USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Tuesday night Write-In

Anthropo — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:04:23 +0000

We'll be hitting up the Walkers basement again on Tuesday evening, starting at five, to novel our brains out. Walker's is on College Avenue, across from the UGA arch and next to Starbucks.

Bring your work and be ready for word wars! Just wait and see how much work you get done when NaNos start dueling!

I'll be wearing my brilliant green ML shirt so you can recognize me. See you there!
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Phillip Brettschneider
Athens, GA Municipal Liaison
phillip . brettschneider @ yahoo . com
#: four oh four, eight two four, four eight seven eight

USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Anyone from Elbert or Carroll County?

msap1 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:18:07 +0000

Is there anyone from Elbert or Carroll County? I was just wondering if I may recognize some of you.
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USA :: Georgia :: Athens

How is everyone doing?

Datamancer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:56:56 +0000

Figured I start a thread for us to help each other out. Nano has a ton of forums that have similar topics, but I believe the Athens crowd would like their own :)

So, Is everyone sailing along, or are there rough waters ahead?

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USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Monday night writing

Anthropo — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:12:42 +0000

I'll be seeing you for another write-in this Monday night, again at the basement of Walker's (downtown Athens, next door to the Starbucks. We'll be meeting there around five and writing until eight, absolutely noveling up a storm.

Power strips and extension cords are always appreciated.

If for some reason we have to move, I'll post it on the Athens NaNoWriMo twitter feed-- www.twitter.com/athensnanowrimo

Hope to see you there!
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Phillip Brettschneider
Athens, GA Municipal Liaison
phillip . brettschneider @ yahoo . com
#: four oh four, eight two four, four eight seven eight

USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Write-In #1 this Sunday

Anthropo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:00:32 +0000

All right, you're into your novel. Characters are working out. Your plot's taking shape. You're getting the rhythm of things now.

That means, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for a Write-In. We will be meeting at Walker's in downtown Athens this Sunday, November 8th, from 1:00 to 4:00. I will be waiting in the basement of Walker's with a power strip, extension cords, and my neon green ML shirt.

Walker's is at 128 College Ave--right next to the Starbucks. They serve coffee and alcoholic drinks, but it is a friendly and studious environment. Parking is free on Sunday downtown and also at all UGA lots in the area.

If for some reason we have to move, my phone number is 404 824 4878--call me if you get there and don't see us. I'll be tweeting our movements as well: twitter.com/AthensNaNoWriMo

Hope to see you there!
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Phillip Brettschneider
Athens, GA Municipal Liaison
phillip . brettschneider @ yahoo . com
#: four oh four, eight two four, four eight seven eight

USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Getting distracted by the Internet? Post us some links!

Anthropo — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:22:07 +0000

At the Write-In today (er, right now, actually), a few of us are finding ourselves badly distracted by the Internet.

So, to further the cause of procrastination:

http://kiriska.deviantart.com/art/NaNoWriMo-Calendar-2009-141386419 A nifty NaNo calendar!

http://community.livejournal.com/nano_icons/ NaNoWriMo LJ icons!

http://www.chocolateshoes.net/archive/0051.shtml NaNoWriMo in a nutshell--a comic

So, guys? How are you procrastinating?
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Phillip Brettschneider
Athens, GA Municipal Liaison
phillip . brettschneider @ yahoo . com
#: four oh four, eight two four, four eight seven eight

USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Athens NaNoWriMo Twitter Hashtag!

hypodermia — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:55:23 +0000

Anybody out there into using Twitter and planning to tweet their progress? I propose a unique hashtag for our region: #athensnano

What do you guys think? Or am I the only nerd who tweets?

Em
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USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Convenient times for Write-Ins?

Anthropo — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:31:17 +0000

I'd love for everyone involved in NaNoWriMo in Athens this year to be able to attend at least a few Write-Ins. Right now, though, I've got very little idea of when most people are available . . . so if you're really pumped about write-ins but have a busy schedule, drop in here and tell me what days you'd love to see the Write-Ins fall on.

Looking forward to a couple hundred great Athenian novels!
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Phillip Brettschneider
Athens, GA Municipal Liaison
phillip . brettschneider @ yahoo . com
#: four oh four, eight two four, four eight seven eight

USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Write Ins

Kithrobyn — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:42:51 +0000

Just checking in to see if we have a write in schedule yet?

Keep Writing,
Ronnie
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USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Because y'all will understand

Ebiannah — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:07:14 +0000

I'm one of several that are doing Nano at work this year. One of the other participants, another cashier, wrote this note when I called down to her end of the store to get a list of what she needed for the soda cooler.

This is what she wrote:

In preparation for the National Novel writing month, Nanowrimo, I shall now practice the fine art of 'Fluffing', in which a desperate novelist attempts to boost their word count through superfluous and otherwise unnecessary rambling. On this, the twenty seventh day of October, two thousand and nine, a rainy and uneventful day, Paula; kind, lovely Paula; has requested a drink list. Our heroine has answered this plea: Peps-Cola, 10, Diet Pespsi-cola 5 Mountain Dew, 10; Diet Dew of the Mountain, 9; Green tea (with Citrus),9; AMP (The official Drink of late night novelists)4; Gatorade Lemon-lime,2; Gtorade orange, 2; Gatorade Cool Blue, 1; and that odd, quaint hydrogen, single oxygen compound, otherwise known as water....one.

Best drink list EVER!

Paula
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Argh. And argh again.

USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Best Wishes!!

Summerlilac — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:46:56 +0000

Hello,

This is my first NANOWRIMO and I'm actually in Savannah. However, my hometown is Athens and we will be moving there for my husband to attend college in the fall of 2010 so I wanted to stop by and wish each of you the best of luck and say I hope to join you for the next NANOWRIMO!

Good Luck

Michelle
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USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Kickoff Write-In: at the stroke of midnight or Sunday afternoon?

Anthropo — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:44:30 +0000

November first is fast approaching and I'd like to kick off NaNoWriMo right: with a massive write-in! We have a location if we'd like to do a midnight write-in, but I don't know how eager y'all are for that sort of thing.

So, I'd like to hear your opinions: would you rather have a kickoff write-in at the stroke of midnight, as NaNoWriMo starts, or a little later on Sunday afternoon?
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Phillip Brettschneider
Athens, GA Municipal Liaison
phillip . brettschneider @ yahoo . com
#: four oh four, eight two four, four eight seven eight

USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Meet'n'Greet and Kickoff, Sunday at Starbucks

Anthropo — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:15:05 +0000

Leaves are on the ground and a chill is in the air, which means it's finally novel season! NaNoWriMo is about to rock Athens, GA, and I can't wait to meet all our awesome new writers and returning novelists.

To kick things off, we're going to be meeting at Starbucks on Sunday, October 25 from 3:00 to 6:00. Starbucks is at 100 College Ave, right across the street from the UGA Arch. To find us, go up the stairs to the second floor and look for the guy in a neon green/yellow shirt that says "Yes, I am in charge here." That's me, Phillip, your friendly neighborhood ML.

There'll be fun games and a cookie cake, and a lot of great opportunities to meet some cool noveling types like yourself. I'll be showing up early to stake out as many couches and tables as we can--anyone else who wants to show up early and help me do so will be deeply appreciated. Bring yourself, bring your friends, bring your ideas--let's make NaNoWriMo 2009 an epic event.

See you soon!
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Phillip Brettschneider
Athens, GA Municipal Liaison
phillip . brettschneider @ yahoo . com
#: four oh four, eight two four, four eight seven eight

USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Helpful Websites & Other Resources

Chemwipe — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:10:44 +0000

Sunday a lot of people mentioned various websites and other good information. I'm going to try to get these out there for those of us with short memories and those who missed the meeting. I'm also adding some sources I've discovered through the forums that have been helpful to me. Please feel free to expand and add any books, websites, etc. you feel have helped either in the planning, procrastinating, or actual writing of your wrimo novels!

Supportive:
http://www.writing.com - "Free memberships are available to everyone. Each membership includes an online writing portfolio, numerous writing tools, email services and the chance to meet and bond with fresh creative minds, just like you! No other website services the Writing world better than we do."

One of our wrimos is mostly involved with short story fiction and mentioned this was a great site for peer reviews. The quote is from the site itself.

Outlining:
Snowflake Method - "Before you start writing, you need to get organized. You need to put all those wonderful ideas down on paper in a form you can use. Why? Because your memory is fallible, and your creativity has probably left a lot of holes in your story -- holes you need to fill in before you start writing your novel. You need a design document. And you need to produce it using a process that doesn't kill your desire to actually write the story. Here is my ten-step process for writing a design document. I use this process for writing my novels, and I hope it will help you."

I hope this is the correct link. I don't use this method, but it seemed like the most obvious one from the list given in a Google search =)

It's Just a Phase - Article by Wrimo Lazette (who usually top 100k in Nov. Granted, she writes all the time during the year too, so it's not a battle of fatigue as much!) that describes Phase Outlining. I think this is very similar to the Snowflake Method, but I'm not sure. Anyway, sometimes it's better explained from a different view.

Kelley Armstrong's Outline Technique - I used this outline a little more for my story. It eases you into your idea and your characters nicely. I didn't realize she was an author until later =X This tutorial was written specifically for NaNo, too, so it's more focused on popping out some plot, conflict, etc. quickly and leaving some other stuff behind.

Tools:
http://www.babynames.com/character-names.php - This is the specific page that has hints for writers on how to use the database. A mix of this and Google (if you're looking for region-specific names) work well. I think you can even search the census bureau if you feel like stumbling through usa.gov! (Or there's a link on the babynames page! =P)

http://www.stumbleupon.com/ - someone mentioned this as a nice refresher when you're running out of ideas or need a little inspiration. Playing with it right now, you put in some interests and it spits out random websites. Somehow I got to manipulating a parallelogram. And then I got this. Which seems kinda cool for anyone interested in steampunk :D (Not really sure how I got that from my choices though! =P)

http://answers.yahoo.com/ - a source of disputable repute. =) But it might be good for sneaking away from your writing :D

Freeware:
http://writeordie.drwicked.com/ - Forces you to write or your words may suddenly start erasing themselves or finding homes in other sentences.

There are a few others that do the same. I have them bookmarked on a different PC that I'll have to get to tonight. Don't forget the NaNo forums are a great source for all kinds of information! You may want to grab some of that incite now, before the servers get completely swamped the beginning of November =)

Everyone feel free to add any other sources you have! I know Phillip said these forums are usually pretty dead, but that doesn't have to be the case this year :D
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USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Close to home

ats.rice — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:50:08 +0000

I'm in NW Banks County, Alto/Cornelia area. Athens is my closest region, and I'd love to find buddies closer to home. Anybody out there?
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USA :: Georgia :: Athens

Hello, all!

Ebiannah — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:10:20 +0000

How are the Athenian Nanos doing? I'm revving myself up for another go at this.

Good luck, everyone!

Paula
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Argh. And argh again.