USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Bowling Green

Stump Junkman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:03:15 +0000

For the emphasis BG has on arts like the Black Swamp Arts Festival, I'm a little disappointed with the lack of representation here. With the turnover though I suppose it's not too surprising.
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USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Write in Notes from November 18th

DeAubreyDigest — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:51:56 +0000

Our word counts for the day:

MourningStar: 1649
MeriD: 1130
Lovedless: 1237
Wes: 2
DeAubreyDigest: 1300

Lovedless came up from Columbus and might be able to make it next week, so that should be awesome. Azyrian might make it next Wednesday as well, even though it's right before Thanksgiving, so we will be meeting at Panera once again. It will be the last write in of the year, so if you haven't made it to one yet, try and make it to this one! We'll be doing word sprints.

If someone needs to be here earlier, later, whatever, let me know so I can be here and we can write and chat, take breaks... have a long last ditch effort! We'll see you next week!!

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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

HALF WAY!!

DeAubreyDigest — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:22:22 +0000

Hey all!

By the end of today we are supposed to be half way to our 50,000 goal with 25000 words!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm only at 22 and change. UGH!! There will be some mad writing for me today, let me tell you what.

Sorry for missing the online write in this week. My car unexpectedly died and I was trying to get it fixed. Thankfully my father, who knows a hell of a lot more about cars than I do, came down and tried to fix it for me. Of course, like all mechanical things, it worked for him on the first turn so we'll see what happens.

So mad writing! I will be in the online chatroom whenever I am online, so be sure to drop in if you have questions or just want someone to chatter at.

Happy writing!
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Write In Notes from November 11th

DeAubreyDigest — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:28:13 +0000

Today we had a couple of extra participants to the write in, one of which was InChrist-Billios. MeriD and MourningStar also made appearances again.

This week was hard for anyone to really focus except Billios. At the end of the write-in, our word counts stood at:

MeriD- 1900
MourningStar- 2600
I had 1708

And out of all of us, Billios ended up with 3113!

Most of us were all really impressed at the amount of words we'd cranked out during the write in when we were hitting word slumps.

we're thinking about journeying up to Bowling Green next week if we can manage to get a time together, so stay posted!!
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Research!

DeAubreyDigest — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:48:13 +0000

Has anyone run into the need to research while they're writing to be sure their facts are straight? I'm presently researching head trauma, specifically from gunshot wound, and I found three really good, really dense sites. I had to research before I could write any more because of a stumbling block. Bleh.

And in case anyone is really bored and wants a couple of really good sites on penetrating head trauma, I'll include the links here:
http://www.bcm.edu/oto/grand/8593.html
http://www.bcm.edu/oto/grand/02_12_04.htm
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/247664-followup

Anyone else stuck on anything??
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Old Stuff

mmilesg — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:26:58 +0000

I'm a fan of old stuff. I read over what I've written before and change it to my likings. Although, most of those I never finished, they are just ideas I jot down a moments notice on how to write a character or how to make them jump through scene to scene. I think about this stuff all the time. If I find some old stuff like that would anyone be interested?
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Type to live....Die to do something else....

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Online Write Ins

DeAubreyDigest — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:07:14 +0000

If you are interested in attending the online Write Ins, those will be held every Saturday in November from 6-9 pm. The website is http://chatnano.net/tempchats/blackswamp.html

All you have to do is sign in, sign up and you're good to chat! See you all there!
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Y-Writer!

DeAubreyDigest — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:49:01 +0000

I do not know if any of you know what Ywriter is, but it is the most amazing program for writing that I have ever found. (And it makes editing easier after WriMo.) I will link to it since we were talking about it tonight during the Write In and someone suggested to me that they were interested in checking it out. I am suggesting it to all you lovely people.

http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html

Go to the page, check it out, take a few minutes to get accustomed to it and it will change the way you write. No more fear of writing something that doesn't fit because you can move it ANYWHERE. Highlight things you might want to delete later so it doesn't affect your word counts. It's AMAZING.

enough pimping- back to writing!
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Just for a giggle

MeriD — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:08:09 +0000

http://www.twolumps.net/

For those of you that dont already follow this comic here is todays.
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Never underestimate the power of boredom!

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Getting to Know You

DeAubreyDigest — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:04:53 +0000

Getting to know all about you!

If you have a chance, please poke in and say hello, give us a little information about you and what drew you to the WriMo. I'll start!

On the WriMo site, I am DeAubreyDigest. My pen name is Maki (pronounced like the mouse) and I am a second year WriMo. This year I am a first year Municipal Liason, which means I am your go to person with questions about the WriMo, the person who holds write-ins for the Black Swamp area and the cheerleader for your word counts. I'm here to not only crank out my novel, but also to help all of you and maybe hold a fundraiser to help out the lovely people who put on the WriMo every year.

I first heard about the NaNoWriMo in its first year from someone I met via a chat program. I found him well into November, however, and didn't remember about the WriMo the next year. It was 2003 before I heard about it again from another participant and said there was no way I would be able to bang out a novel in a month, mostly because I only wrote when I was inspired. Ah, youth! I had all the time in the world to write! It wasn't until 2007 when my friend Faestian told me about the WriMo again that I made a conscious effort to remember for 2008. I wanted to win at least once. When xe reminded me the next year, I began my novel in 2008, the year and month of my 30th birthday, just after I had graduated from massage therapy school, was working two jobs and while I was studying to take my state board exam for massage therapy on December 2nd.

Believe it or not, I met my word goals, managed to study for boards and PASS and kept my sanity. Mostly.

Okay, so what about all of you? Who are you, what do you do? What drew you to WriMo?
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Write In Notes from November 4th

DeAubreyDigest — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:56:27 +0000

It was a small group tonight at the write in (where I'm presently updating from), but we hammered out, collectively around 6,000 words. We chattered a little bit about our novels, discussed ways to get around those nasty roadblocks we had happen for our novels and discussed ways to get out of them. I handed out Hipster PDAs, my gift to all the attending WriMos who came. (I also have more for anyone who shows up next Wednesday.)

We've been doing little word competitions between myself and another WriMo. It's been helping me get going. Tonight was an easy night since we were mostly playing "getting to know you" games. We took a few breaks now and again to break up all the monotony and fun was had by all.

Hopefully others can make it to the write ins next Wednesday!

MeriD: It would have been nice if more people could have made it, but I liked it.

MourningStar: More productive than I thought it would be and got over 2000 words which is more than I thought I'd get done.

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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Procrastinators U-WRITE! Postponed until tomorrow...

DeAubreyDigest — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:37:15 +0000

Has anyone else hit a wall yet or is that just me. It's like I was all fired up, got to writing and then was like .... bleh.

I finally kicked myself in the butt, grabbed a club and went hunting my damned plot, but it was hard work trying to work myself up to that point.

Anyone else having issues? What do you do to get that story rolling again?
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Kickoff Party!

DeAubreyDigest — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:50:36 +0000

If any of you can make it, we will be holding a kickoff party from 3-5 pm today at Dietsch's Brothers Ice Cream on West Main Cross in Findlay.

Look for the person in the white and blue NaNoWriMo Est 1999 shirt. That will be me. I will have goodies for you all and we can have some yummy ice cream.

If you can't make it, that's okay, too. I understand that life happens.

I will hang around until around 4 and if no one shows up, I will leave after that unless I get a ping that someone is coming later. I have notifications of posts to the forums as an ML and if you let me know you'll be there later, I will get it and stay to meet you all.

Hope to see you all there!

~Carrie/Maki
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Hope You're All EXCITED!

DeAubreyDigest — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:42:01 +0000

I know I'm absolutely STOKED that November first is ten days away! We even get an extra hour of noveling on November first with daylight savings time starting that day. I've been working on my outline, getting some plot notes down on paper and finishing up some touches on the goodies I'm handing out at the kickoff party and printing things out this week.

I am SO EXCITED about this, guys, so seriously. I'm sure I'll be hitting the doldrums with my novel around the second week just like everyone else, but I've got all of you to keep me going and you've got each other and me to keep you going. I can feel the writing itch surging!!

So I was curious. What are all of you doing to get ready for the WriMo this year? Are any of you nervous? Freaking out? Ready to split your seams like I am?
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Subversive Stitch

wordsogold — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:21:21 +0000

Hey, its good to be back. Hope you are all ready to make this the year that you write the novel that becomes a best seller. I've been thinking about mind for a long time. Toooo long. I even set up a website with the same name and it has given me much fodder for my story. www.subversivestitch.blogspot.com I started it to keep me thinking about the topic, but it has turned into a fun community of stitchers with the most amazing work being talked about and shared. So in that respect, NANOWRIMO and this novel have already brought me much happiness. Hope all goes well for all of you!

Dawn
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Blogs:http://www.subversivestitch.blogspot.com/
www.wordsogold.blogspot.com
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Blogs:http://www.subversivestitch.blogspot.com/
www.wordsogold.blogspot.com

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Donating

DeAubreyDigest — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:53:46 +0000

I know this is something you all see every year, but I do want to let you all know of a few options that are quick and easy to do as far as donating to the Office of Letters and Light go. Since I'm broke, I have set GoodSearch as my toolbar on Firefox and have it set as my home search page. Good Search donates a penny for every websearch you do. You can click the link here to sign up. http://www.goodsearch.com/ And there is also an addon for Firefox that puts a little search up on the upper right corner of your browser. http://www.goodsearch.com/Toolbars.aspx

They have also added on a sponser option this year! We, like walk-a-thon participants, can be sponsored by going here. http://www.gifttool.com/athon/AthonDetails?ID=1891&AID=777 Sign up for a page and ask friends and family to sponsor you. Then they click and fund us. If you want to send them to the NaNoWriMo Black Swamp area page, that link is here: http://www.gifttool.com/athon/OurTeamPage?ID=1891&AID=777&TID=5010

I was thinking of doing a fundraiser by asking participants to submit a good segment of your story to be put in a mini-zine we can sell for a donation and give the money to the Office of Letters and Light. Any spare change you have lying around is appreciated as a donation that we can toss in a can at the write-ins if you've got it. Most of us are pretty broke right now if you're anything like me and that extra change is going to go for a coffee. I am also going to set out a donation jar with a little information packet about what WriMo is and what we're all doing at the write-ins to get people to donate. We'll see what happens with that.

If you've got it to do, go to the Office of Letters and Light and donate directly. You can find that link here. https://store.lettersandlight.org/ I only donated ten bucks because that's all I had. If you don't have it, no pressure. I just wanted to make everyone aware of the options out there for us to give a helping hand to the WriMo people.

Thank you for your understanding! GO BLACK SWAMP!
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Areas included in the Black Swamp Area!

DeAubreyDigest — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:02:23 +0000

This year the Black Swamp area will be holding Writeins and Meetups for WriMos in these areas but not limited to:

Lima, Fostoria, Ada, Mount Blanchard, Van Buren, Arlington, Arcadia, Bluffton, McComb, Bowling Green, Vanlue, Upper Sandusy, Forest, Wharton, Dunkirk, Carey, Benton Ridge, Pandora, Lipsic, Kenton, Springville, Beaverdam, Cygnet, North Baltimore, Ottowa
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Meetup Times and Location

DeAubreyDigest — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:15:01 +0000

Just to keep things all in one place, I wanted to put the actual dates, times and locations for easy reference:

We will be holding our Kickoff Party October 30th from 3-6 pm at Dietsch Brothers Ice Cream; 400 W Main Cross Findlay, Ohio 45840. Look for the person wearing the white NaNoWriMo tee shirt. Chances are I will probably have ice cream all over the front of it. I'll have a pack of goodies for you all when you come.

Meetups on Wednesdays in November from 3-4 pm with a Write-in immediately following from 4-6 pm. The meet ups and write ins will be held at Panera Bread 1971 Tiffin Avenue Findlay, Ohio 45840.

~*~*~*~

Wow, I'm glad to see all the Findlay-ites all coming out of the woodwork! YAY!

Does anyone have a preference on the time of the meetups and writeins? I was looking at 2-6 pm on Wednesdays. For physical meetups I have to have them on Tuesday or Wednesdays. The weekend online meetings will probably be best on either a Saturday or a Sunday from say 6:30 or 7 until whenever we all drop off.

As for a location, I contacted Stately Raven but they didn't seem too pleased to have me asking about it and told me to email their owner who has yet to get back to me. I was also thinking about holding it a Morey's on Tiffin Avenue since it seems relatively quiet and they have a little room they would perhaps allow us to use. I'll stop in there tomorrow and see who it is I need to talk to about that.

I figure George House will be too noisy for us to write, especially if we're really concentrating. The kickoff party and the TGIO party could be at GH, however.

So chime in, WriMos! What works for you guys?
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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.

USA :: Ohio :: Black Swamp

Black Swamp FAQ!

DeAubreyDigest — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:00:43 +0000

:::FAQ:::

Who is my Municipal Liaison?/What is your real name?

My real name is Carrie Vaughn, aka Maki (pronounced like the mouse) or DeAubreyDigest. I am a licensed massage therapist in Ohio and a second year NaNoWriMo participant, first year Municipal Liaison. I also answer to my username and pen name, however, so feel free to use any of the above.

How do I contact my ML?

You may email me at makiros at gmail.com or find me via AIM or Yahoo with the username deaubreydigest. Gtalk uses my email address. You may also find me via the chat program for NaNoWriMo. http://chatnano.net/tempchats/blackswamp.html I will be as available as possible for moral support as well as answering serious questions.

What areas are included in the Black Swamp?

This year the Black Swamp area will be holding Writeins and Meetups for WriMos in these areas but not limited to:
Lima, Fostoria, Ada, Mount Blanchard, Van Buren, Arlington, Arcadia, Bluffton, McComb, Bowling Green, Vanlue, Upper Sandusy, Forest, Wharton, Dunkirk, Carey, Benton Ridge, Pandora, Lipsic, Kenton, Springville, Beaverdam, Cygnet, North Baltimore, Ottowa

Where are the Meetups/Write ins and when are they?

Meetups will be held on Wednesdays in November from 3-4 pm with a Write-in immediately following from 4-6 pm. The dates are November 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th. The meet ups and write ins will be held at Panera Bread 1971 Tiffin Avenue Findlay, Ohio 45840. Look for the person in the white NaNoWriMo est. 1999 shirt. That will be me.

What should I bring to the write ins?

Yourself and some instrument of your craft. If you write by hand, a notebook and a pen. If you write with a computer, bring your laptop computer. Desktop computers aren't advised. Be sure to bring along a sweatshirt in case you get cold. This year we sat by the fireplace, but we still all needed our sweatshirts for later in the evening. A powerstrip is wonderful if you remember one. Sometimes we forget, but it helps when we have a million power cables to hook up somewhere. It also helps to bring a little cash for at least a cup of coffee to help support the areas that let us take up space, chatter and write. They appreciate even a dollar for a cup of coffee.

What if I can't make it to meetups?

That's more than fine. We'd like to meet you, but if you can't make it, we understand. Life sometimes takes a hard turn and meeting those word counts is sometimes a challenge. We will also be holding online writeins on Saturday evenings from 6-8 at the NaNo Chat site http://chatnano.net/tempchats/blackswamp.html

How do I get in on the online Write ins?

If you are interested in attending the online Write Ins, those will be held every Saturday in November from 6-9 pm. The website is http://chatnano.net/tempchats/blackswamp.html All you have to do is sign in, sign up and you're good to chat! It even runs in your web browser, so even if you're on a library computer you can be part of the write in!

I can't register for the writeins! HELP!

Not a problem! Let me walk you through it. You click this link: http://chatnano.net/tempchats/blackswamp.html

The link will take you to the front page for the chat. At the top in all capital light purple letters is "Chat Now". Click on that.

A new window opens and prompts you to choose a nickname. I would use your NaNoWriMo username so I know who you are. Then there is a button underneath the box you enter your username in that says "Connect". Once your username is in the box, you click connect and it brings you into the chat window. There will be a few minutes where the screen shows "connecting to chat" and sometimes takes awhile to log you in, but then you will be in the chat and able to talk to us. All you have to do is type something and hit send and it will send just like an instant messenger window.

You are not required to register your username to sign on to the chat.

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There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground.