Those lucky schmucks in the Bay Area get a NaNoWriMo retreat. Why shouldn't we have one too? I'm thinking that a weekend getaway for us sometime during the off-season (e.g., non-November) would be a great idea. Some preliminary thoughts:
1. It should be free, or at least very cheap. Our region has a lot of students and people living on what amounts to subsistence wages, and I don't want people to feel excluded just because they can't pay any money for it. This will probably exclude hotel conference rooms and the like (and may even prevent it from being an overnight event), but there are still plenty of options in the area, I'm sure of it. If we do end up with something that will unavoidably cost some money, then we should definitely look into setting up some sort of scholarship fund to help the non-solvent get in. Money should be no object in the way of people getting to write. I feel very strongly about this. The fact that NaNoWriMo is free is one of the reasons why I love it so much.
2. It should be local, and as centrally located as possible. The Sacramento region seems to spread from Auburn to Rocklin to Lodi to Vacaville. By locating the retreat to a central location, we maximize the ability of people to get to it.
3. There should be food and merriment in addition to writing. The focus of the retreat would definitely be sitting on our buts and writing, but there should be socializing opportunities as well. I'm always in favor of potluck events, just because they're cheap and you get exposed to plenty of wonderful foods you might not otherwise encounter (I still dream of those wonderful Oreo truffles from the Meet and Greet).
4. It should be open to all ages. This is something else I feel pretty strongly about; minors and kids should not feel excluded from writing and writing-related events just because of their age. Now, I don't think participants should bring their children, just because kids can be a distraction from writing, but we have at least one writer in our region who is thirteen years old, and I'm sure she's not the only one.
That's all I can come up with off the top of my head. Maybe we could have some group discussions on various topics in addition to the writing sessions.
The more I think about this, the more excited I get about the idea. Give me some feedback, folks! Think we can set one up for 2008?
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Richard Crawford (http://www.mossroot.com)
Publisher and Editor in Chief, Daikaijuzine (http://www.daikaijuzine.com)
81,620 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 10 19
Again, i love the idea of retreat and many of the other things you said in your post, but you're thinking about one outside of nano? So we'd be working on other projects?
Just want to clarify.
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"Try to be one of those people on whom nothing is lost." Henry James
Too bad I have such a bad memory!
175,606 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 10 39
Sounds great to me. I'm in--as long as I have plenty of time to know about it in advance so that I can get the day off of work if necessary.
We could reserve a room at the library--isn't that free? Of course, that means that the hours wouldn't be as flexible. (Or would it? I don't really know anything about the central library except that its has books.) I could get us the conference room at the Fair Oaks branch of the library, but I'm pretty sure that those hours aren't too flexible. I don't know; I'd have to talk to the librarians.
----------Have you heard the news that you're dead?
No one ever had much nice to say.
I think they never liked you anyway.
61,506 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 11 20
Can we have food at the library?
Depending on the size, what about someone's house? I really like the potluck idea. We should bring power food, like Jolt cola (do they still make that) and candy.
----------Jennifer Walker
61,506 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 11 20
Hey! Andros has a purple bar now! 'bout time, ya slacker. ;)
----------Jennifer Walker
175,606 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 11 58
Yes, we can have food at the library. At least we have before. :D
Yeah, I finally scrambled my words and put it in for processing. I'm done!
----------Have you heard the news that you're dead?
No one ever had much nice to say.
I think they never liked you anyway.
50,000 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 13 25
I think it would be fun to have it somewhere besides someone's house. Like a park or something. Yeah, let's all go to a park and have a picnic. Of course, someone will have to bring a generator to power all those laptops.
Or we could have it at a library. That sounds like quite an experience. I'm actually thinking of starting to go to the West Sac library to write.
----------Life + Universe + Everything = 42
51,407 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 13 38
Relaxing and Reveling at the Library...
...can we do beer bongs there, too?
61,506 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 15 07
The park might be a BIT cold this time of year! :)
I'm really liking the library idea.
----------Jennifer Walker
55,160 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 21 39
I like and agree with all four of your points. Here are some other points to consider.
FINDING A DATE FOR THE RETREAT
First, all who are interested should submit a regular e-mail address, especially if they think they might not visit this site and our SacNano posts. That way, they won't miss a post until after they missed the chance to send a reply.
The date should not conflict with any holiday It should be on a weekend because many of us work or attend classes. (There may be some that have to take Saturday classes.)
I suggest making five tentative dates and put them to a vote, with the choices being 1-5, in order of preference. That way we'll find out what suits the most people. If a date creates a conflict for many people, then it shouldn't be considered. The date preferred by most should be announced as soon as possible. All who are interested then should put it on their calendars and commit to it.
I suggest doing a retreat five to seven months from now, or at the very least, no sooner than February. (Dec is NaNoFiMo (finishing), Jan. is JaNoWriMo (another original 50k), March is NaNoEdMo (editing). April is Script Frenzy and our UnNoWriMo.)
Feb seems to be free, and it's the month before NaNoEdMo, which might make it a good time for a retreat.
May and early June are the end of school--too busy.
Last half of June, July, and August are vacation months, which can create some conflicts. But can't most people consider a retreat a working vacation that's fun? September is the start of school.
October is our only breather before NaNoWriMo, but that might be a great month to hold a (second) retreat!
Our co-MLs have the names of all participants in our greater Sacramento area. A nanomail should be composed and sent to everyone to suggest a retreat and to ask for e-mail addresses.
Either in that mailing or later, ask the the WriMoers to vote for their preferred dates.
WHAT CAN WE DO AT THE RETREAT?
This should not be an extended write-in. Some people may not have something to work on and won't want to start. Activities help define a good retreat. Here are a few suggestions for mini-seminars, if we have people who feel they are knowledgeable enough to lead them.
Plot, Scene, Characters, Conflict, Point of View, Beginnings, Middles, and Ends, Editing.... The list could be much longer, or limited to just a few, and not necessarily the ones I suggested.
These are my suggestions. I'm sure Underpope and Katster will appreciate feedback.
51,609 / 50,000
Dec 1, 2007 - 09 52
Actually...library rentals are definitely Not Free. And Not Cheap. And not terribly food-friendly.
Good idea on the e-mails. For the record, but avoiding spambots, mine is my username minus the "full" part, at pacbell.net.
February does sound pretty promising. I wouldn't mind that one. If we skip the 3-day weekend (since that's a holiday), that coudl work.
My work does day retreats (about five hours long) at the end of August every year, and all things considered, that seems to work well. Last year's was at the Sacramento Zoo- this sounds funny, but they did have a building that they let us use for the day. I do not know the cost of any of it, however (I presume the university shelled out). This year's they got 2 back rooms at Bistro 33, which were pretty roomy and had electrical stuff set up, and a nice food spread. I'm not saying we should/have to go there, but I can speak to them working well as "retreat" locations.
As for things to talk about, I know certain folks here did some good talks for WordForge writing group. Maybe they wouldn't mind doing it again?
----------NaNo novel blog: http://fullmoon.typepad.com/nanowrimo/
175,606 / 50,000
Dec 1, 2007 - 11 33
Libraries aren't free? Darn it. Well, if you want me to, I can still talk to the librarian at the branch I volunteered for a couple of summers ago and check out pricing.
----------Have you heard the news that you're dead?
No one ever had much nice to say.
I think they never liked you anyway.
50,833 / 50,000
Dec 2, 2007 - 13 21
We could use the dome house that Lisa (my wife) owns in Shingle Springs.
The house has:
Dale
----------2006: Jeremy Comes Home (winner)
51,609 / 50,000
Dec 2, 2007 - 14 41
Wow, Dale, that sounds...freaking awesome. Well, except the net connection, but eh, I'll survive if I have to.
What is a platymanagoat? Is there a picture of this somewhere?
----------NaNo novel blog: http://fullmoon.typepad.com/nanowrimo/
81,620 / 50,000
Dec 2, 2007 - 14 51
That does sound good, Dale. The lack of internet would probably help some of us, huh?
-------------------------------------------------------
"Try to be one of those people on whom nothing is lost." Henry James
Too bad I have such a bad memory!
50,833 / 50,000
Dec 2, 2007 - 15 15
What is a platymanagoat? Is there a picture of this somewhere?
Half platypus, half manatee, half goat.
There may be pictures somewhere, but they really aren't photogenic.
Dale
----------2006: Jeremy Comes Home (winner)
175,606 / 50,000
Dec 2, 2007 - 16 51
Hey, that sounds cool. And lack of internet is fine with me. :) Even if I complain, I still like having no internet while I type.
----------Have you heard the news that you're dead?
No one ever had much nice to say.
I think they never liked you anyway.
61,506 / 50,000
Dec 2, 2007 - 19 40
Platymanagoats are really camera shy. Almost as bad as the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.
Dale, that sounds awesome.
----------Jennifer Walker
51,609 / 50,000
Dec 3, 2007 - 11 15
Half platypus, half manatee, half goat.
There may be pictures somewhere, but they really aren't photogenic.
That's an awful lot of halves....
----------NaNo novel blog: http://fullmoon.typepad.com/nanowrimo/
50,833 / 50,000
Dec 3, 2007 - 13 26
Half platypus, half manatee, half goat.
There may be pictures somewhere, but they really aren't photogenic.
That's an awful lot of halves....
Yes, the number of halves is odd.
Dale
----------2006: Jeremy Comes Home (winner)
61,506 / 50,000
Dec 4, 2007 - 09 03
Half platypus, half manatee, half goat.
There may be pictures somewhere, but they really aren't photogenic.
That's an awful lot of halves....
Yes, the number of halves is odd.
Dale
You and your fancy math.
Jennifer Walker
----------Jennifer Walker
50,185 / 50,000
Dec 4, 2007 - 09 07
That sounds cool. It all sounds cool, however it works out. I think it's a good idea.
Someone remind me what UnNoWriMo is? What does the Un stand for? What are we supposed to be doing? Who's collecting outside emails? What is the meaning of life? Why do my cats whine all the time? Enquiring minds want to know.
----------There are three types of people in this world: those who can count, and those who can't.
81,620 / 50,000
Dec 4, 2007 - 09 49
Unoffical Novel Wrirting Month to be done in April at the same time as Script Frenzy for those who don't want to write a script.
As to the meaning of life, i think my cat knows but is keeping it a secret to torture me! :)
-------------------------------------------------------
"Try to be one of those people on whom nothing is lost." Henry James
Too bad I have such a bad memory!
51,609 / 50,000
Dec 4, 2007 - 10 07
Honestly, I don't think anyone really knows what is going on with that yet. It is a proposed idea to hold NaNo months sometime in the winter or spring, but no specific months have been outright determined yet.
----------NaNo novel blog: http://fullmoon.typepad.com/nanowrimo/