United States :: Florida :: Orlando

We have a mascot!

DreamsAreSacred — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:59:56 -0700

Surprise NaNOrlando!

Today I've been working hard on creating a mascot for us, and it's finally here!

Our mascot is pencil Whit. T Stick, and he's here to help rally us together and motivate us through NaNo. This year's theme: Chasing Plot Bunnies.

In the spirit of having a mascot, I've created a few designs for him and some products that you all can buy so you can have a piece of the stick for yourself. You can find this quirky pencil and his products at this NaNOrlando Cafepress Store.

I hope you all enjoy having a mascot this year. :) Feel free to let me know what you think of his products; and if you have any suggestion for a product you don't see and what you'd like up there tell me that as well.

Artistically yours,
Elizabeth
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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

Official NaNo Meeting Schedule

siobhann_grey — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 17:46:08 -0700

All of the official meetings will take place at Barnie's Coffee Shop on the corner of OBT & Sand Lake.

Barnie’s
Orlando Square
1790 Sandlake Rd
Orlando, FL 32809
Tel: (407) 857-3933

The schedule is as follows:

Kick-Off Party: 11/1 - 12-5 PM

Tuesdays: 6-9 PM

Saturdays: 2-5 PM

There will be a Saturday meeting during Thanksgiving weekend.

If anyone has questions please let Elizabeth or me know!

Jenn

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Sean: Look, Wolfman doesn't go to work, he's not like a guy!
Patrick: What are you talkin' about, he walks around, he wears pants.
Sean: He had to wear pants, those movies were made in the 40's! He had to wear 'em so you wouldn't see his... wolf-

United States :: Florida :: Orlando

Spread the Word!

siobhann_grey — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:53:08 -0700

Hey all!

I need everyone to spread the word about NaNo. We want to get as many people to sign up this year & participate, so Orlando can once again be the greatest NaNo city in the state of Florida. All you have to do is go to the Fun Stuff section and download the fliers. Badger your friends & bribe your enemies! I don't want to have to resort to kidnapping, so get to it! Spread the word!

Jenn
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Sean: Look, Wolfman doesn't go to work, he's not like a guy!
Patrick: What are you talkin' about, he walks around, he wears pants.
Sean: He had to wear pants, those movies were made in the 40's! He had to wear 'em so you wouldn't see his... wolf-

United States :: Florida :: Orlando

It's Almost That Time

siobhann_grey — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 17:39:00 -0700

Hello Everyone!

This is Jenn, one of your friendly neighborhood MLs. I just want to thank all of our returning NaNo junkies & welcome all you newbies. NaNo is about more than just cranking out 50K in 30 days. It’s about meeting new people & connecting with your fellow writers. In a way it’s like camp, but w/o the snakes & poison ivy. Plus there’s candy.

This year Elizabeth & I have a lot in store for you, so get ready. We’ve got lots of new ideas, but I don’t want to give away all our surprises, so if you want to know more, come out to the NaNo Kick-Off Extravaganza! It starts at 12pm, Saturday, November 1st at the Barnie’s Coffee Shop on the corner of OBT & Sand Lake Rd by the Florida Mall. There will be games, prizes, NaNo swag & of course, Elizabeth & me!

We realize that it’s hard for some people to make it out to some or any of the meetings we organize, so this year we are strongly encouraging independent meetings. It’s all about word count baby! Keep checking the forums for a meeting near you.

If anyone has any questions or needs a strong kick in the pants, feel free to let us know. Granted, we’ll probably kick you in the pants anyway if we see you slacking.

Thanks a lot & let’s make this year the best NaNo yet!

Jenn

PS- Please make sure your email address is correct in the NaNo system as we will periodically send out regional emails.
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Sean: Look, Wolfman doesn't go to work, he's not like a guy!
Patrick: What are you talkin' about, he walks around, he wears pants.
Sean: He had to wear pants, those movies were made in the 40's! He had to wear 'em so you wouldn't see his... wolf-

United States :: Florida :: Orlando

NaNo Buddies

DreamsAreSacred — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 18:14:26 -0700

We're about three weeks away from November now, and right now you're all probably energized and excited. However, two weeks in to NaNo when your characters are moaning at you, your wrists feel like they're falling off, and you can't believe you thought your plot could last you through the month you might not be so motivated.

So this year Jenn and I think, for those interested in participating, a buddy-support system for the Orlando region will be set up. This way, when the hard times hit you've got a NaNo friend you can email for a pat on the back in support, a firm kick in the rear to get yourself back in gear, or someone willing to throw out prompts to you.

If you want to participate in this I'm going to need you to NaNoMail me a few pieces of information...
Name
Age
Gender
Genre you're writing and genre's you don't mind working with (you won't need to share your writing, but if you can't stand romance you wouldn't be the best person to give advice to a romance writer)
Email address (so you and your buddy can contact each other)
If you already know of an Orlando participant who you're interested in pairing up with, send me their name as well.

So go ahead and send me a message if you're interested, and hopefully everyone who wants a buddy will be paired up before November starts. When I find someone who seems to be a good fit for a buddy for you, I'll send each of you a message with the other's information.

Should you have any questions feel free to NaNoMail me.

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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

NaNo Countdown: 22 Days -- How can you prepare?

DreamsAreSacred — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:54:59 -0700

Hello NaNOrlando! Elizabeth here, one of the MLs who will help you get through this upcoming November. There are 22 days left until NaNoWriMo beings, but there are things you can do now to ensure you're ready to write when November rolls around.

In the next three weeks you can prepare your friends and family for the fact that you may be absent from their lives for a while. Explain about your novel writing adventure you're about to embark on and how your fingers will seem to be constantly glued to keys and pens. Let them know now that, while it seem like you're avoiding them and don't love them anymore, you're just completing a challenge and will be free again in December.

You can also prepare for NaNo in your every day life. What do you need to make November run smoothly? Extra coffee, paper plates, clean underwear for when you forget to do the laundry? Stock up now so that you won't have to make that rushed trip to the store when you could be spending another hour on your novel.

For those of you who love to plan out anything before you start it, get your planning out of the way now. Write your outlines, character spreadsheets, think of all the city and character names you could ever need to know. Get all of this done in October because November is for writing, not planning. In the age of the internet you may have the world at your fingertips at any given second, but trust me, you're not going to want to stop in the middle of an intense scene to go look up on google where your character can be stabbed where it's not lethal and he won't lose so much blood he can't fight anymore.

Another thing you can plan for are the NaNo meetings. Make note of the official meetings you'll be attending. If you want to have meetings closer to your home, go around and ask businesses how they feel about having a small group of writers come with laptops, power strips, and noise. Post on the forums to find out how many other people are interested in meeting in that area so you'll have a head count to give the management. If you're a teenager who wants to come to the meetings, we welcome you, too! Still in high school and worried your parents will object to you sitting in a coffee shop with weird adults? Start talking to your parents about the meetings and let them know they're more than welcome to join us! My dad came to a few meetings my first year of NaNo when I was 16.

And now the most important task you have during October: Tell your friends to do NaNo too. If you're a teen and your parents are coming to the meetings, tell them to write their own novel so they have something to do! Tell your coworkers, friends, neighbors, your grandma who has too much time on her hands, teachers... anyone and everyone you can think of, tell them about NaNoWriMo. You can print up flyers to put around town by going to nanowrimo.org, clicking on the “Fun Stuff” menu at the top, and selecting the “Flyers for Downloading” option.

Have any questions about how to prepare for NaNoWriMo that I haven't answered? Start a forum post in the Orlando region, or if you're uncomfortable making a public topic with your question, send a message to Jenn or myself and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Happy October!
Elizabeth
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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

Cast Members?

noplacespecial — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:32:52 -0700

In search of other Disney cast members! Orlando is the closest region listed, but I'm doing the Disney College Program without a car, so getting out of Disney and the surrounding areas is pretty difficult. Anyone else in the same boat?
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when all you've gotta keep is strong/move along, move along/like i know you do/and even when your hope is gone/move along, move along/just to make it through/move along...
move along

United States :: Florida :: Orlando

Anything planned for Oct 31st/Nov 1st?

Buraac — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:09:33 -0700

Is there anything planned for the start of NaNo? I realize it's Halloween, but it's been awhile since that involved anything more then passing out candy.

Dave
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JanNoWriMo '08- The Heir Apparent, 50,000 words on 1/28/08
"I think one step ahead... like a carpenter... that builds... stairs."
- Andy Bernard, The Office

United States :: Florida :: Orlando

What Gets You In The Mood...

siobhann_grey — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:01:20 -0700

...to write?

For me it's good music, chocolate, & wine/beer.

If none of those work, then reading about writing or the industry or even a book I like gets me stoked. :)

Et tu?

United States :: Florida :: Orlando

This year, I'm writing a Young Adult book. How about you?

brainflow — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:08:09 -0700

I'm spending the month of October researching and putting lots of notes together about the book I'm going to write. In the past, I've completed two manuscripts, neither of which have sold, but I've learned from both of them. There's about ten unfinished manuscripts from the last time I completed one, but I've not had the energy or commitment to finish those.

If you guys are out there in Orlando, what are you doing now?

Do you need help getting motivated?

What groups are you set into and when and where are you meeting?
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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

Are You Enjoying your Saturday Night?

Dotman — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:47:20 -0700

I hope so, because in three short weeks, it will be NaNo, and there will be no Saturday nights for you! Ahh, I can feel it now. The air is getting cooler in the evenings, the storms don't last quite so long... the morning breeze has that sweet, crisp smell of keyboards about to be pounded into oblivion...

What a fine season!
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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

twitter anyone?

MarieDees — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:08:53 -0700

I've signed up for a Twitter account and figure I can twitter my Nano pain as well as some other writing-related events I'll be going to. Is anyone else interesting in twittering Nano? If you aren't familiar with twitter it's a free site that let's you post short updates. Sort of a mini-blog. You can sign up to follow people you're interested in and see what they're posting each day. Nanowrimo has a twitter account where they posted updates this year when the server went down.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/
Nanowrimo Twitter: http://twitter.com/NaNoWriMo
MarieDees (me): http://twitter.com/MarieDees

Anyone want to join me in twittering our way through Nano?

Tina Marie

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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

Calling all Writing Groups!

MarieDees — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:19:37 -0700

Do you have a local writing group you'd like to list? Is the group doing Nanowrimo and perhaps open to hosting write-ins? Let everyone know. Nanowrimo can be a great time to support your local writing community and even recruit some new members.

I'll get us started.

Who: Orlando Writing League
Membership: mostly crazed writers (published and unpublished) who tackle a variety of genres
Website: www.writerchai.com
Nano write location: Barnies Coffee and Tea at Sandlake Road and Orange Blossom Trail (across from the Florida Mall)
Proposed Nano write-in days: Tuesday evenings (6-9pm) and Saturday afternoons (TBD possibly until they kick us out)

We'll firm up the dates and times as we get closer to November. But we should be good to go with the location.

Tina Marie

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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

UCF NaNoers

TessenInTheSand — Sun, 5 Oct 2008 11:51:28 -0700

I noticed a couple people in the intro post mentioned they're attending UCF! So where do you all plan on writing? Last year I did a lot of writing in Java City, but this year I might move to Knigthro's, or try out Volcano's.

Furthermore, is anyone interested in having a mini-meet-up, come November? It doesn't have to be a write-in (unless we want it to be?) but hey, it might be fun!
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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

Blogs and IM

star_stuff — Sun, 5 Oct 2008 08:09:35 -0700

Hey everyone, as a way to further connect with each other during the next few months lets post Blogs and IM screens here.

I'll start.

Blog: http://mreynoldo.blogspot.com/
AIM: polypatterns
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:blog: mreynoldo.blogspot.com
:AIM: polypatterns

United States :: Florida :: Orlando

So watcha writin' this year?

MarieDees — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 16:39:29 -0700

I've decided I'm going to tackle the fantasy novel with elves. It won't be very serious but it may have some serious sex scenes. I'm still debating a title. Well, a title I can post where any age might read it. "To Sheath the Sword" perhaps? Yeah, that's bad.

So, what's everyone writing? Decided on a genre? Do you have a title yet? Are you outlining and developing in advance or doing a free fall through November?

Tina Marie
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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

So I'm wondering...

Dotman — Wed, 8 Oct 2008 01:59:01 -0700

If you could combine chocolate with anything*, and I do mean, anything...

What would it be?

* You all know Velveeta is taken.

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United States :: Florida :: Orlando

Hello NaNOrlando!

DreamsAreSacred — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:48:02 -0700

Hello fellow WriMos! Come introduce yourself here. Don't be shy; you know you want to. :)

I'm Elizabeth, and this will be my third year of participating in (and winning, too, I should hope) NaNoWriMo.
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