Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

[STICKY] The All-Ireland Word War (Rules & Sign-ups)

farfalla — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:43:27 -0700

For the past couple of years, we've run an All-Ireland Word War, which pits province against province (plus Dublin as its own group because there's so many of them).

And despite the fact that Onyva has helped Connaught to a storming win both times, we're going to have another go this year at boosting people's word counts with a bit of healthy and friendly competition - and perhaps this year another group can win... (Well, we can dream.)

The rules are pretty simple - in fact, even simpler this year than in the past.

To take part, reply to this topic or send me a NaNoMail declaring your interest and stating which group (Connaught, Leinster, Munster, Ulster or Dublin) you want your word count to contribute to. You don't have to sign up for the province you live in; it can be the one you're originally from. But you'd probably want to have some sort of connection, else why bother?
Unlike in previous years, the cut-off date for sign-ups isn't till 10pm GMT on November 23rd (it's been more like the 5th before).
During November, update your word count at least every other day. Anyone who doesn't update for more than 4 days on the trot, or else warn me that they won't be updating, gets dropped from their group.
I'll log everyone's word counts every 2 days, starting on the 6th - usually about 10pm. I'll then do some quick maths (or get my spreadsheet to do it) and post up the averages for each group (i.e. total word count divided by number of signed-up participants).
In the last week - from the 24th onwards - I'll take word counts every day.
ADDED 20/11: The cut-off for voluntary drop-outs is 10pm GMT on November 26th. Likewise, I will stop dropping people after that date - in other words, if you're still in on my Nov 26th leader board update, you're in till the end.
The winning group is the one with the highest average word count by midnight on November 30th. An honourable mention also goes to the group with the highest percentage of people reaching 50K or more. And of course, we cheer everyone who passes the 50K post as it happens!

Also in the past, we've had separate topics/threads for sign-ups, results and chat, all of which have been locked after a certain point except for the chat one. But this year I can't be bothered with all that, although the leader board will have its own topic - have your say wherever you please! :)
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Municipal Liaison for Northern Ireland
WriMo Ireland - the place for all WriMos in Ireland - visit the chat room!

Europe :: Ireland :: Dublin

The All-Ireland Word War - Final Results

farfalla — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 04:28:47 -0800

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the Word War and reached 50k; commiserations but well done anyway to anyone who wrote anything at all.
Everyone who was still in the WW at the end (except for one person) made their 50k - even people who were so far behind for a while that I never expected them to! In addition, a total of four people who'd been dropped out of the WW also reached their 50k (and far beyond, in a couple of cases).

Here are the various results...

Average Word Counts - Finishers
[Taken as an average over all participants for a region who 'finished' the WW, whether or not they reached 50k.]

Connacht: (3 participants): 73,348
Dublin: (15 participants): 61,645
Munster: (8 participants): 57,897
Ulster: (13 participants): 56,083
Leinster: (7 participants): 51,630

Overall (46 participants): 58,600
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Average Word Counts - All
[Taken as an average over all WW participants for a region.]

Munster: (10 participants): 49,726
Dublin: (20 participants): 48,739
Leinster: (11 participants): 42,209
Ulster: (26 participants): 38,779
Connacht: (7 participants): 38,290

Overall (74 participants): 43,414
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% of 50k Winners
[Taken as an average over all WW participants for a region, and counts 50k winners even if they were dropped out of the WW.]

Munster: (10 participants; 8 winners): 80%
Leinster: (11 participants, 8 winners): 72.73%
Dublin: (20 participants; 14 winners): 70%
Ulster: (26 participants, 16 winners): 61.54%
Connacht: (7 participants, 3 winners): 42.86%

Overall (74 participants, 49 winners): 66.22%
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Exceptional Word Counts

Connacht: Onvya - 119,123
Dublin: brendanstamp - 150,128; Mamo - 105,624; orla_h - 80,887
Leinster: Deccydiva - 58,709
Munster: scribbler65 - 86,474; frosthearted - 72,217
Ulster: Yoggie - 74,679; farfalla - 70,545; Lady Liadan (non-finisher) - 66,651; Magikal Wisdom (non-finisher) - 63,539; Nickywal - 61,938

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Skin-of-the-Teeth Winners
These are people who deserve a special mention for putting in huge efforts on their last day in order to reach 50k (these are approximate values):
- paperdollx (Ulster) - 9k
- AetherLev (Munster) - 7.5k
- CiBaSeNo (Connacht) & seoidin (Munster) - almost 6k each
- inuitmonster (Dublin) - 5.5k
- dbolger (Leinster) - 5k
---

All Final Finishers

Connacht: CiBaSeNo, Onvya & Spiritwolf
Dublin: abreezyweek, Arabwel, brendanstamp, dbuffini, inuitmonster, katemac, katie_n, ludraman, Mamo, Molly Child, orla_h, par5score2, paul-carroll, secretly-broken & XxPureChaosxX
Leinster: dbolger, Deccydiva, geraldinehalpin, Heritagewoman, NiamhR, norma74 & sharkface
Munster: AetherLev, BarbinIreland, frosthearted, JenJensen, neonlemmings, scribbler65, seoidin & zarkia
Ulster: Bee82, clareo, Dominica McGowan, farfalla, GerardDeMayne, JayElleBee, Larys, MaidM, Nickywal, paperdollx, SaraLM, xWallflower & Yoggie

And a nod to those who got their 50k but didn't finish the WW: Alakata, Lady Liadan, Magikal Wisdom (all Ulster) & Raven_From_The_Ice (Leinster)
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Municipal Liaison for Northern Ireland
WriMo Ireland - the place for all WriMos in Ireland - visit the chat room!

Europe :: Northern Ireland

Cork TGIO party?

JenJensen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:04:44 -0800

I haven't been able to gather on Sunday with the rest of you, but I'd love to meet everyone at a TGIO party. And since everyone will be madly typing on Sunday the 30th, how about Monday night the 1st? A pub? My house in Kinsale? Anyone else's house?
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

Regional Word War Leader Table Update

Loriba — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 04:46:40 -0800

Hi,

Thought I'd start a new thread for posting when updates have taken place as it's easier to just cross-post across all the participating forums.

The results from the 4th November have been calculated and can be found here:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3095947#comment-3239799

If anyone sees any mistakes (and there were several in the last one) please PM me to let me know. :)
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*Hugs*
Lottie
ML for Europe::England:: Cambridge
http://www.nanowrimo.org/mlcontact
2005: Dreaming of Jack - 83k+; 2006: An Ordinary World - 84k+; 2007: Rising Angels, Falling Apes - 121k; 2008 - White Shadows - ??.

Europe :: England :: Brighton

The All-Ireland Word War (Leader Board)

farfalla — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 14:06:26 -0800

Results for Thursday November 6th
Overall average for everyone: 8,113
Ideal goal for today: 10,000

Munster:8,991
9 writers: AetherLev, ainja, BarbinIreland, frosthearted, JenJensen, neonlemmings, Rodnox, scribbler65 & seoidin
Dublin: 8,789
18 writers: abreezyweek, Arabwel, brendanstamp, dbuffini, inuitmonster, katemac, katie_n, Mamo, marvola, Molly Child, nycelle, orla_h, paul-carroll, Phantomphreak, Scrowubit, secretly-broken, xparawhorextwerdx & XxPureChaosxX
Ulster: 7,893
20 writers: Alakata, Becky Creighton, Bee82, Burmbabright, clareo, danny_pongo, farfalla, gingercatlady, JayElleBee, Magikal Wisdom, MaidM, Nickywal, Rapskallion, SaraLM, skavager, somestrangeflea, thesneakybandit, xWallflower, Yoggie & Zadien
Leinster: 7,569
11 writers: Darcy Raven, dbolger, Deccydiva, geraldinehalpin, Heritagewoman, Lapsarienne, NiamhR, Raven_from_the_Ice, sharkface, Spyral & zarkia
Connacht: 6,735
7 writers: CiBaSeNo, clara86, crowley., Onyva, RedCrayon, sleepyhedgehog & Spiritwolf

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Due to be dropped unless they update their word count or contact me: BarbinIreland, Burmabright, gingercatlady & Scrowubit
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Municipal Liaison for Northern Ireland
WriMo Ireland - the place for all WriMos in Ireland - visit the chat room!

Europe :: Ireland :: Dublin

We dare you....

farfalla — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 15:07:54 -0800

Last year, we dared people to include pumpkins in their novels, and quite a lot of people managed it.

This year, we were pondering in the chat room when we realised it has is an excellent ninja emoticon. But ninjas as part of NaNoWriMo are just /so/ overdone...
So how about including ninjas, pirates, robots /and/ monkeys in your novel?!

You don't have to have /actual/ ninjas/pirates/robots/monkeys (although Frosthearted reckons she can manage that) - you could have a child's toy or a Halloween costume; alternatively, use them in a nice metaphor or bit of imagery ('he strode across the room like a pirate captain on the deck of his ship').

Go on, have a go at using at least one of them in your novel somewhere. Bonus points for all four!

And post your efforts here... :)

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Municipal Liaison for Northern Ireland
WriMo Ireland - the place for all WriMos in Ireland - visit the chat room!

Europe :: Northern Ireland

Ceeeeeelebrate good times Cmon!

AetherLev — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:05:06 -0800

I did it. 50k is mine.

*giggles hysterically*

Honk if you won Nanowrimo!
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

California Gold County Writer seeks Over-the-Pond Writing Buddy

writeherenow — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:08:51 -0800

My novel, Breathing Out, is about the vicissitudes of a 12 year old tomboy who lives with her parents in a Tibetan Buddhist community out in the mountains. Realizing that the truth of her parents happiness lies in their separating because of of constant fighting , she sets out to facilitiate their splitting up. But then a fat ,new Brazilian-Chinese guru arrives and declares her to be the reincarnation of her dead spiritual master.

I'd be glad to exchange readings with anyone.

I am a 59 year old male with a family who has a day job teaching management seminars. I have no Irish blood whatsoever, though I am told one end of my sexual preference genes is green.

Roger Kent
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

Validating your novel

farfalla — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:13:53 -0800

As you should all know by now, the official word count validator is now available - go to My NaNoWriMo > Edit Novel Info, and paste your novel into the box to get your official certificate and turn your word count a nice shade of purple!

You can keep adding words after validating; either manually in that nice box at the top, or by pasting your novel through the validator again.

Validation ends at 11:59pm on Sunday November 30th - remember to set your time zone correctly (My NaNoWriMo > Edit User Settings).

But what, I hear you cry, if I hand-wrote my entire novel? Or what if I hand-wrote parts and haven't typed them up yet and don't think I'll have time to do so?
Well, all is not lost. Count up your handwritten words (which will take a while, admittedly) or even better, get someone else to do it for you.
Then go to a random text generator such as the one on http://www.lipsum.com/ (Lorem Ipsum's home page), and generate the correct number of random words. Save these into a file which you can then paste into the validator.
And Bob's your uncle - one winner's certificate, congratulations!
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Municipal Liaison for Northern Ireland
WriMo Ireland - the place for all WriMos in Ireland - visit the chat room!

Europe :: Northern Ireland

The NaNo Soundtrack

seoidin — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:07:09 -0700

Music is a huge part of my writing process and I make playlists for whatever's happening in my story. In fact a lot of my NaNo story for this year has been inspired by "To Build a Home" by the Cinematic Orchestra (here! http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=QB0ordd2nOI) and "Atlantic" by Keane (ici! http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=ap62TFaxrVc)

Do you use music as inspiration while your write or do you prefer silence? Earphones or speakers? What are your favourite writing songs? =D

<3
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

have broken 40k

BarbinIreland — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:57:24 -0800

yeah me!

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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

1.5 Million Words!

frosthearted — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:30:19 -0800

Congratulations to everybody writing for the mysterious sea of Ireland::Elsewhere for accumulating a very grand total of over one and a half million words so far this NaNo! Well done everybody - it's fantastic to see how much we are achieving.

Now.... do you think we can make it to two million? :P

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"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
Douglas Adams

Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

Helping NaNo

frosthearted — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:17:02 -0800

Hey guys,

As you all know, NaNo can only run every year thanks to the generous donations of the writers who participate. The goal this year is to raise $550K but as of yet they have only managed to raise a little under half this amount. NaNo run amazing programs to get kids involved in writing and all the money raised goes back into that, the servers, the website, the goodies that you get from your MLs, etc.

I want to encourage everybody to make a donation if they can. I know that financial times are pretty woeful right now and not everybody can afford to give something to NaNo. The smallest donation can make a difference though - you can donate as little as $10 and that's only a few euro! People who donate get sent a few stickers/postcards as a thank you (if they wish) and everybody loves stickers. Or make a purchase in the shop - they have nice posters and t-shirts and other lovely goodies - and the profit they get will help too.

There is only a week left for them to raise enough money to ensure that NaNo can continue next year. If you think you would like to participate in this wonderful event again at that time, please consider making a small donation to the cause.

Thanks,
Frostie

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"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
Douglas Adams

Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

validator gives drastic cut in word count!

JenJensen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:14:10 -0800

Has anybody else tried pasting their novel in the recently-opened validation box? I put in what MS Word counts as 38,165 words, and the validator cut it to 34,754! I expected some change one way or another, but that's ridiculous! Is it better for anyone else?
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

UK & Ireland Word War Banter

farfalla — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:23:44 -0700

The slagging takes place here - intra-Ireland as well as with all them on the other side of the water.

[Note - this topic is cross-posted to Dublin, Elsewhere, and Northern Ireland.]
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Municipal Liaison for Northern Ireland
WriMo Ireland - the place for all WriMos in Ireland - visit the chat room!

Europe :: Northern Ireland

anybody writing SciFi?

JenJensen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:27:35 -0800

I was browsing online (yes, procrastinating) and got led to an interview with two sci-fi writers who use NaNo each year to do the first draft. Here's the link, and be sure to scroll down to the comments--there's one from one of their publishers inviting other WriMo's to submit.

http://io9.com/5087341/two-science-fiction-writers-share-their-30+day-no...

Pass this to other forums if it's worth it.
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

10 days in and I finally . . .

JenJensen — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:32:51 -0800

10 days in and I finally am learning to turn off the internal editor. Wordy junk comes out half the time, and I'm actually letting it. And not going back and editing a sentence in the previous paragraph. Success! Still can't seem to let the typos go, though.

How about you? Especially for newbies like me, what's different now than a week ago? And for old hands at WriMo, have you conquered anything this time around?

Inquiring (and procrastinating) minds want to know.
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

Online chat and word sprints

farfalla — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 14:51:17 -0700

There's a chat room in existence for the use of all WriMos in Ireland.
http://writers.sharp-words.co.uk/chat-room/

You do need to register (for the chat room, not for the website unless you want to post comments on the site), but it's relatively painless.

There's also a timer which can be used for word sprints - for example, set it to 10 minutes and see how much you can write! You can have word wars with other chat room occupants using this timer too (although nothing is automated, alas).

I'll personally be in the chat room every evening when I'm home (and weekend days too) if anyone has any pressing questions (and the site's playing up), and to take part in general chat and word sprints as well!
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Municipal Liaison for Northern Ireland
WriMo Ireland - the place for all WriMos in Ireland - visit the chat room!

Europe :: Northern Ireland

Urgh. I'm off to a bad start

BarbinIreland — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 08:06:31 -0800

Sorry Munster!

Had just finished writing a Halloween Story on Halloween and had nothing prepared for nano. Am trying to catch up with basic outline but falling far behind.
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

I miss...

seoidin — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 12:53:08 -0800

I miss T.V. I'm not going to lie. I miss it.

And for some reason I decided to give up chocolate/junk food for the duration of NaNoWriMo. So I miss that too.

:(
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

General Question for all Irish Nano'ers

lmizutani — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 21:24:26 -0800

Ok, everyone can jump in on this one.

If you had to choose a place to avoid at absolutely all costs, where would that be? The only criteria is that this place has to be *somewhere* in Ireland (although it could be in *mythical* Ireland as well as *physical* Ireland). I'm planning to have a character make a wrong turn and end up there.

Conversely,

If you had to choose one place or activity that would allow the truth of the phrase "When in Ireland do as the Irish do" where/what would that be? Personally, when I travel in general I want to act like a local if at all possible.

This should make at least two diary entries... :-)
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

West of Ireland?

GoatsGoToHell — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 15:47:54 -0800

Anyone from the West? I'm from Mayo and I'm feeling rather lonely. And there seem to be no Meetings planned for Galway/Mayo/Roscommon etc. If there are enough of us on here we should plan one, yeah?

I'm Nadine, by the way - and good luck to all of you! =)
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

Anyone out there from Waterford?

twoblindgoats — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 08:44:21 -0800

I'm living near Annestown. Got a late start only discovered NaNo on the third but I'm on target and absolutely loving it! If there's anyone who wants to connect, gimme a shout. Although when we would have time for such frivolities if we are to get our 50 000 words done is anybody's guess! My website is www.higgledypiggledy.info
Carole
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Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

What are you writing about this year ?

Larys — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:23:57 -0700

C'mon guys, I'm curious ;)

(I shamelessly stole this template from the French board but you don't have to follow it.)

Title : Red Hot Moon (after the Rancid song - it's a working title, so it might change soon)
Genre: Gothic-Punk/Urban fantasy (with a wee dash of horror and gangster)
Main Characters : Rory Madden and his brother Callum
Secondary Characters: Lee, Diane, Eddie Morgan, a crime-fighting werewolf pack and his alpha, and a lot of other supernatural and plain human people I haven't developped yet...

Summary : Rory and his little brother Callum are kidnapped by a street gang on a full-moon night and soon discover their kidnappers are just like Rory - werewolves. The pack have given themselves the mission to defend their territory against crime and supernatural threats. Every month, they kidnap a criminal who has evaded justice and hunt him in the woods until they kill him. That month's victim was the boys' father - a drug dealer who had the bad idea to operate in the wrong area.
The pack decide to adopt both boys but treat them very harshly - Rory is entrusted dirty jobs, while Callum does household chores and is used as punchbag until they know he's one of them (he'll be killed otherwise).
Rory develops hatred towards the pack alpha and plans to make his way to the top, hoping to get revenge for him and his brother - and also the love of a female packmate. But the road to power is, as everyone knows, a tough one - especially in a world where the supernatural exists and where its denizens are gifted by lethal powers that can kill you more quickly or drive you mad...

I wrote a more detailed outline in my LJ (http://minamzi.livejournal.com).

Pourquoi écrivez-vous cette histoire en particulier pour le NaNo ?

I actually wrote another werewolf story last year and, although I haven't edited much of it, I couldn't get the story, the characters and the universe out of my head so I didn't really feel like starting a whole new story. Instead, I picked a character from the 2007 project (Rory Madden) and decided to write his story. I've grown very fond of Rory but didn't find the time to develop him more, so I'll devote the whole of november to him.
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2007 : [House of Wolves] (30,050)
2008 : [Red Hot Moon] (50,541 - WINNER !)
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~ The Unquiet Mind
http://minamzi.livejournal.com

Europe :: Ireland :: Elsewhere

Southeastern Nano-ers?

Raven_From_The_Ice — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 03:15:22 -0800

I was just wondering if anyone else in Ireland::Elsewhere is coming from the southeast, as most posters are from the Munster region from what I can gather...it'd be nice to know I wasn't representing a compass point all by myself *gulps*
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Because not everything in life is always black and white.