USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Are you afraid to finish?

khr — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:18:38 +0000

With just over 11,000 words left to be written within the next few days I find myself wondering what happens next. Will I just be done and leave my character and now friends on the pages of this very rough draft? I think I'm going to miss them. So if I finish what will happen next? Each day when I sit down to write I find my self hesitant because I want to finish the story, but I don't want to say good bye. Does this make sense? Am I just lost in NANOLAND? Someone pull me to the reality that comes next.

I have been so encouraged lately that my story is going down the right path. I have to say thank you to those I've told and who have said, "yes, that's exactly right."

Your thoughts please -- See you at the finish line.

Karen
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karen h richardson
louisville, kentucky

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Write and Save Lives

newsie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:52:23 +0000

I'm a volunteer for Metro Animal Services and on the grant writing team.
The problem is several of our team members have dropped out or aren't really getting the writing done.

Would anyone be willing to step into helping with this? It would be a great way to try writing in a new and challenging way.
You could just try one and get your feet wet. We are splitting up grants, doing a little research, and creating proposals for the grants.

The grants are helping us get funds to build the new shelter (which is desperately needed), also to help
with funding rescues and other needs to help us save homeless animals.

The next meeting isn't until December 2, so it would be after NaNoWriMo is over.
The meetings are at the shelter at 3705 Manslick at 6pm. If interested in helping out, let me know.

You all are writers so I figured I go to a group of writers for help! :D
Jessica

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50,000 words or bust!
Follow your Louisville updates at http://twitter.com/LouisvilleNaNo

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Questions for your characters

joybethany — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:48:37 +0000

This is something that really helped me understand my charachters and write better last time I did this. I write a question, then the next person that comments answers the question FROM ONE OF YOUR CHARACTERS' POINT OF VIEW. :-) Then you write a question for the next person to answer.

Example:

What is your favorite color?

(First person)

Elizabeth: I like purple. I suppose I've just gotten used to it since it is the color I must always wear since I am a mage.

Where were you born?

(Next person)

Richard: I was born in southern Jura in the country. My father was a sailor and taught my brothers and I everything about airships whenever he was home, and my mother stayed at home with us.

Who is your best friend?

(End example)

First question:

What is your favorite color?
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(insert witty signature here)

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

ANNOUNCEMENT - 11/22 Evening of Scribbling Recklessly - Nashville, TN

fly — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:48:04 +0000

Dear Neighboring Regions (and Australia),
Greetings from fly, the ML for NaNo Nashville. This year, we are having our own ginormous write a thon, which we'll be holding the same time those out in Cali are having theirs (well, mostly). We would very much like you all to come. In fact, I would very much like to have so many writers that our total writers word count EXCEEDS that of the Cali event.

Details are as follows. Please post here if you can come.
NOTE: You only need to RSVP to one thread for this event.

The Evening of Scribbling Recklessly is on 11/22 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Nashville.

Where: 2300 Knights of Columbus Blvd. Nashville, TN

Where? - From I-40, exit Briley Parkway South (exit 215A), take the first LEFT onto Knights of Columbus Blvd.

When - 11/22 from 4-10 PM.

Important Notes:
$10 donation required for admission. This is in addition to any donation you've made. I will waive this for anyone that can prove they came from Australia.
Bring a side dish to share. Remember, we're pretty much all going to have computers handy, so stay away from really messy stuff. :)

We will be having a ton of giveaways.
You can get tickets for these givaways in a number of ways:
- Admission fee. Yes, you automatically get tickets for showing up.
- Bringing a dish to share like you're supposed to
- Wear a NaNo t-shirt. This can be from any year, and can be national or regional. I'll also accept Script Frenzy and Office of Letters and Light shirts for this.

- Additional tickets can be purchased.

Please let me know if you're coming.

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Official ML for Nashville, TN
Official Unofficial ML for Ashtabula County, Ohio
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USA :: Tennessee :: Murfreesboro

Any events/write-ins across the river in Indiana?

GenLady — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:35:25 +0000

Hi everyone

I'm hoping to find others interested in a write-in in New Albany or Clarksville....??

Anyone interested?

Dee
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USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Can You Please Help Me .... NaNo Project Help!!

fly — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:14:31 +0000

I was hoping y'all could help me just a wee little bit.

As a side project during November (and actually, I'm more into this project than I am with my novel), I'm asking everybody to send me postcards from which I'll base a story.

All I'm asking is that the front of the postcard is actually a place of some sort (Parks, City Scapes, Monuments, Museums, etc.... whatever) and that on the back, you write a character name, the character's age, and a sentance or a few words about that character.

Stick it in the mail to me, and (starting November 1) when I get it, I will use the image on the front and the character on the back, to write a short story of at least 500 words. (Just think 100 postcards, and that's another 50,000 words right there.)

Send them to me:

fly/Mandi M. Lynch
1008 Jacksons Valley Rd
Hermitage, TN 37076

(feel free to pass this on to anyone else you know who'd be willing to help!)
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Official ML for Nashville, TN
Official Unofficial ML for Ashtabula County, Ohio
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USA :: Tennessee :: Memphis

What are your most words written in one day?

khr — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:00:52 +0000

Just finished for the day. I wrote close to 5,000 words today. My hands and wrists are screaming. Headed for warm bath and to read a book that has actually been published.... The good news is I'm pretty much caught up to our daily average. Will try to keep it up this week. What are the most words you've written in one day?

KHR
Louisville, KY
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karen h richardson
louisville, kentucky

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

word war between Kentucky :Louisville and Arizona:Elsewhere

Sekitou — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:13:46 +0000

hello everyone!

As those who came to the Louisville Kick-off Party know, we decided to challenge Arizona :: Elsewhere to a word war challenge this year. And they have accepted! We decided to war on average words per person, to make up for the difference in people in the region.

Today the NaNo site has turned on the widgets! Rejoice! The site is speeding up again, and can handle them! And we have properly track this word war!

Now, if you look on the Regional Header at the Regional Info tab, you'll see a section that says, "Where We Stand". There's a widget there that allows you to show the totals for different regions. Unfortunately it doesn't let you show the average, and that's what we're warring by. So I have put the relevant widget in this post so all can see it.

FYI, I've been checking the data even though the widgets were turned off, and Arizona :: Elsewhere has been winning every day so far! The widget is counting the # of people per region who are homed and have entered a wordcount. So if you're not homed and would like to participate, you need to set your home region. Then you need to enter and update your wordcount. :)

This widget should update itself once a day, so you can check this post to see how we're all doing.

Onward writers! And good luck! :)

Angela
co-ML for Louisville KY
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USA :: Arizona :: Elsewhere

YA in Louisville

GRIFFIN_B — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:31:30 +0000

From the welcome thread, it seems like we have lots of YA writers. I thought I'd create a new thread to discuss writing YA in Louisville. Do you guys have local crit groups? Are you members of SCBWI (uh-oh, I think I need to renew my membership). Are you students, teachers, avid readers of YA? What makes you want to write it?

I actually started writing YA when I was teaching middle school (I teach high school now). I get to teach YA lit and creative writing electives as well as using YA books (Hunger Games and Speak this year) in my English II classes.

I like writing YA because I love the immediacy, and I feel it has a lot of leeway for commercial/literary crossover. AND present tense first person is very common in YA, and that's all I can write, pretty much. My only published book is realistic contemporary, but I'm also trying some different stuff.

How about you guys?

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www.bethanygriffin.com

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

University of Louisville

rosemars — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:13:45 +0000

Anyone else studying at the University of Louisville? My friend and I were wondering how many others were here as well. Meetings at Heine Bros or Einstein can be arranged to help move plots along :) Nights in the library too.

Rose
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USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

PLEASE READ: Nov. 14th Write-in

newsie — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:34:49 +0000

The Saturday, November 14th write-in will still be "officially" from 2pm to 5pm at Heine Brothers.

However, I have had something come up for work at 4pm, and I'm suppose to be "hosting" the write-in.
My co-ML, Sekitou, will be out that day.

Soooooo, I'll be there at 11:30am until 3:30pm. Of course, you can come at 2pm and leave where ever you like.
But, there will not be an ML there from 3:30pm until 5pm.

Sorry if this annoys anyone. hahahahaha ;-)

Keep on writing, NaNo'ers!

Jess (Newsie)
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50,000 words or bust!
Follow your Louisville updates at http://twitter.com/LouisvilleNaNo

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

My cat helped me write my NaNo

Esper Ranger — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:57:08 +0000

Last night I had my laptop sitting open with the novel on it (backed up of course) and one of the four cats in the room apparently jumped up on it for a short while. When I got back a new paragraph had been started that looked something like this:

Bnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

I thought it was cool that whoever it was managed to start it with a capital letter. So I decided to keep it in my story and explained it as the sound of an alarm indicating the start of a Danger Room sequence. Yes, my Power Rangers have a Danger Room.
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Reality is a crutch for those who are unable to handle fantasy...

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Titles

newsie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:28:07 +0000

I want a title for my book...

I can't think of anything.. it's a sequel to a my NaNo novel from last year called "Ormalia"
The novel was my attempt at doing something scary but it turned more into fantasy and now it's continuing along that vein.

In this one, the characters from the last novel are helping a little girl.
For some reason, some baddies want her.. the characters don't know why yet and neither do I.

A title may help me.
for some reason, a title is the answer.

hahehehehe.

Any ideas or words that may help me come up with something??

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50,000 words or bust!
Follow your Louisville updates at http://twitter.com/LouisvilleNaNo

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

NaNo Report Card

Sekitou — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:51:30 +0000

hello!

I’m back with a gift. To the returning nano-ers, this is an old friend. To those new to NaNoWriMo, this is a fun tool that will help you during the upcoming month.

It’s the NaNo Report Card! Yay!

Created by Erik Benson years ago, the NaNo Report Card resurfaces every year to inspire nano-ers throughout the month with its graphing, number-crunching goodness. There are usually new and slicker versions of this spreadsheet put out around the forums every year, but I’m kinda parital to the older version. So every year I update it to current dates.

With minimal input on your part, this report card will give you a lot of data on your progress. If you fall a little behind, it can measure how much you need to up your wordcount average each day to catch up (instead of burning yourself out trying to make it all up at once). It can tell you what your expected completion date is based on your current pace (I’ve had it tell me I was going to finish in June of the next year. That was a fun NaNo!). It tracks your moral, and you can even leave daily comments on how you feel about life, the universe, and everything everyday. And there are graphs and pie charts! (It’s inspiring watching the little graph line climb higher each day!) :)

If anyone would like a version of the report card made for a different wordcount goal (other than 50k), let me know and I’ll custom-adjust it for you. I already have an 80k version for someone, so I know all the formulas that need to be changed to make the report card hum.

Here’s the link!

NaNo Report Card

14 days till NaNoWriMo!

Angela
co-ML for Louisville, KY
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USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Evening of Scribbling Recklessly (in Nashville)

fly — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:24:39 +0000

Just wanted to take a moment and invite you all to a really cool event on 11/22.
We're doing our very own NWD.

I know you guys are about three hours away, but I want to invite you anyway.
I have an ongoing thread in the N'ville forum that I'm updating regularly.
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Official ML for Nashville, TN
Official Unofficial ML for Ashtabula County, Ohio
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USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Welcome!

Sekitou — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:30:41 +0000

hello! welcome to NaNoWriMo! :)

I’m Angela, one of your co-MLs. I’m really excited for this year, and I know we’re going to have a great time. We have a new co-ML this year, Newsie, she’s going to be awesome. :)

We’re currently planning the Kick-off Party, and will announce the details as soon as everything’s ready. Come November we will be having write-ins several nights a week in places around the city and Jefferson County. I hope everyone can come out and hang out and write. We’ll have the official NaNo swag to hand out! :) For October we’re going to be hosting pre-NaNo write-ins as well, for anyone who wants to get together to discuss plots and make many giddy plans for the adventure ahead.

For now, we’re here! And it’s October! Just 29 days away from NaNo! yay! :) So please, introduce yourself! What are you writing? It’s totally okay if you don’t know. Part of the fun is figuring it out.

For me, I’ve participated in and won NaNo the last 5 years, and this is my 3rd year as a ML. This is the first time in a long time that I have no clue what I’m writing about. For the last 5 years I’ve written adventure novels set in my weird little world. But since I’m not sure what happens next in that world, this year I’m doing something different. I don’t know what yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. “No plot? No problem!”, right? :)

Angela
co-ML for Louisville, KY
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USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Any Butler Students Here?

Doctor Dom — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:57:17 +0000

Are there any fellow butler students participating this year?

Let me know, guys!
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USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Word count widgets

Esper Ranger — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:27:23 +0000

Has anyone gone to take a look at the work count widgets yet? Do you see anything on the page? All I'm getting on both computers is the place holder images.
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Reality is a crutch for those who are unable to handle fantasy...

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Writing Impliments

poetsworld — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:28:32 +0000

Just wondering what everyone is using to write their novels this year.

Since I'm without a laptop this year, I'll probably be hand writing most of my novel and then type it into my computer every so often. The only problem is that it gives my inner editor time and space to do its thing, which could mean extra words, but would mean a delay in writing time.

I also have evernote set up on my iPhone so I may use that on occasion as well.

This year should be fun!
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Help me with my title! "The Loss Box" or just "Loss Box"

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

NaNoWriMo invite on the radio

jamesbickers — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:18:16 +0000

Hey all, just saying hello and introducing myself ... also, I talked up the event on the radio this morning. MP3 link at the bottom.

Very excited about the month ahead!

Best,
James
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USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Louisville Dares Thread

Sekitou — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:20:58 +0000

hello!

Welcome to the Louisville Dares Thread!

For those new to NaNo, dares of various kinds are a long-standing tradition. You can find the official Dares Thread in the Plot Doctoring forum. There you’ll find some absolutely hilarious dares such as, daring you to have a singing cat that narrates your entire novel, to more structural word challenges (like, write a chapter without using the word “the”. I accomplished this one year, but only because I write short chapters.)
If you’re looking for some fun inspiration, I’d suggest checking out the official Dares Thread.
But I digress…

Every year we start a thread in the Louisville Regional Forum where we dare each other to include certain things in your novel. We try to make them things that people can use, no matter what genre you’re writing. And every year at the Kick-Off Party, we ask all attendees to put a word they’d like to challenge everyone to use in a box. We then draw two of these words and present them here in the forums for everyone to see.

This year we ended up drawing three words. And they are:
big girl panties
appetizer
sorghum

And so the challenge has been made! The dare, if you choose to accept it, is to include any or all of these words in your novel next month.

And if you have any dares you’d like to throw down to your fellow Louisvillians? Go for it! Reply here with your dare!

You are also invited to bring a short excerpt from your novel to the TGIO Party to share with everyone how you used the dares.

5days away from writing!
Angela
co-ML for Louisville, KY

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USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

More random tables of story advancingness

Esper Ranger — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:31:53 +0000

These were created by a guy who goes by the handle of Brainguy d20 over at the Kenzer & Company (a role-playing game manufacturer) forums. If the link doesn't work for non-members (of Kenzer) then I'll post the tables themselves here.

http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/showpost.php?p=828402&postcount=459

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Reality is a crutch for those who are unable to handle fantasy...

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Character Development & Interview Question Resources

Crystal Writer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:00:05 +0000

This is a direct link to a PDF page that I printed and brought to one of the pre-nano write-ins. The questions deal with a lot of the emotional responses of characters to help you know how they will react to your novel situations. Find the document at ... www.writing4success.com/dl/character-interview.pdf

Feel free to post your own resources for character interviews, development, names, etc. There may be some in the main forum files, but since there are a lot to go through, a shorter list here might be helpful.
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~Crystal A Murray
The Lord is my Editor, I shall rewrite!

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

You're Invited: 2009 NaNoWriMo Kick-Off Party

newsie — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:58:49 +0000

Whether you're a first timer or it's your sixth novel, make sure you make it to this year's kick-off party!

If you're a newbie, we'll tell you what to expect and have tips on how to deal with the unexpected.
If you're a NaNo veteran, then you know the importance of getting the momentum going with a great start.

Let's encourage each other and have a little fun in the process!
Sekitou and I have planned a great kick-off party for all our Louisville NaNoWriMo authors.
We hope you'll join us!

Date: Saturday, October 24
Time: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Zanzabar located at 2100 South Preston Street
(map below)

View Larger Map
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50,000 words or bust!
Follow your Louisville updates at http://twitter.com/LouisvilleNaNo

USA :: Kentucky :: Louisville

Chatroom and Midnight Writing

Sekitou — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:10:34 +0000

Hello!

Okay, so a couple of announcements…

First:
We have a chatroom! It was just created for us by the wonderful Karalianne, so it’s brand spankin’ new and ready for us to break it in!

You can find a link to the chatroom below, or under the Regional Info tab in the Regional Header at the top of this forum. Click the link, and the instructions there will walk you through creating your username. This chat does NOT require you to download a client! So I’m hopeful everyone will be able to use it. I’ve heard there is a bug with the audio if you’re using Firefox. I tried it, and I didn’t encounter the problem. But if anyone does, let me know.

Which leads to the second announcement:
Are you excited for NaNo? Are your fingers itching to start flying (or hunting and pecking) across that keyboard tomorrow? Then join us late tonight! After all the trick-or-treaters are gone, log-in to the Louisville NaNo chatroom where we will be holding a midnight write-in tonight.

Louisville Midnight Write-in
Where: Louisville NaNo chatroom
Time: start writing at midnight

So stay up and join us! We dare you to write at least 250 words before you go to sleep tonight! :)

Third:
The chatroom is there for you to use during the month. We will be having online write-ins there. And if you're ever needing to bash out some words and want to word war with someone? Post in this thread what time you'll be in the room. That way everyone will see you're going to be there, and can join you in adding to those wordcounts! :)

Angela
co-ML for Louisville KY
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