Iowa has 4 region settings: Central, Iowa City, Sioux City, and Elsewhere. Elsewhere covers a lot of territory but I think some of us located in the hinterlands feel a bit left out when the forum is dominated by city writers in the Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, etc.
Maybe next year we could have a rural setting for each state?
If that's too much to ask, what about a rural setting for each country? Just one for the US and rural writers could commiserate or rejoice together in their isolation?
The point is a lot of the posts are about getting together in coffee houses, for write-a-thons, etc.---all sorts of events that are unavailable to those living in areas without a coffee house or those living far afield from another NaNo.
Sorry to post this here, but there's no real place to post it within the region threads.
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Some of my translations have been published and I write a weekly book column for my local newspaper but no other wordy effort has equalled the thrill of pinning down 50,000 word for the 2006 NaNo.
60,054 / 50,000
Nov 24, 2007 - 15 13
Actually, the place to post this is in the Suggestions forum. :) I'll ask Cybele to move it there.
The way regions are set up is simple: They get created as MLs volunteer to lead them, although many don't get their own regional forum right away... it depends on the size of the region. A small region of around 5 or 10 people would probably still be in the elsewhere forum.
Elsewhere regions are created to cover all of those areas that don't warrant their own forum, or don't have an ML to lead them.
There's nothing stopping non-ML folks from organizing write-ins and other meetings at their own chosen locations... you don't have to have them at coffee houses! People just tend to use coffee houses because they are sitter-friendly, have coffee (a must for any writing session) and often offer wireless internet access.
----------Heather
Forums Moderator
51,427 / 50,000
Nov 25, 2007 - 14 10
Actually there is something to stop rural novelists from having write-in etc and that's that we're far apart. With gas at $3/gal and time precious, including for finishing one's novel so I'll keep this short, there's no way that we can go 50 or 100 miles or more each way just to touch bases with another or a few fellow NaNos..
----------My point was to have a forum online for those who can't get to the events which seem to dominate the Elsewhere thread. It could be nationwide. I'd enjoy communicating with a rural novelist in say Alaska or Oregon or Nevada or You-Name-It, who's isolated from other writers and/or living in a cultural vacuum---as I am---and still managing to keep up the steam of pumping out 50,000 words in 30 days every November.
Some of my translations have been published and I write a weekly book column for my local newspaper but no other wordy effort has equalled the thrill of pinning down 50,000 word for the 2006 NaNo.
60,054 / 50,000
Nov 25, 2007 - 14 45
Usually in December Cybele will set up a forum request sticky, where you can request forums, and discussion will ensue over whether the demand is there for them, and perhaps get them created. Keep an eye out for that, and then suggest it then. :) It's too late in the season for new forum creation for this year, but it might be something that can be added next year.
----------Heather
Forums Moderator
72,308 / 50,000
Nov 27, 2007 - 15 50
I want to make a comment on the rural regions.
I'm isolated in southern Iowa. Very, southern Iowa. An area of small towns and farms.
This is the second year doing Nano, and both years I have been unable to locate fellow Nanoers nearby.
RutaBaker is the closest and we are far enough apart that getting together wouldn't be practical.
I met one Nanoer in person this year, and she happened to stop by my bookstore and saw my winners certificate. She was from Arkansas.
Anything that can make us Nanoers in very rural areas will be appreciated.
Encouraging rural writers to be more specific about their location would be a big plus. I would do a search and most of the results just say Iowa, with no way to know what part they are in.
Thank you.
----------2006 (Won) Title: I Can't See Myself! -- SciFi/Fantasy -- invisibility
2007 (Won!) Title: The Amber Pendant -- SciFi/Fantasy -- Time Travel Murder Mystery
0 / 50,000
Jan 24, 2008 - 13 35
Yes -- I completely agree. I am in rural central Iowa and the nearest get togethers are over 50 miles away. Iowa is predominately rural, and the cities are at the extreme east and west borders of the state. That leaves us rural folk in the middle with very little support. I am new to NaNo this year, but I would love it if a rural forum could be established so that those of us in the rural isolation could at least garner online support from others involved in the frenzy.