USA :: California :: Sacramento

[IMPORTANT] Post Mortem

katster — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:00:27 +0000

Yeah, I know, as I write this, November ain't over yet. But we need to start winding things down, and one of the things that needs to happen is the yearly post mortem thread. So here's the thread for that purpose.

Tell Richard and I about this November. Tell us what you liked and what you disliked, what went well and what went awful, and what we, as the MLs, can do to make next November even more awesome for everybody.

If you don't want to do this out here in public, feel free to PM either of us, or you can email me (katster AT retstak DOT org), or you can pull either of us aside at the last write-in or at the TGIO party.

I'll add your comments to the notes I have going.

So let us know your thoughts. Operators are standing by.

-kat

[EDIT: I went and stickied this to the top of the forum, because we could really use the answers. Even if it's simply "yeah, y'all were awesome", it lets us know we're doing something right.]
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

USA :: California :: Sacramento

TGIO Party!

underpope — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:15:15 +0000

UPDATE! The party is at my (Richard's) house, on Sunday, December 6, at 2:00.

Richard's address is:

1865 Discovery Way
Sacramento, CA 95819

Our local TGIO party is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, at 2:00 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we seem to have hit a snag with regards to a venue. Can anybody suggest any place, or does anyone have any connections we can take advantage of?
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Richard Crawford, Sacramento Region Co-ML
Code Monkey by Day, Word Monkey by Night
http://www.mossroot.com/codemonkey

USA :: California :: Sacramento

[sticky] Virtual Write-In and the #sacnano IRC channel

katster — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:47:27 +0000

[Edited to add a Chatzilla FAQ and a link to connect to the channel from Chatzilla.]

Yeah, we're going to try to use some of that new-fangled internet technology to have ourselves a virtual write-in. It'll be held on our regional IRC channel. I hear you asking me how you would get to such a thing, and never fear, I am here to offer some solutions!

For those who know what IRC is and how to get on it, the channel is #sacnano and the server is irc.goodchatting.com.

If you don't know what IRC is, well, there's a couple options to get you on. The easiest would be to access the server via the Java web client, which you can find here: http://www.goodchatting.com/rooms/sacnano.php. Please set a name in the box in the bottom right corner.

If you want an actual client, I'm hearing good things about Chatzilla, an IRC plugin for Firefox. It seems to work for several of our users. Here's a good FAQ on how to use Chatzilla. After you have installed chatzilla, you should be able to access the IRC channel from that link.

If you're on Windows, another option is mIRC. Here's a good guide on using mIRC written by the person who runs the server where our channel is hosted. (She shows how to get into the main #nanowrimo channel, but if you replace #nanowrimo with #sacnano, you'll find us.)

There are of course many other options. If you're having problems, post to this thread or find me, and I'll see what I can do to help.

Our virtual write-in will be 8-11 PM on Wednesdays, but if you want to drop by any time, there's usually a few users in the channel. Feel free to come say hi!

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Attention Bay Area Wrimos!

Tavia Stewart — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:14:34 +0000

We wanted to make sure you all knew about the third-annual NaNoWriMo Night of Writing Dangerously Write-a-thon. This noir-themed noveling event will be held from 5 PM to 11 PM on Sunday, November 22 at the beautiful Julia Morgan Ballroom in downtown San Francisco!

All you need to do to raise $200 in sponsorships through GiftTool from family and/or friends by November 18. And if you raise $300 or more you can bring a guest!

Not only is this a great chance for us to see the faces of those who support us, but all proceeds from the evening make our programs possible, including the classroom-based Young Writers Program. Come show your support this year by helping us reach our $25,000 fundraising goal! The more money you raise, the more tickets you'll get for our prize raffle. Plus, the top fundraisers will walk home with one of our grand prizes. Check out our Night of Writing Dangerously Write-A-Thon 2009 page to find out what this year’s grand prizes include.

Don’t miss your chance to come write with us for six hours surrounded by San Francisco’s city lights and 200 fellow NaNo-novelists typing frantically alongside you!

Already shopping for my Noir costume,

Tavia Stewart-Streit
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USA :: California :: Sacramento

Kidlit contest!

AuntPol — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:39:23 +0000

Hey - there's a contest for all kidlit authors at http://kidlit.com/kidlit-contest/ - the prize is being critiqued by an agent! You might want to check it out.
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USA :: California :: Sacramento

AND THE WINNER IS... (word war final totals)

katster — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:59:07 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, the word has just come down from the replay booth where they have been examing photos of the race and trying to determine the winner, as the race end on the night of November 30th was just too close to call.

And the finish order:

In third place, driving the black and yellow car, Pittsburgh comes in with 9,446,834 words and 353 participants, giving them a grand total of 26,761 words per person. Yay!

And in the photo finish:

Finland, in the blue and white car, managed 11,584,813 words and 397 participants, for a total of 29,181 words per person.

Sacramento, in blue with the Governator's signature across it in gold, managed 12,202,800 words and 418 participants, for a total of 29.193 words per person.

Let me repeat those totals:
Pittsburgh: 26,761 words/person
Finland: 29,181 words/person
Sacramento: 29,193 words/person

The winner, by a MEASLY 12 words per person, is SACRAMENTO, pulling it out in the waning hours of November 30th!

It was a grand month, folks, and my thanks to the Finns and Pittsburghians for playing with us. Rematch next year?

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

Europe :: Finland

Beyond November - on-going writers' groups?

inkedbuddha — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:58:41 +0000

Hi all - Does anyone know of any fiction writers' groups in the Davis or Sacramento area, and in particular, ones that would be open to new members? I've been unsuccessful in trying to track down any.

Thanks!

Tara
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USA :: California :: Sacramento

Totals from Possu the Pig.

katster — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:31:12 +0000

I just counted the take from today's meet and greet, and this is what it was:

$1.00 x 2 = $2.00
$0.25 x 33 = $8.25
$0.10 x 21 = $2.10
$0.05 x 12 = $0.60
$0.01 x 35 = $0.35

for a grand total of $13.30.

This means we've paid for the domain name, and have $1.30 left for Nano. Which means that everything that goes into Possu from this point on will go to NaNoWriMo as a donation from the region.

You guys rock!

I'll keep a running tally in this thread for the month of November.

[btw, Finnish friends, how is Possu pronounced?]

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

USA :: California :: Sacramento

WEDO

confusedLilly — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:10:37 +0000

Hey, I figured I'd help out with NaNoWriMo withdrawals. I made a yahoo group for all the NaNo's (and writers in general) in the Sacramento area. Here's the address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WEDOsacramento
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I write because the world must know these following phrases the way I do:
Piranha Kitten
The Noys
Sand Fleeter
Devion Guide
PROT Guide
Dabble Quencher
Fat Mouse
The Anti-Muse
Devious
and others...

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Word War Updates

katster — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:38:56 +0000

If I've done this right, this should crosspost among all three regional forums that are in a semi-unofficial war with one another. Finland, meet Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, meet Finland. Both of you, meet Sacramento. :)

Basic rules here is the regional average divided by the number of participants. The region that wins gets the warm and fuzzy bragging rights [nearly wrote "writes" there, heh] and the losing regions gets to stew in the cold harsh fact that they weren't good enough to win. (And who knows. There may be more awesome prizes, if we can be bothered to come up with any.)

Anyway, the tale of the tape under the regional tab seems to be that on this, the fifth day of November, the head of our leaderboard goes to....*drum roll please*

FINLAND!

Yes, those plucky Finns are out in front, having a large (but possibly not insurmountable) lead.

Here are the standings:

Finland -- 425 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 42% are new. Wrimos in this region have written 2,022,416 words (5,879 per Wrimo with wordcount) [89th overall in words per wrimo]
Sacramento -- 470 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 45% are new. Wrimos in this region have written 1,526,457 words (5,088 per Wrimo with wordcount) [229th overall in words per wrimo]
Pittsburgh -- 422 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 40% are new. Wrimos in this region have written 1,303,952 words (4,690 per Wrimo with wordcount) [341th overall in words per wrimo]

Or shorter version, with the important numbers:

Finland: 5,879 words per Wrimo
Sacramento: 5,088 words per Wrimo
Pittsburgh: 4,690 words per Wrimo

May this inspire you all to newer and higher wordcounts.

I'll be back on the 10th for a status update.

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

USA :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Purple bar time!

katster — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:29:27 +0000

Oh hey! NaNo's let us have the purple bars now.

Keep writing, everybody, and you can get a purple bar too! And it feels really good!

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Winner's Circle - 50k

tama — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:35:13 +0000

Here's where people shout out when they've completed the 50,000 words!

I hit 50k this evening! Yeah! In ten days!

Too bad the novel isn't done, so I will keep writing and see how many words I can get in the month.

But now, I'm going to go get some food and then go to bed. ( I think I'm getting a cold)

I'll continued on tomorrow!

Good luck everyone!

Go for the win!

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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!

USA :: California :: Sacramento

5,000 word day?!

sesquipedalian2B — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:07:51 +0000

Hey!

I'm guessing that a lot of us are maybe a little behind. I am suggesting a sac area 5,000 word day, at least for those who want to try for 5,000 in a day. Boost your word count and morale, and push us farther on the path to overtaking Finland! Sounds good to me! And if you don't read this today, a 5,000 word thanksgiving (yikes, that'd be tough) or Friday is good, too!

I had a 4,400 word day yesterday~I was booted off the computer as I was trying to get to 5,000. So, I'm trying again today. After all, my word count, while not too bad, could use it.

Who's in?
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J'ecris, donc je suis.

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Good Day Sacramento Again

underpope — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:27:58 +0000

This morning I got a phone call from Good Day Sacramento, and they would like to do a follow up with us this Sunday morning at 8:30. So if you didn't get to be on television the first time we did it, now's your second chance! If you're interested, let me know by sending me a private message or replying in this thread. Or just show up.

I haven't worked out the details for the location yet but I expect it will be at the same place: Temple Coffee on S Street.

Hope to see you all there!
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Richard Crawford, Sacramento Region Co-ML
Code Monkey by Day, Word Monkey by Night
http://www.mossroot.com/codemonkey

USA :: California :: Sacramento

The Last Final Push

katster — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:04:09 +0000

Alright, everybody. For those who desperately need to finish tomorrow (or is already finished, but wants to write a bit more), we're going to get together at Tupelo Coffee at 6:30 on Monday. I'll be there until the coffee shop closes at 11. If anybody needs to verify there but doesn't have wifi, I'm willing to turn my laptop over for long enough to validate.

Hope to see you all there.

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Nov 30th - Last Day Write-in??

tama — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:59:29 +0000

Does anyone to do a write-in Monday night?

I don't know how long people want to be out and write, but I'll be off work off after four and want to at least write a few hours.

I know Temple is open late (i think 11pm), but I'm willing to go some place else.

And if no one suggests anything, then I'll just pick a Starbucks in Carmichael and be alone.

Anyone up for some writing tomorrow night?
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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!

USA :: California :: Sacramento

SUNDAY NOV 29TH - DAY BEFORE THE END!!!

CaliforniaUSA — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:29:14 +0000

Big shout-outs to all participants!!!
Conrats to those that have met their goals.

but hey, keep typing,
it is not over until it is OVER!!!
there is still ONE DAY LEFT in this month!!!

look how close this is!!!
Finland at #24
Sac at #25...

Finland finishes before us, & we still have... what?
7 hours AFTER their final numbers post.
so......
KEEP TYPING EVERYONE!!!

and a great big thank you for everything this past month, to our MLs!!!!
YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!!!
:D
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:) California USA
2009: The Husband Jury (completed)
2009: The Jake Brakes (in process)

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Official Sacramento Write-Ins!

underpope — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:10:43 +0000

Here are the write-ins for Sacramento this year:

Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. at the Temple Cafe on S Street (near the Natural Foods Coop)

Thursdays, 7:00 p.m. Tupelo Cafe on 56th Street near H

Saturdays, 3:00 p.m., Fox & Goose*

Sundays, 2:00, Naked Coffee at 1111 H Street

* The Fox & Goose is a restaurant and pub, and although they serve alcohol, they also serve soda and other beverages as well as food. I spoke to the manager and she said that minors are absolutely no problem. No wireless is available at this venue, though.
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Richard Crawford, Sacramento Region Co-ML
Code Monkey by Day, Word Monkey by Night
http://www.mossroot.com/codemonkey

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Day AFTER Thanksgiving Write-In

SacBill — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:01:01 +0000

The relatives are gone, so I'm going to unwind with a bit of writing at Tupelo Coffee tonight. I'll get there some time between 5 and 6.

Maybe some other want to take a break from relatives, chores, shopping, and Turkey, too?

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Bill F
Sacramento, CA
"The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" -- Frank Zappa

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Nevada City/Grass Valley/Penn Valley Write-Ins!

PacificPikachu — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:13:48 +0000

Hello fellow foothills writers! This is Kristin, your deputy ML for Nevada County!

I've held write-ins for this area for the last two years, and the plan has generally been to hold the write-ins on Fridays, 6 PM to whenever we decide to disband, at Cafe Mekka in downtown Nevada City. Does this work for you? Not work for you? Give me some feedback as to whether you'd be able to make it on this date/time/location! I'd be happy to change it if this doesn't work for the majority of people, and if someone would prefer a different date/time/location I'm all ears! This would make our first write-in on the 6th.

Depending on your preferences, we could also hold a Nevada County Meet and Greet pre-NaNo meeting on Wednesday, October 28th--also at 6 PM at Mekka? That way we can meet and discuss strategies and get ourselves motivated! Let me know if you're up for that.

Also, I am planning on going to the Meet and Greet in Sacramento on the 25th--if anyone from up here would like to come along, let's coordinate and I'd be happy to carpool! My car is certainly nothing fancy, but it works, and I'd be happy to spend an hour in the car chatting with fellow novelists!

As a note, I will be out of town for a few days during November: October 30th-November 1st, and November 20th-22nd as well. The 20th is a Friday, so we will have to decide what we want to do about that--we could hold a write-in the Monday or Wednesday before, or the following Monday or Wednesday.

Anyone who has questions/concerns/wants to coordinate anything, feel free to drop me a NaNoMail any time. I'm quite the e-mail checker so I'll usually get back to you quickly. :) I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and having some fun authorly games, discussions, word wars, and whatever else our crazy minds can come up with! Looking forward to November!
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USA :: California :: Sacramento

Tips for Thanksgiving with the relatives

tama — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:10:36 +0000

Last year, my mother made me promise to be done with my novel before Thanksgiving. This added more stress to the process, but I was able to finish the novel in 23 days.

But this year will be different. I’m going to keep on writing through the holiday. The two years before last year, I also attempted to write while at my grandmother’s in Portland. I failed a bit in getting much written, but maybe I can pass on some things you can do to keep writing even with relatives as distractions and hinderances.

This is for those who are behind and will be hounded into family gatherings for the four-day weekend.

1. Get up early or stay up late - I found that waking up early, before dawn preferably if you have early rising relatives, allowed me time to write while they used the shower or puttered around the kitchen in search of food. One year, I got up when my grandmother put in the turkey. This was at six and I got an hour’s worth of writing done before other people began to emerge. The same goes for staying up after everyone else is tired from too much food and company. It’ll be quiet and you should be able to get some writing done.

2. Get out of the house - Steal a car! Find a bicycle! Something to get you out of everyone’s eye sight. Getting up early worked for me, but what I did wrong was sit at the dining room table where my grandmother could talk to me. This year I’m planning to get out of the house if I can get #3 to consent to this plan.

3. Find an ally - Find someone to distract the others when you disappear. Enlist them to leave the keys to the car where you can find them and take off. Have them tell the relatives that you’re in the bathroom or running an errand for them. Anything to deflect that you left with your computer or notepad.

4. Be sneaking - Have your computer set and ready in a bedroom and then run in and write for short ten or fifteen minute spurts. This works for me because when my family sees the computer, they start saying to each other that I’m bored and we need to find some activity to do as a family. Hide your writing if it’s not accepted. If you’re only missing for a few minutes, they can’t get mad at you.

Hopefully some of these will help. If anyone has more to add, I welcome more ideas. I do have to see the relatives this holiday weekend :)

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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!

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Donation Day!

katster — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:46:02 +0000

So I figured I'd point out that the folks at headquarters have set themselves a pretty high bar that they'd like to reach in fundraising today. They're trying to reach a HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. Since they do some niftily wonderful things there, and with the money they can do things like keep the board running year-round and keep going with the Young Writer's Program, which I think is awesome, I'm going to ask y'all to, if you've got five bucks or so to spare, why don't you mosey on over and toss it in the pot today?

Also, there will be the chance for Chris and the office to embarrass themselves horribly if they make their goal, and that's worth the price of admission all by itself.

if you want to read about their donation drive, you can do so here. And if you're inclined to throw in a fiver (or more), you can do so right here

Chris told a cool story Sunday night. There was a high school freshman who hated writing with a passion, but somehow got roped into participating in the YWP. Said freshman discovered that writing could actually be fun and entertaining and started doing more of it. And now, that person is majoring in English at UC Berkeley. That's pretty awesome, and one of the reasons I love NaNo.

Besides, this is one category where we're kicking Finland (and Pittsburgh!) to the curb, and we can make our lead insurmountable by participating heavily in Donation Day.

Don't feel obliged -- I know times are hard and money is scarce, so don't put yourself in debt doing this. however, if you've got the money to spare, it'd be awesome.

[EDIT: And folks who donate a sawbuck (that's $10) get a halo! Rock on! And if you want motivation, go to the homepage and mouse over the fundraising meter. There's some cool stuff that happens once we reach certain levels...]

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Thanksgiving Write-In at Tupelo

SacBill — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:17:41 +0000

I checked with the folks at Naked Coffee Lounge (sister shop to Tupelo), and they told me that Tupelo is open all day on Thanksgiving.

I thought I'd pass this along in case anyone was interested in the write-in this Thursday. I'm sure folks will be with family, but sometimes people break up their visits early.

For myself, I'm not sure yet if I'll be there. I have relatives visiting from out of town, spending the night, so I'll likely be at home. I'll post back here later when I know more.

Any one else thinking of going?

Bill
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Bill F
Sacramento, CA
"The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" -- Frank Zappa

USA :: California :: Sacramento

THE MOST AWESOME NANO BIRTHDAY WEEKEND EVER

katster — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:10:14 +0000

Ho-leeee, was it ever.

So I wanted to thank everybody, starting with Annie and Meghan (and Annie's parents) for letting us raid their place and making extremely awesome cake. Thanks also to everybody who showed up, put up with my screaming about Cal football, and just generally making it an awesome birthday.

Then Sunday, thanks are totally needed for Richard and Jennifer for taking me over, and then to the entire Sactown contingent (Richard, Jennifer, Jenny, Temperance, Stephanie, Candace, Mark, and a couple other people that I suck about remembering names) for pushing me to write another six thousand words over the course of the evening so that I got the experience of ringing the bell and making my 50k.

Add that to Cal winning, and it's safe to declare this the best birthday weekend ever.

I don't know how to top this next year.

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

USA :: California :: Sacramento

Woodland Write-in??

KellyinCA — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:13:20 +0000

Okay Woodlanders, how about a write in this week in OUR town? For a city with 3 Starbucks, 2 Dutch Brothers and something in every grocery store surely we can find a place to write!

Just tossing out the first "how about" for Starbucks on the corner of Main and Pioneer - next to the Wendy's/Taco Bell - some night this week? They're open until 9pm and have more seating than the other two Starbucks.

Thoughts?
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"How come the words we write for others are so much better than the words we write for ourselves?" ~Finding Forrester