggests, what *makes* a writer is the fact that they write, not the fact that they say they're writers. Even when it's really bad prose. Even when they don't feel like it. Even if all they can get in that day is a hundred words because their children are sick or they have been laid off from work and are now spending all of their time surfing monster.com and wickedlocal.com. Are you giving it a fair shake? Are you allowing yourself to write whatever comes without trying to make it perfect? Are you giving yourself permission to break the story in whatever fashion seems appropriate to keep the words moving? Are you having fun with it? Then you're doing great, no matter what your word count is.
Sure, I'd love to see every one of you win. That's a huge ego boost and I'll admit to being human in that regard - and I also know that life is. If you're not at *checks calendar* 33340 or whatever it is, *DO NOT GIVE UP*.

Seriously.

I've discovered a few things about this last ten days.

First of all, the momentum you've built up to this point will begin to snowball. You'll have at least a few solid characters and a couple of relationships even if you don't have an 'ending' yet. It becomes an exponential rather than a logarithmic equation as everything starts falling together in strange and peculiar ways.

Secondly, strange and unrelated ideas will begin to glue themselves to your story. You'll overhear snippets of conversation that are perfect for your antagonist to yell from the top of the Evil Overlord tower. You'll see road signs that would be great to confuse your Main Character (MC). Keep a little notebook in your coat / purse along with a pen so you can capture this stuff. Treasure these limpets of mental lint; they're great for throwaway moments when you get stuck in your story. It's a synchronicity thing; once you open your mind to seeing the possibilities in life as literary cannon fodder, you start to see life in general differently. There's a Dares thread in the forums; if you see or hear something you think might make good compost for someone else's story, feel free to post dares and ideas there to share.

Thirdly, keep taking care of your physical and emotional needs (says the woman who shows up at a write-in on five hours of sleep after an spending fourteen hours with a two-year-old that won’t nap & without having eaten supper and has a meltdown(the two-year-old – not me) - oops) over the rest of the week. Have a hot soak with bubbles or salts or whatever appeals to you. Invite a friend over to watch a movie (Dead Poet's Society is always a great 'writer's movie' - maybe people could start a thread for other suggestions in the forum) or go out for dinner with your family. Get enough sleep. Stretch regularly while you're writing and remember that pretzels and M&Ms are not a balanced diet, nor is coffee an acceptable substitute for a food group. :)

Fourth, if you can make a write in (we have a few left), do... there's something about sitting WITH other people in public and writing together that does wonderful things to your word count. I encourage people who come to write-ins to post their thoughts on why they show up and what they get out of them.
** Even if you don't do a write-in, pack up your laptop, notebook or clay tablet, put on your misunderstood artist beret and beat-poet-issue black balmacaan, find a pair of dark glasses and go nurse coffee in your local java joint for a few hours and LOOK like a stereotypical writer. Sometimes it's fun to go out and play the part for a while, and people-watching makes great story filler. The people asking you what you're writing are also great incentive. After all, if you've gone to all this trouble to get out of the house, you feel a bit silly playing Solitaire or reading Facebook when you *should* be writing. :)

Last, if you're using any technology more advanced than dead trees, back up your novel. E-mail it to yourself, put it on another computer, dump it to a service like Google Docs, save it to a USB key and update it every couple of days. If there's a week three bogeyman, it seems to be computer hiccups, which really stinks when you've got 3/4 of your book written and your system decides to open your file in ASCII printer codes. :(
If you haven't yet posted an excerpt to the site, take a moment to do so. This way we can all get an idea of what other people are writing. Note: You are *NOT* allowed to compare yourself to others' writing and say you are not as good as they are. This is missing the point - it's just a way to pass a little time when you need to take a break from your own story. Just remember we're a PG-13 site, so try to find something clean to post to your profile. *laughing* For some of us, that may be difficult, but there's got to be at least a FEW paragraphs. ;)

*waves pom poms* Gooooo Teeeeeeeam!!!

*everyone throws Koosh balls at her* "Quiet, we're writing!"

=Beth=

Score: Three couples touring Australia with a tour company run by ex-patriate Americans and at least one half of each couple is trying to kill their other half off. One husband found dead, next to a shovel and an almost empty bottle of water, one husband threw the shovel on the ground and it hit him on the ear, one other…haven’t decided if using the shovel again is going to work or not. I do think he might ‘kick the bucket’ like at the beginning of It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and maybe I’ll put a small shovel in the pail, maybe...

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4th Year Nano Veteran
2009 Novel - Irukandji Diving - (thinking I need a better title)
(Irukandji are extremely venomous jellyfish)

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

If you weren't able to do November

slauderdale — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:31:33 +0000

Dearly beloved:

I've had a few people who weren't aware of Nanowrimo before November tell me that they would have liked to participate if they'd known about it, so I posted in the Rules, Regulations and Other Minutiae forum asking about other times for communal writing. Here is the original post, with responses: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3456519

So if you weren't able to do Nanowrimo in November, or you feel that you haven't had enough punishment yet, no need to wait a year! You can still link up with other people and write write write!
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Hamilton-Wenham Public Library loves Nanowrimo. Consider writing YOUR novel here!
http://hwlibrary.org/Nanowrimo.html

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Write-in tomorrow, Sunday the 22nd, Beverly Sbux - 2 - 5 PM

Crosswordfan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:38:36 +0000

Hello, North Shore friends - just a reminder that we'll have one last write-in at the Beverly Starbucks (242 Elliott St, Rte 62, near the Cummings Center) tomorrow, Sunday the 22nd, from 2 - 5 PM.

Can you believe we're almost in the home stretch here? What a trip this has been. Hope to see lots of you tomorrow.

Cheers,

Louise
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

REMINDER: Write-in in Beverly tomorrow night, Tuesday the 17th.

Crosswordfan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:22:40 +0000

Hello, North Shore NaNos!

Just a reminder - we'll have a write-in tomorrow, Tuesday the 17th, from 6:30 - 9:00 PM at Starbucks in Beverly (Ryal Side, 242 Elliott Street).

It's very easy to get to this Sbux. Take Rte 128 to exit 22A (Route 62 East) and follow 62 for 3/4 of a mile, keeping left at the fork in the road near Christ the Redeemer Church. Stay on 62 (which is Elliott Street) into Beverly for 1 mile, and you'll see Starbucks on the right at the bottom of the hill, just past Mike's Sub Shop and the White Hen Pantry. If you pass McDonald's you've gone too far. =)

Hope to see a lot of you there. Caffeeeeeeine is goooooood.

--Louise
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Mondays in Newburyport

SweaterGrrrl — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:31:33 +0000

I've reserved the Craft Room in the Newburyport Public Library for the 16th, 23rd, and 30th, from 6:30pm to quarter to 9. We'll have free wi-fi, and we'll be allowed to take food and beverage into that room. Pick up a coffee downtown, and if you have any leftover Halloween candy to share, feel free to bring that along, too!

The library has some NaNo write-ins in the afternoons for teens only, but the evening sessions are drop-in for all ages. Hope to see you there!
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SweaterGrrrl
http://dorianachase.blogspot.com/

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Our regional word count, and a CHALLENGE for the weekend

Crosswordfan — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:01:15 +0000

Happy Saturday morning, my fellow WriMos! I checked our regional stats just now and I see that we North Shore folks have collectively written 1,143,007 words so far this month. Wow! That's some awesome production, but we can do better.

How about if we challenge ourselves to get to 1.5 million words by end of day tomorrow, Sunday the 15th? That's 356,993 incremental words, and with 137 of us active in the North Shore region, that works out to a measly 2,606 per person in the next 38 or so hours. We can DO it, friends, we can crank it up and get to a million and a half words!

Can you tell I'm already overcaffeinated? =) Eh, I don't care. WHO's WITH ME???

Cheers,

Louise
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Write-in? Write here!

slauderdale — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:03:52 +0000

This is a thread for people to arrange or to post local write-in events, since it looks like people are already starting to plan them.
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Hamilton-Wenham Public Library loves Nanowrimo. Consider writing YOUR novel here!
http://hwlibrary.org/Nanowrimo.html

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Northshore Teens

emilyisawesome — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:59:29 +0000

A place for the Northshore Teens to chill, and discuss how we're possibly going to do this with school :)
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-Emily

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Friday the 13th @ Hamilton-Wenham (an epic Write-In Event)

slauderdale — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:03:17 +0000

If you are able, I hope you will drop by some time tomorrow for the big Friday the 13th Write-In at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library. We have two rooms reserved, and there will be coffee and snacks.

I promise cheese. Much cheese.

http://www.hwlibrary.org/Images/pdf/Friday%20the%2013th%20Write-In%20Fli... <-- groovy Friday the 13th flier

I wasn't originally going to post this separately, but I just feel so jazzed. It is Day 12 of Nanowrimo and yes I'm behind, but if I can slam out 2768 words before midnight I will be caught up. (Again. It's a pattern.) And I'm feeling so *good* about what I'm writing now. It comes and goes, but right now I am definitely in a happy place.

Whether it's flood or a trickle of eager writers, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow - and if you can't come tomorrow, be sure to go to one of the Beverly Starbucks or Newburyport Public Library write-ins. If you haven't attended a write-in yet, you owe it to yourself to try one. It's amazing how productive they are, even for a Nano-snail like me.
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Hamilton-Wenham Public Library loves Nanowrimo. Consider writing YOUR novel here!
http://hwlibrary.org/Nanowrimo.html

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

writing locations?

skrap — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:30:22 +0000

hello--

i need to get out of my house to write tomorrow (because if i stay in i will be thinking OMG my house is a mess, OMG there is a giant disaster of leaves outside, MMM i think i'd like a cookie, etc). ideally i'd like to hole myself up in a local library for the day, but none of them seem to allow food/drink (i get it, i really do, but somewhere in my 8-12 hours i'll probably want maybe a granola bar, & i'm quite fond of hydration). starbucks is a maaaybe, but since i worked there for 2+ years i know i will be bombarded by a bazillion customers who'd like nothing better than to sit down & catch up with me at 15-minute intervals throughout the day. sooo...does anyone have a good suggestion for a writing location (totally understand if you don't want to give up your secret favorites!), or know of a library that allows food/drink? nbpt, merrimac, amesbury & surrounding within 20-ish minutes are all good for me. thanks : )

jess
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Introduce yourself here!

slauderdale — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:48:55 +0000

First post! We need an introduction thread! Who are you and what are you planning to write?

----

I am Slauderdale, and I plan to write a novel in the month of November.

You will say "Duh," but until today I wasn't planning to write a novel. I was planning to be a Nano Rebel and use this month to write a 50K bibliography or something. Non-fiction, that's for sure. But here it is, October 2, and this site reload has me really excited. I'm thinking I'll be predictable and write something to do with libraries. Maybe a children's or fantasy novel.

It's a whole month, so time enough to change my mind. Maybe I'll decide to be a Nano Rebel after all. 50K of something, though. For sure.
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Hamilton-Wenham Public Library loves Nanowrimo. Consider writing YOUR novel here!
http://hwlibrary.org/Nanowrimo.html

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Inspirational e-mail / forum

tyketto — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:44:00 +0000

For anyone that did NaNoWriMo in 2007 - this is an inspirational e-mail I sent out way back then. I am recycling it for everyone b/c I have one dear friend that is struggling with her story & I think she could use this. So - here it is!

So, you had a pretty good first day. Pretty good first few days, actually. Your word count is looking pretty good, so you go out with your friends. Catch a movie. Do some laundry. Take a nap. "Don't worry," you say to yourself. "I'm ahead." See, the nasty thing about November is it just keeps on going. One day you are ahead, and two days later you are 3000 words behind. It's sneaky like that. And when that happens it's really easy to get depressed.

I am here to say: don't. Keep going. You can do it. Sit down and write for an hour. Unplug your internet, put on some headphones, tell your parents / spouse / children / significant other / cat that you are doing very important things and should not be disturbed, bribe your little sister, and just do it. It's so easy to get discouraged once you fall behind. But here's the great news: it's almost as easy to get ahead as it is to get behind. If you just sit down and WRITE you'll find the words just come. If you take all the time you obsess about being behind and put it into writing, you'll be in great shape.

The trick is, Constant Vigilance. OR If you prefer the Dory method - Just Keep Swimming.
Plug away at it. 20 minutes here, 20 minutes there.
Because you can do it. All of you. I know you can.

Maybe you've had one really terrible day and you're depressed and you want to quit. But if you quit now, you'll never have that magical day when your characters come alive. You'll never have that feeling where you know exactly what's about to happen and it's so glorious you want to burst into song with the perfection of it. You'll never have that moment where you sit and stare at what you've written and realize that holy crap, you're a writer.

I am here to tell you that, people, there is nothing in the world like that feeling. If you have to suffer 29 days of misery in November in exchange for one day of perfection, it is worth every second of anguish.

So if you're feeling down about your word count, or stumped about your plot, or in despair over your characters, don't give up. Head to the NaNo forums for some suggestions and commiseration. But keep going. Keep plugging away one word at a time. Ten minutes here, ten minutes there. And watch for your moment of glory.
It'll come. I promise.

If you have any questions, concerns, nightmares, or comments, feel free to contact me, by NaNoMail. Keep an eye on the forum for updates on upcoming events

Thanks, everyone. Keep writing! The North Shore is looking fantastic this year.

Beth (tyketto)
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4th Year Nano Veteran
2009 Novel - Irukandji Diving - (thinking I need a better title)
(Irukandji are extremely venomous jellyfish)

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Happy ML Appreciation Day to the North Shore's ML!

katevictory — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:27:23 +0000

Hey, MissLuckster -

Thank you for stepping up to the plate to be the ML for the North Shore during this year's NaNoWriMo. Hope you are having fun, one week into this craziness!

Cheers!
Kate
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Word Counts

Corinnemf — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:47:00 +0000

I don't know if anyone wants to know, I just hit 50k+ and still going.
Just doing my part to get our regional numbers up :)

How is everyone else doing out there?

Cheers,
Corinne
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

50K of What I Want

slauderdale — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:01:55 +0000

First it was going to be a bibliography. Then it was going to be novel, padded with bits of bibliography. Now I'm just going to do anything to reach 50K.

This is my month to write 50K of What I Want, which looks like a medley of fanfiction and bibliographies at the moment, but I'm already having entirely new plotbunnies for the beginnings of novels popping into my head. I will write anything and everything to reach 50K.

Is anyone else writing cross-discipline multiness?
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Hamilton-Wenham Public Library loves Nanowrimo. Consider writing YOUR novel here!
http://hwlibrary.org/Nanowrimo.html

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Facebooking the Write-ins

tyketto — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:12:14 +0000

Hola. How many of you are on Facebook? I just started a group page for NaNo North Shore (see link below - it should take you there).

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=166760450325

I was going to add the write-ins onto it simply b/c - the forums start to get slow, or I forget to check the forums and then I can't log-in and figure out where / when a write-in was, or I'm too lazy to scroll to the end of the thread. Okay, I know, it's really all for convenience for me but-figured if y'all want in on it I'll add the events and that way they can be on your FB page as well, another reminder.

Hope everyone's novels are going great, Beth
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4th Year Nano Veteran
2009 Novel - Irukandji Diving - (thinking I need a better title)
(Irukandji are extremely venomous jellyfish)

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

30 covers, 30 days

tyketto — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:35:23 +0000

Does everyone know about this? Post on your profile a synopsis and excerpt from your novel. Over the 30 days of November one person a day will be chosen to have a book cover created for them - for free. Details here:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/forum/523
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4th Year Nano Veteran
2009 Novel - Irukandji Diving - (thinking I need a better title)
(Irukandji are extremely venomous jellyfish)

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

question about word counts?

pfpoland — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:22:17 +0000

Hi, all,

Question about word counts for anyone who's done this before - I'm pretty new at the whole writing thing, but in the past I've used the SFWA formula for calculating a word count (rather than using the standard word count function in Word). Does anyone happen to know which one of these methods is closer to the way the nanowrimo counter works?

Thanks!

Danielle
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Introduction

Melissa Abbott — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:59:21 +0000

Hi, My name is Melissa Abbott and this is my first time doing this event! I have been researching and practicing my skills during the month of October and even though I work full time at The Gloucester Times, I am hoping I can bang out almost 1700 abandoned words a day for the next 30 days towards a historical novel idea I have had for a long time. I plan to crockpot my brains out and ignore my husband, facebook, and friends to get this done. Kind regards to everyone else who is giving this a whirl!
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

one sentence about my novel

Melissa Abbott — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:41:32 +0000

Accounts of a Land and Voyages using a Historical Local perspective and characters
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Your Story: One Sentence Description

slauderdale — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:08:50 +0000

Possibly premature post - it's mid-October and some of us may not have decided what we're writing yet - but my old boss used to talk about something he called "the Elevator Speech." This is a short-and-sweet idea pitch that can be made between the first and fourth floors on an elevator. The discipline of framing and pitching a story in a single sentence can really make an idea pop - make the reader sit up and take notice, and make the author hone in on the heart of the story.

So, what is your story in a single sentence?
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Hamilton-Wenham Public Library loves Nanowrimo. Consider writing YOUR novel here!
http://hwlibrary.org/Nanowrimo.html

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Halloween

slauderdale — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:39:48 +0000

This isn't so much 'WriMo-related as fun/curiosity. Do y'all have any Halloween plans?

Conversely, if you are catching this thread after October 31st: What did you do for Halloween?
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Hamilton-Wenham Public Library loves Nanowrimo. Consider writing YOUR novel here!
http://hwlibrary.org/Nanowrimo.html

USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Any Write-Ins Planned?

andover — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:28:17 +0000

Hey North Shore Writers,

I can't tell from the various posts on the message board whether or not any write-ins are planned. Wondering if any one is thinking about meeting at a specific time/place. Or are we all planning to work at home or wherever on our own? I thought it might be fun to meet at a local library or Borders or similar on, say, Sunday afternoons to write and maybe discuss our progress.

Thank you for your replies!

John in Andover
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USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore

Young Writers Event at Beverly Public Library

e minor — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:01:59 +0000

Hi Folks-

My name is Emily and I am the Head of Children's Services at the Beverly Public Library. If you know any elementary age writers who are looking for events I have planned two write-ins for kids here in our children's room. Thursday, 11/5/09 at 3:30PM and 11/12/09 at 3:30PM. No registration is required. I'll have copies of the Young Novelist's Workbook available for inspiration along with some snacks. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to all!

http://www.beverlypubliclibrary.org/kids/

nichols@noblenet.org

Thanks!
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