United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Your ML has gotten you into a rivalry with Houston

Philosopher — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:57:27 -0800

Check out this thread I posted to the Houston forum

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3122827#comment-3309738
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

TGIO Party and other things

Philosopher — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:52:51 -0800

I am now thinking it was probably a terrible idea to have the TGIO party at Gatti town. The pool hall is now starting to sound better. Let me know what you guys think.

I see a lot of you are in the 40k region. Anyone who is please know that you have a REALLY good chance of winning! You've still got three days left. All you've got to do is 3334 words per day and you're a winner! Come on don't you want to see what happens when that link in your profile that says "collect winner goodies" becomes active?

If anyone has won let me know by our TGIO party on Dec 6 so that I can put your names on the trophys. I will try to add year and word count if possible. LOL might be small though.

And we are back up a few places in the Avg word count. Let's not slack off now that we're so close. I want to end 08 ranking in the under 200 range

All those that are able to please consider making a $10 donation to NaNoWriMo so that they can keep the lights on for another year and fund the young writers program.

If you're already feeling withdrawal don't forget there's always Script Frensy in April.
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Young Writers Program

Philosopher — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 20:05:58 -0800

http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/aboutteachers

If anyone knows of any teachers or people who work for an ISD please pass along this link which is "How NaNoWriMo Works for Educators". The young writers program has a lot of cool things for classrooms like the AlphaSmart loaner program. Their site looks so much cooler than ours! lol http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

ScriptFrenzy

Philosopher — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 05:19:31 -0800

http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/

I've just submitted a request to script frenzy to have our own region set up. If you would like to know more about Script Frenzy check out the FAQ's and tell all of your writing friends http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/eng/helpfaq
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Writing Challenges

LadyMaeRudolph — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 06:05:44 -0800

What does everyone think about adding a new writing challenge to the ones we already have once a week so we are continually writing throughout the year before november so our creativity stays fresh.
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United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Winners!

rockyfort — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:12:33 -0800

Not me, yet, but I've seen two winners on the forum already: Our ML: Philosopher and then Lizo27

Are there others that I've missed? When you make it, post here and celebrate!
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2008 Novel "What if He Didn't Do It?" WON

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Inspirational Song Parodies...

TheTal — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:26:57 -0800

So I know that Ensis did one on Devil Went Down to NaNo, and I was at the Last Write-In, and started cheering on Jody (You can do it, Jody!)

Thus was born this song parody, for all of our Wrimos out there.

Deep down in South Texas at the Double C,
Meeting at the Library and through the screen,
Amongst the people of the Coastal Bend,
There lived a bunch of writers who were crazy in the head
Most never learned to play a guitar real well,
But they could write like a bat out of hell

Go, go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Writers be good!

They carried their laptops in their satchel bags,
Writing outdoors, tree at their backs,
Oh the workers of Starbucks saw them in the shops,
Writing 'bout the happenings non stop
People passing by would stop and say,
My, you're writing quite a lot today,

Go, go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Writers be good!

Our ML told us, "Guys, we need to write a lot!
Houston ain't nothing but a greasy spot!
We can write more than those real big towns
Even though we're small, we can knock 'em down
And maybe one day our own book we'll sign
But until then, let's win and write tonight!"

Go, go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Go writers go,
Go!
Writers be good!

Obviously to be sung to the tune of "Johnny B. Goode" :D

Go those who still haven't made it yet! You can do it!
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NaNo '08: Title "Out of the Fishbowl" WON!!
Motto for NaNo: "Where there is caffeine, there is a way!"

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Average Word Count

rockyfort — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:34:31 -0800

Our average as of now (11/24 - 8:30 CST) is about 22,500. That puts us in 149th place of all organizations.

See http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/wordcount_stats?sort=desc&order=Average+Wor... for details.

I wonder if we can move up even more? Another 1000 words average (+ for daily work of others) will move us up about 30 places. Get busy and keep recording!

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2008 Novel "What if He Didn't Do It?" WON

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Happy Thanksgiving!

TheTal — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:04:57 -0800

To all of the CC Wrimo's out there, Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't get too stuffed on turkey and other Thanksgiving foods to not write. I shall write some time today and attempt to make some great strides towards that 50k goal!

Congratulations to all those who have already reached that goal, and for those still writing, keep it up! We still need to totally beat Houston! :D
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NaNo '08: Title "Out of the Fishbowl" WON!!
Motto for NaNo: "Where there is caffeine, there is a way!"

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

New Pics on the wiki site

Philosopher — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:21:46 -0800

posted a few pics of write ins and meetings on the site
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Anyone up for more write-ins?

TheTal — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:53:22 -0800

Okay, it's major suck for me to write right now... Maybe Week 2 blues are still hanging onto me? I dunno...

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone was up for a few more write-ins. You know, the personal kind, not the ones we have via chat (no offense to those illustrious write-ins intended).

I was thinking maybe tomorrow (Thursday) night at Barnes & Noble? I would have liked to be there tonight (Wednesday), but class prevented me. Thursday, however, is good. I was thinking 6 or 8 pm.

Any takers?
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NaNo '08: Title "Out of the Fishbowl" WON!!
Motto for NaNo: "Where there is caffeine, there is a way!"

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Does anyone continue their novel after November?

celiacprincess — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:26:54 -0800

I'm just wondering, if you don't finish the 50,000 words, do you continue working on your novel? I really don't think I'll finish mine, even though I'm going to try, but I like the story, and plan to keep working on it. Am I crazy?
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United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Chat room 10min meet ups

Philosopher — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:22:06 -0800

Everyone meet me in the chat rooms for 10min writing sprints at the following times this week.
http://ccnanowrimo.wetpaint.com/page/CCWriMo+Chat+Room

Nov17 - Nov20 at 7:00am that's Monday through Thursday.
Nov17 - Nov20 at 6:30pm
I'll try to be in there all day today (Sunday Nov16)

----------
2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

November 15th Write-a-thon

LadyMaeRudolph — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:08:54 -0800

I think since many of us won't be able to attend the November 15th Write-a-thon we should find a place to hold our own write-a-thon. I would suggest we go to a library but not the greenwood library because it is in the middle of gang territory so it would be an unsafe place to have an allday event.

My location suggestions are the Aqua Java Cafe in downtown Corpus Christi, or A conference room at the american bank center which would require us to fundraise a little to get it.

If you support my idea please post.
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United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Give me your worst

Philosopher — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 07:02:28 -0800

Post the best of your worst sentences or passages. I'm looking for the most grammatically incorrect, wordy, run on, adjective abusing stuff that you've written so far. I will declare the winner of round one by Monday morning. The goal is to stretch the simplest concept or to go on the longest side track tangent.

Here are a few snippets from mine in which I committed the ultimate cheat.

“One of my characters is also doing National Novel Writing Month and she’s giving an exposition on her views about telepathy in science fiction.” Rowland said.
“Hey whoa whoa wait now wait a minute.” He seemed to take exception to this latest revelation.
“What?”
“Come on now.”
“What?”
“Isn’t that cheating?”
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“No. Why would that be cheating?”
“Because you’re just transcribing what you’re doing right here and right now. You’re not making any of that up.”
“Pffft there’s no such rule in National Novel Writing Month that you can’t do that.”
“Well there should be.”
“What? Why?”
“Because well I mean for one thing you could just be having your characters saying the whole phrase ‘National Novel Writing Month’ over and over again.”
“Well I must confess I have done that. It’s great for word padding.” She pulled out her note pad and pen to look up some of her early plot points and loose ends. “Besides you know how they always say ‘write what you know’.”

(later)

“Oh yeah? Well answer me this then, have you started writing out her word count using words instead of digits yet?”
“What you mean like saying something like, oh I don’t know, writing out three thousand three hundred and thirty four instead of just typing the numbers in like three thousand three hundred and thirty four?”
“Exactly. Stop it.”

The funny thing is this cheat led me to a really good plot point later on.
----------
2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

TV News may cover event!! Need your ideas!

Philosopher — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:11:00 -0800

BREAKING NEWS! We may have a shot at tv news coverage but we need a visual gimmick like the one in the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdZiV2ecMM0
The news people are asking me what exactly they are going to "see" at this write in and I hate to tell them "well nothing... just a bunch of people writing". If you have any ideas let me know. And if you think they should cover a meeting or the Aqua Java write-a-thon instead let me know!
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

For those who have not attended the last write in

Philosopher — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:33:51 -0800

For those who have not attended the last write in be advised that I have given the guilt monkeys an all points bulletin. They are to seek you out in the middle of the night and whisper in your ears that you are behind on your word count and that the big test you have to take in your underwear is tomorrow! I've requested more monkeys from the office of letters and light and my request has been approved.

They will be in the backseat of your cars staring back at you in the rear view mirror. They will be watching from over your boss and coworkers shoulders though they are too quick to be seen when they turn around. They will be sitting beside you on the couch telling you that you could write much more creative and original stuff than this tv crud in your sleep. But most of all they will be there when you should be at a write in.
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Happy Writing!

TheTal — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:32:50 -0700

Right now, NaNo is T-30min. I'm guessing it'll take at least that long for this post to show up on the forums XD

So, I'd like to wish my fellow Wrimos (or NaNos, if you prefer... puh-TAY-toe, puh-TAH-toe) a Happy Writing! May your characters come alive, your plot be long and fruitful, and your inner editor be gagged throughout November.

I think that's the best blessing a WriMo can give to their fellow writers :D

Oh, and I look forward to seeing y'all at the meetings and a few of the write-ins!

Again, Happy NaNoWriMo, and happy noveling!
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NaNo '08: Title "Out of the Fishbowl" WON!!
Motto for NaNo: "Where there is caffeine, there is a way!"

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

NEW CALENDAR!!

Philosopher — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:31:25 -0800

Even though the google calendar was the standard recommendation for NaNoWriMo I wasn't too happy with it. All changes had to go through me which didn't allow accessibility to all participants. I want you guys to be able to schedule your own write ins that fit your time and not have to ask me for permission or anything like that.

So what I've done is I've made a calendar on the wiki site. To avoid confusion for anyone who may not get this message, all previously scheduled dates will remain in effect. This is only for new dates. Remember that on the wiki site anyone and everyone is allowed to edit pages anonymously. You do not have to sign up sign in or give your email out.

Here is the new calendar page
http://ccnanowrimo.wetpaint.com/page/Calendar
I will be changing the link on the forums as well.
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

More frequent write ins?

Philosopher — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 06:56:17 -0800

Austin has at least two a day :-s. Do you suppose we should have at least two per week? We've got way fewer participants but being seen around town might change that.

ML's are not required to attend every write in. I think the rule is that we attend no less than 2 through out the month. It shouldn't be hard for you all to find each other should I not be able to attend. If you're behind on word count you will really want to attend a write in.

BTW we actually have a greater per person word count than Austin. :-D You guys rock!!
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Brand new CCWriMo wiki!

Philosopher — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:51:50 -0700

Don't forget to check out the brand new CCWriMo wiki site!
http://ccnanowrimo.wetpaint.com
A wiki site is a site than anyone can edit and upload to. You don't have to sign up if you don't want. You can edit anonymously.

Things you can do on the CCWriMo site:
- Blog about your novel or nano experiance
- Upload photos of write ins or pics related to your story
- Check meeting times
- Suggest write in times and places
- Use the chat room for online word wars
- Add fun widgets like polls
- Ask your ML a question
- Upload videos and music
- Submit your suggestion for the CCWriMo logo

...etc...etc...etc
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Voting and Polls on wiki site

Philosopher — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 18:18:09 -0800

In honor of election day I've created polls on the wiki site. Actually that was just a coincidence but check it out anyway.
http://ccnanowrimo.wetpaint.com/page/CCWriMo+Polls+and+Voting
----------
2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Daily Word Count Calendars!

TheTal — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 21:39:33 -0800

So if you don't want to add 1667 (the minimum number of words you have to write daily to reach 50,000 by November 30) manually each day, there's a neat little thread here on the forums that has calendars for your desktop that have the daily word counts on them.

It's on the Reaching 50,000 Forum, but with all the word shout-outs being posted there since the start of NaNoWriMo, it's gotten pushed back a few pages. But never fear! I've searched for you and copied the link so that you don't have to!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3002403

The one I currently have on my desktop was made by migratory, who posted on the first page of the above thread, about midway down. His/her post has the link to an absolutely brilliant calendar... called "NaNoWriMo: How to Break a Brain in Thirty Days" I highly suggest it... if nothing else, it will make you laugh.

And for those who saw my calendar at the first write-in, this is where I found it, in case you were wondering. ^.^

There are also other calendars on the thread, made by talented WriMo's, and if you think a calendar with the daily word counts will help you with your writing, I suggest you check them out, and see which one strikes your fancy.
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NaNo '08: Title "Out of the Fishbowl" WON!!
Motto for NaNo: "Where there is caffeine, there is a way!"

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

Want a fancy Banner in your signature advertising your book? I know you do...

Ensis — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:08:36 -0700

Yes, yes I, the great and prolific Ensis am reinstating my offer to design Signature banners bearing the the title of your novel-to-be right up until midnight on November 1st!

So far I've had only one taker who failed to provide me with any details as to what she desired, but I hope to design many professional looking Banners for my fellow writers--just see the one below!

It is a little busy, but I'm still proud of it--and yes, the lens flare bears significance.

So to recap, here are the rules (more like guidelines):

a) Corpus Christi Participants ONLY please; I don't have time to make banners for the whole world.
Because I may not have any way of telling if people switched their region just to get a banner, priority will be given to people whom I KNOW TO ATTEND MEETINGS.

b) Please send me as many details abut the project as you can, including title, background images, fonts, taglines, concept Art, et cetera. If you want to leave everything up to me PLEASE SAY SO but do tell me the general gist of your novel so I can try to imbue the banner with a little of its flavor.
Because it takes more time than you'd think for me to dredge up raw images to work with, priority will be given to people who SEND ME RAW MATERIALS AND DETAILS.

c) Because making a good looking graphic is so time and labor intensive SEND YOUR REQUESTS EARLY. I will do my best to fill them all, but be advised that come November First, I drop everything for my own novel.

d) And lastly, but most importantly, high priority will be given to WINNERS!
Why? Because I don't want to waste my October making high quality images for losers who quit at the start of week two! Know what I'm saying?

So in conclusion, please take advantage of this fabulous, totally free offer. The only thing I ask in return is that you visit my blog. Stay a while, read some posts. Be the first besides myself to leave a comment!

It's also a good place to check out some of my other photo manipulations and get a feel for my style and quality. Search for 'picture dump day' for a smattering of work related to my novels.

So thanks, I hope to make lots of banners!
http://malblogia.blogspot.com
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http://malblogia.blogspot.com

United States :: Texas :: Corpus Christi

5 days to go and STILL NO PLOT!

Philosopher — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 05:00:31 -0700

:-s I know Chris Baty's book says "no plot no problem" but 5 days to go and no plot yet makes me a bit nervous. How are the rest of you doing in terms of plot and outline?
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2005 "Cost of Living" - WON
2006 "Pandora: After the Box" - failed
2007 "Monkey Ex Machina" - failed miserably
2008 "Ships and Ports" - WINNER HOORAH!