Like a handful of other people from the meetings, I'm thinking of sharing my novel once it's finished and edited etc. However, we who are continuing to write may still like some support/suggestions/solutions/s-words from the group here and it'd be nice, too, to know when and where people's NaNo novels will be available for public consumption. Therefore, anyone who's sticking around for a bit before life whisks us in our separate ways again for another year - hi :) Let's keep things going until we're writing "The End."
First up for suggestions: I believe that gekk is still looking for a title for his novel.
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100,046 / 50,000
Dec 3, 2007 - 15 17
No suggestions for a title, but always keep a notebook and pen on you at all times because you never know when that perfect title (or sentence or character name, etc) hits you.
Started editing mine today. Wow, is it ever painful to read. No use of contractions, unnecessary adverbs and adjectives all over the place... you all would have CRIED if you had to read it. Hopefully it will turn out better after all the editing and rewriting. When? I'm aiming for by October 31st, 2008. ;)
50,843 / 50,000
Dec 3, 2007 - 16 07
I am letting mine sit for a few months, then I will go back and edit/re-write/fill gaps etc. I don't like looking at something too soon after I have written it because I see what I thought I wrote, rather than the actual words.
50,170 / 50,000
Dec 3, 2007 - 17 00
I've started some simple tidying up. Putting bits in the right chronological sequence.
As for my title, I'll keep turning words over in my mind. I don't expect anyone else to be able to come up with the title, of course, but if anyone has some tricks for thinking of titles, please share!
Thanks to you all for being part of the fun of Nano. I thought it was great.
~ Richard (gekk)
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 3, 2007 - 18 12
Hey, nice to see some people sticking around :)
I wrote over 2500 words today, yay. Good way to spend the evening with this stormy, stormy weather that's supposed to continue tomorrow. It's so nice to be moving the plot along again, finally. I have the next bit in mind but after that I haven't yet worked out where things are going, though I'm sure it will come to me. Possibly during work ;) Words are failing me after the writing though, and possibly because I'm getting sleepy from too much hot chocolate...
50,107 / 50,000
Dec 3, 2007 - 22 26
I thought Hot Chocolate was supposed to help keep you awake? o_O
Anywho... a friend of mine (aptly named Jenn lol) has agreed to give me a beta. I can just imagine what she'll think as she's reading through it. "Laura, this makes no sense, rewrite it!"
If anybody wants to read my novel (in all its craptasticness xD), the link is in my profile. Mind you, it's only the draft but... I'll get her edited eventually! But yeah, I'm all for sticking around for a little bit in the forum. You can leave some of your thoughts as well as I think the anonymous posting is turned on... But if I'm wrong, there's always email and nanomail!
Say Gekk, when is the next meeting of that London Writers Society thingamajig? I might go to the next meeting if someone wants to throw me a bone. 8DDb
50,170 / 50,000
Dec 4, 2007 - 09 14
Responding to Jaelyn's question, here's the latest news about the London Writers Society. You can find out more at http://londonwriters.ca/index.php.
~ Richard (gekk)
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LONDON WRITERS' SOCIETY DECEMBER SCHEDULE
Dear Writers,
Our next FICTION CRITIQUE is this coming Wednesday, December 5th at 7 p.m.
See our entire December schedule below.
FICTION - THE FIRST AND THIRD WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH
Next: December 5th & December 19th
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: Ruth Zavitz's home:
58 Raywood Avenue
London, Ontario N6C 1Y5
For those who will be coming by bus: The Kipps Lane/Thompson Road bus stops at the corner of Raywood and Trevithen and the Wellington bus stops at the end of this street.
Maximum 5 pages double-spaced. (Bring 5 to 8 copies to share. It's okay to print on both sides)
NON-FICTION - THE SECOND THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH:
Next: Thursday, December 13th
Time: 7:30 pm
Where: the home of Katherine and Scott Garson:
310 Dundas Street
Suite 1701
London, Ontario N6B 3R6
The Garsons live just down the street from the Central Library, on the opposite
side. Their building has a security system. You will have to look up their last
name (Garson) when you get into the lobby, pick up the lobby phone, and dial
the four-digit phone number listed. One of them will pick up, say hello, and buzz
you through. They're on the 17th floor.
Maximum 6 pages double-spaced. (Bring 5 to 8 copies to share. It's okay to print
on both sides)
POETRY CRITIQUE - THE FOURTH THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH
Next: Thursday, December 27th, 2007
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: 2nd floor of the Central Branch of the London Public Library, 251 Dundas St.,
London, ON N6A 6H9 (Check with the information desk on the 2nd floor to be
pointed in the right direction.)
Bring 2 poems. We'll go around the circle twice, time permitting.
(If you like poetry and would like to learn more about how to critique poetry,
I recommend Molly Peacock's How to Read a Poem and Start a Poetry Circle.)
There will be NO GENERAL MEETING AT THE CENTRAL LIBRARY IN DECEMBER.
In lieu of our general meeting you're invited to our first annual:
LONDON WRITERS' SOCIETY HOLIDAY PARTY
When: Thursday, December 20, 2007
Time: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Where: The London City Press Club, 379 Dundas Street, London, ON N6B 1V5.
The phone number there is (519) 645-8253.
Historically a private club/bar for journalists employed by The London Free Press,
The London City Press Club sells beer, wine, sodas, coffee and tea, but does
not serve food, so please bring your favourite hors d'oeuvres or snacks to share.
We'll have a microphone set up so you can read your holiday poems, flash fiction,
limericks, brief non-fiction, etc. Sign up when you arrive.
We're also going to have a drawing in which you'll have the opportunity to win a free
year's membership in LWS.
Here's the deal:
If you read something (at the mike) that you wrote (no matter how short) you'll get
a free ticket for the raffle. If you don't read, but still want a want a chance to win the
free membership, then you'll have to pony up a loonie for a ticket.
If you haven't paid your membership dues yet, this is a chance to win a membership.
If you have paid your dues and you win the drawing, you can 1) use the certificate to
renew your membership for next year, 2) give the membership to another writer as a
gift, or 3) get a refund of the dues you already paid for this year.
FINDING THE PRESS CLUB AND PARKING:
If you've never been there, the Press Club is kind of hidden away. If you were
driving East on Dundas from downtown, you'd turn right on Colbourne and see
it in the plaza to your right, in the corner, next to the tiny little min-mart. The
plaza is dominated by the Residence Inn by Marriott and most of the parking
there belongs to Marriott. Therefore, you will very likely have to find parking
either on Colbourne, King or on another neighbouring street.
50,107 / 50,000
Dec 8, 2007 - 16 39
Thank you! =D
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 9, 2007 - 07 30
So how's everybody doing? I'm just shy of 60,000 words as of my writing yesterday, and spending plenty of my free time doing lovely other things that I neglected during November. Not sure where my story is going after this bit, but unlike last year, I feel no great anxiety about that because I've found that the thing just writes itself so long as I stick with it, yay.
Anyone got updates or are y'all still on break from writing? Also, I found the word 'purlieus' and think it would be fun in a title ;)
50,107 / 50,000
Dec 12, 2007 - 21 20
I asked a friend if she'd help me with editing and all that jazz so that's a good plus for me! :D I also started to flesh out my story a bit. It'll be easier to go chapter by chapter because there's so many of them. But with Christmas coming along I have to help get everything ready for my relatives and work is eating my brain. I'm hanging in there though! ^_^
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 14, 2007 - 14 39
Yay, added 10,000 more words to my listed word count. Sadly, that took 2 weeks, whereas during NaNo I could've done it in 5-6 days. Productivity plummets when you don't have a daily quota to meet.
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 18, 2007 - 05 12
I'm getting the vibe that soon I'm going to be talking to myself here, if I'm not already ;)
Think I've finally got an idea of how to end this novel and I'm getting impatient to finish it and get to editing. Trouble is trying to fit writing in when I've got a stack of Christmas cards waiting to be finished and a definite deadline on those. Can't wait for the end of this holiday madness and some quality down time ahead.
50,170 / 50,000
Dec 18, 2007 - 06 57
You're not talking to yourself! I'm taking time off from writing my Nano novel, but I'm trying to write a short Christmas piece for the London Writers' Society's Christmas party.
Merry Christmas to all!
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 19, 2007 - 05 15
That's cool - what's your Christmas story going to be about?
50,843 / 50,000
Dec 19, 2007 - 19 22
I have been writing over at worth, but I seem to have fried a few brain cells and my stuff isn't as good as pre-NaNo. That supports my decision to leave Generation Gap for a bit. I will go back to The Unenchanted Princess in the new year. (That's a novel I wrote for my wife and finished in October. I will likely pick up GG in the summer, by then it will be distant enough for me to do some real brutal work on it.
50,588 / 50,000
Dec 19, 2007 - 21 36
I'm suffering through a phase of spectacular stuckness right now. After that amazing November, it's really frustrating.
I tried to write a short story for MouseyCat for her birthday, and got nowhere. Bought her No Plot, No Problem instead--and there was much rejoicing!
I guess I'll concentrate on holiday preparations for now.
After that JaNoWriMo, here I come! (Yes, I know I'm crazy. I catch it from my kids.)
50,170 / 50,000
Dec 19, 2007 - 22 45
It's about Christmas on Mars. It's only a few pages, more like a short tale than a story.
52,106 / 50,000
Dec 21, 2007 - 11 56
I'm caught up in the Christmas machine and haven't looked at my NaNo novel since November 31st but it is still percolating in the back of my mind. I've yet to finish the ending. Nice to hear how everyone else is doing. About the only thing I've written in the last month are press releases for my dayjob. But the New Year is always a good time for buckling down again.
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 25, 2007 - 20 53
Happy Christmas everyone :)
I've also hit 76,000 words and finally reached the denouement, I think. I'm really looking forward to editing but now that it's coming down to the end, I'm kinda sad to leave my characters, who've been keeping me company for a good two months now. I guess I can always write a sequel, right?
50,170 / 50,000
Dec 26, 2007 - 20 02
Wow, I'm impressed you stuck with it through December. But I don't think you have to leave your characters. Won't they be there when you edit?
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 27, 2007 - 16 37
Curse you, double-posting! Even as an ML in November I never did find the option to delete posts. At least I can edit...
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 27, 2007 - 16 34
Yes, they will. Unless I axe a few of them from the final draft, muahaha! (moment of megalomania there)
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 28, 2007 - 06 34
Finally I can say that I finished my first draft, yay! It now sits at 79,060 words and I'm curious to see how much longer or shorter it gets with editing. But I'm going to take a couple days off before I start that ;)
50,170 / 50,000
Dec 28, 2007 - 09 51
Congratulations!
I trust you know most advice about editing suggests taking at least a few weeks off (not days) after finishing the first draft? For me at least, that's good advice, and so I've been leaving my draft alone until January.
54,106 / 50,000
Dec 28, 2007 - 23 07
Thanks :) Weeks, eh? I guess I could, but playing with my story gives me something productive to do and it's not like I mean to go get it published or something. Though I would've loved that free copy of your NaNo novel thing if Lulu had done it again this year; just my luck that when I write something I like, the offer's off the table.
Ah well...looking forward to relaxing for a few days before the end of the holidays. Hope you guys are all enjoying them too :)
54,106 / 50,000
Jan 4, 2008 - 20 44
Hope you all had a good holiday - I took a few days off and have now begun editing my novel. The sad thing is that it's proving to be far less enjoyable than I imagined it would be and I'm not sure why - it seemed so enticing while I was writing the darned thing. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll get better.
Oh, and hilariously, my store got 2 copies of the No Plot? No Problem! Writer's Kit thing today for a mere $7.99 each, but I refrained from purchasing one because it's not currently useful and who knows if I'll be an ML again next year, which is the only thing I'd use it for. No word from the library (though I haven't checked lately) about my suggestion that they order a copy of the actual No Plot? No Problem! book. It'd be nice if we had one available to borrow for people who do it next year.
Anyway, just checking in with those of you who are still hanging around - anyone out there?
54,106 / 50,000
Jan 20, 2008 - 13 42
Well, the first go at editing is done. 83,541 words, yay.
100,046 / 50,000
Jan 20, 2008 - 14 37
I'm still around! I've been bouncing between numerous stories, including my Nanos from 2006 and 2005. The Iceland one will be turned into a short story. I think it'll work better that way. I've no idea when that one will be finished enough to share. ;)
50,170 / 50,000
Jan 20, 2008 - 19 09
I've started to work again on the novel I wrote in November. Strangely, I haven't gone back and read that draft through from beginning to end. Instead, I've written notes about the characters and their situations, and I've read books to research relevant topics. There's still a lot to work out.
It's nice to get an occasional note from the members of our NaNo group. Let's check in via this forum every few weeks at least.
Gekk (Richard)
50,588 / 50,000
Jan 21, 2008 - 08 05
I'm still around. My NaNo novel is on the back burner right now, while I'm working on a historical romance set in beautiful 1880s London, Ontario. The Victoria boat disaster is a pivotal plot point. Wish me luck.
17,827 / 50,000
Jan 22, 2008 - 18 53
I'm here! Not working on my Nano novel so much as working on various other small projects that may never get finished. ^^ I'd really like to flesh out my characters from Nano'07, but I somehow can't see them in the situations I set up for them in my novel. I can barely see them in the same world any more! So I've shoved my Nano novel to the side, as always. Only this time, I actually intend to come back to it.
If I get anything done with it (or even with the characters) in the times when I just write a tiny little scene written out, or jot a note down about something, that's good enough for me. For now. :)