Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Calling all Sheffield people...

reebs3234 — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:12:06 +0000

I don't know if there's one of these somewhere else (I know the one last year was in here), but I just wondered if there are any others from (or close to) Sheffield? I, myself, am right inbetween Sheffield and Rotherham.
Hello!
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It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Regional Dares!

Magenta — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:34:51 +0000

I just realised we haven't started a dares thread in here yet!

For those of you who are new to NaNo, you may have noticed a few of these threads knocking around the place. Basically, we like to add to the fun by daring each other to include various things in our novels. So there are general dare threads, and ones specific to particular genres. And here we have a thread for dares specific to our region.

There are two dares that have become a tradition in this region:

The Fruit Dare You'll already hopefully be aware that if you're coming to the Kick-Off party you need to bring a piece of fruit so we know who you are. It's traditional that you then try to work your piece of fruit into your novel. It doesn't have to be a literal piece of fruit - you could describe something as being the same colour as a kiwi fruit, or shaped like a banana. Last year, I had one of my characters accidentally turn himself into a pineapple. It was that kind of novel.

The Pablo Dare We also have a tendency to try and include a character called Pablo somewhere, even if only in a walk-on role. Strictly speaking, Pablo should be on the flamboyant side, but it's not absolutely necessary. The original Pablo occasionally wanders through this forum, so keep an eye out!

Anyone else want to add any other dares?
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Claire - ML for England :: York & Leeds + Moderator of Newbies

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Word War Info - Edited 6 Nov.

Loriba — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:22:52 +0000

Hi all,

This thread is primarily for me to post info about the Word War to all competitors, so it's being cross-posted to all the regions taking part. If you want to make any comments, however, feel free. :-)

ETA: Here's the link to the leader board: http://www.annelyle.com/projects/scoreboard.html

The regions currently signed up are:

Birmingham
Brighton
Cambridge
Darlington
Devon & Cornwall
Essex
Gloustershire
Lancaster & Cumbria
Leicester
London
Manchester
Newcastle
Norfolk
Oxfordshire
York & Leeds
Dublin
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Eng: Elsewhere
Scot: Elsewhere

Birmingham have made enquiries about joining too. I'm waiting to hear back from them.

Only one region has given a definite No, so we may get a lot more before the 10th. Here's hoping. :-)

All those regions that are signed up should have a Banter thread, so feel free to go over and give them hell (but in a nice way). :-)

There may be a slight delay in the War starting up, as we're reliant on the site API working and the site is notoriously slow during the first few days of Nano, plus we're running it in a slightly different way this year and I'm not sure what problems will crop up because of that. In addition, one of Anne's cats is very seriously ill at the moment, so she may not have time to work on it. I'll be in touch with her and will let all the relevant MLs know if we have to make other arrangements at all. I'll also be in touch when I know the URL of the leader board. :-)

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Lottie
I'll sleep when I'm dead.

Europe :: Scotland :: Isle of Skye

So, my laptop just blew up...

From.Grace — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:48:33 +0000

Seriously.
¬.¬
I was just sat there, innocently typing away, and something inside it blew and now it's not workingggggggg.
I've lost everything :|
What's worse, it's swallowed my Sims3 disk and it won't come out xD

Does anyone know if there's a way to recover my documents? Like taking out the hard drive or something?

IHMAWTD,
Danny.

PS: Am using Joey's laptop, he isn't happy about it xD

Any issues you guys have had so far?
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Leeds Café Meets?

lex-a-like — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:28:28 +0000

Anyone up for meeting at a café in Leeds over the NaNoWriMo weekends, like last year?

I definately am, since it's probably what got me to the win in the end.
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--
"If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait," Robert A. Heinlein

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

York Peeps

Galadriel1010 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:48:56 +0000

There's been some interest already in a York writing group, anyone else fancy it? I'm fairly new in town, so I don't know where people would suggest, but Monty's Cucina on Monkgate is wonderful and has WiFi at least.
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NaNo09 - The more you write, the less you die.
www.fanfiction.net/~Galadriel1010

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

The Last Sentence You Wrote...

Magenta — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:12:45 +0000

First lines are all well and good, but if we want encouragement to keep writing then how about posting the *last* sentence you wrote? Because your first line will always be the same, but the last line keeps changing as long as you keep writing.

My current last line is:

She wanted to refuse, but the pain was such that she couldn't envisage walking all the way home.
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Claire - ML for England :: York & Leeds + Moderator of Newbies

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

York Students...

kelly_writes_the_blues — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:12:40 +0000

Hallo!

I know that there is already a thread about getting a writing group goign again this year, and I hope this doesnt come across badly, but I was wondering if any other students on here fancy getting together a little errrr sub-group? Purely because we have a bit more time on our hands than people with full time jobs and families- you know- the grown ups. It could be based on campus, meet once a week (on a diff day to the other group, so could attend both) and just be a way for us to get our geek on. Together. Let me know what you think!

Kelly

x
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

What's your first line?

JonnyArdern — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:07:41 +0000

One of my writing buddies tells me they have this thread in her regional forums, so I'm asking you: what's the first line of your novel? Discount chapter titles if you're using them, of course. Mine is:

Quote:

Long after records ended, and before they began anew, a group of men stood around an open mine shaft in the wilderness and did not know what they had found.

Share and enjoy!

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"Instruction on the Conventions of Invention and Construction."

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Plots and Synopses

wirette — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:59:46 +0000

I know we're only in early October, so there're still a few weeks till NaNo actually starts, but has anyone else got their plot (vaguely) sorted?

This is the synopsis for my novel this year, at the moment. The challenges thing might change since it feels a little too much like a Thai film called 13: Game Of Death. Only this is about life, not money. Oh, and I should point out that Amigo in Korean means 'a man suffers when he falls in love with a beautiful woman'. Hence, the plot.

Amigo:
Dae Sung Choi is a single, middle-aged office worker surviving in the unbearable heat of Seoul, South Korea. On the brink of losing his job and his sanity, he meets a mysterious woman at a party who literally takes his breath away. She tells Dae Sung that he has 72 hours to complete a series of challenges. If he fails, he dies.

The only question is, can he survive?
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Any writers in Skipton besides me?

spicycauldron — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:56:24 +0000

Taking part in NaNoWriMo, that is! This is my first one and I'm amazed at the things I'm already experiencing and learning on this incredible journey through the month of November - and it's only day four!

I posted on my blog yesterday that this is the first time I've started a novel and had an ending come to me long before I actually get there! I think it's the focus and awareness of a real deadline, it helps the deep insides of my head push ideas to the fore. The entry is at http://spicycauldron.com/2009/11/03/writing-is-magick/

I was knocking ideas about for a month before we started, toying with them all the time, every day - discarding one idea in the shower, coming up with another in the supermarket... Absolute madness, thankfully of a kind that isn't externalised (as far as I know). I don't know, though, whether I will take on the appearance of a total loon by the end of all this... So far I've done okay with my word count, and am happy with how the plot is progressing, but it's SO exhausting. I'm loving it though!

All the best to everyone, I hope we all make the 50k word count and end up with something worth pursuing further. Ever on, to greater glory, and all that, um, jazz!

Andy x
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Introduce Yourself!

Magenta — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:40:58 +0000

That's right, this is the place to come and tell us who you are and what you're doing here (assuming you know, of course!) Tell us a little bit about yourself, and about your novel.

I'll start, since I'm here.

I'm Magenta, though my mother calls me Claire, and I'm your Municipal Liaison. That means I'm in charge here, although so far I've nver once had to put my stompy boots on. Don't make this the first year I do. : ) [Remember, in particular, that this is officially designated an All-Ages Forum, so no swearing or discussions of untoward topics.]

This will be my fifth year doing NaNo, my fourth as ML, and hopefully my fourth victory. I only failed the challenge in 2007, which I think can be excused since I had a baby on the 7th of November that year. So far I've always written contemporary urban fantasy, but this year I decided to go a little bit crazy and write a cheesy romance. Or possibly cheesy erotica, if I feel the need to pad the whole thing out with lavish sex scenes.

So yeah, that's me. Now it's your turn!
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Claire - ML for England :: York & Leeds + Moderator of Newbies

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Leeds Students, Ex-Students, and General Hangers On

Atheling — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:35:12 +0000

Greetings!

Last year we were lucky enough to get a really good NaNo chapter going made up of current and former Leeds students, under the guidance of our awesome leader, rogue_dreams aka Charlie. It was a group that resulted in much karaoke, many good friends made, many milkshakes consumed, one long-term relationship, some frankly disturbing photos and a lot lot lot of words.

Sadly Charlie probably won't be able to resume her leaderly duties this year, so on absolutely no authority I'm (at least temporarily) stepping into the breach. I'm Atheling aka Myfanwy; I'm a third-year English Lit student at Leeds Uni, and this will be my fourth NaNo. Who are you? What do you do where? How many NaNos are you on?

Since last year's format seemed to work, I'm generally inclined to follow it. To which end I propose an initial get-together for the Student NaNos on the afternoon of either Sat 17 or Sat 24 October, to be held in that bastion of student life the Leeds Uni Union Terrace bar. Please post in the thread and let me know which date works for you :)

Our facebook group is here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=85518805390&ref=ts - I'll be adding people as soon as we get the admin arrangements sorted out.

So hai. Welcome to the madness :)
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Harrogate/Starbeck/Knaresborough and other districts?!

Kythe — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:44:58 +0000

Hello all, just wondering if anyone is around the Harrogate districts! If so anyone willing to meet up and go for coffee with our laptops?
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"Is she talking to herself again?" Kith
"No idiot she's talking to us!" Kythe
"Therefore talking to herself..." Kith
"Oh yeah..." Kythe

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Word War Sign Up

Magenta — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:28:44 +0000

Sorry it's taken me a while to get this sorted this year.

Anyways, this is the thread for signing up for the UK and Ireland Regional Word War. If you don't know how this word war works already, you can find the rules in a separate thread in this forum (called, surprisingly, Word War Rules).

If you want to participate, please post in this thread to say so. That should be the *only* post you make in this thread. This is not the place to ask questions or hold a conversation. Just a single post from everyone interested in joining the war. Otherwise it'll take us ages to untangle every time we need to update the scores, and I won't be happy if that's the case.

Needless to say, this is also my post to say that I'm in. : )
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Claire - ML for England :: York & Leeds + Moderator of Newbies

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Word War Banter

Magenta — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:32:15 +0000

This is the thread for conversations about the Word War. : )

In here you can offer encouragement, and generally cheerlead. Be warned though, we may have intruders from other regions coming in here to disparage our attempts at writing. But don't worry, they'll all have a regional Banter thread of their own, so we can give as good as we get.
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Claire - ML for England :: York & Leeds + Moderator of Newbies

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Good Luck!

lex-a-like — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:59:02 +0000

Just wanted to say good luck to everyone in the York and Leeds forum launching their annual insanity, whether it's at midnight (in a minute), or at a more sensible time in the morning.

Hope the muse is kind to us all this year.
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--
"If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait," Robert A. Heinlein

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Anyone from the Coast

Caz2008 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:08:51 +0000

Hi
Im Caz and this is my second year attempting nano. Last year I failed but got passed half way so Im hoping to go further this year. Is there anyone else out there from the Whitby, Scarborough, Bridlington area?
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Wifi Hotspots in Leeds?

Bustahead — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:20:24 +0000

I'm pretty new to the area, having relocated from Nottingham. I don't have the internet at the moment, so am using my cousin's connection.

But I was wondering whether there's any spots in Leeds City Center or even Bradford that offers a free wifi connection?
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Huddersfield people?

Galaxy Defender — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:56:19 +0000

Any other people from Huddersfield area on here?
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Alcuin NaNo-ers?

halfcore — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:30:32 +0000

Yep, I know there's a York Students thread already. This is a bit more specific =]

Wondering if there's any York Uni Alcuinites out there? Just got here a few weeks ago and very much interested in branching out and meeting new people - especially from my college!

And yes I should be writing or sleeping but am posting in forums instead. Because good God my MC annoys me already.
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Kick-Off Party!

Magenta — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:47:44 +0000

Yeah, it's never too soon to start organising the Kick-Off Party!

For those of you who've never been to one before, the Kick-Off Party is a chance to get to meet your fellow local WriMos in person and get excited about the crazy challenge that we're about to embark upon. It's fun!

The past few years we've held it in the cafe of the Yorkshire Playhouse, and that's worked well. It's got the space to accommodate us, and it's usually fairly quiet aside from the large group of crazy writers. So unless anyone has any other suggestions I'd say we do that again.

Date-wise, well, we generally go for a Saturday. And this year the 31st is a Saturday, which seems perfect to me. We'll truly be kicking off the NaNo challenge if we hold it then. So that's my favoured date. It'll be in the afternoon, which hopefully means we won't clash with any Halloween parties people might already have planned. But it's not set in stone. If everyone comes along and says they can't do the 31st then we'll look at another date. Do let me know!

Oh, and again for those of you who've not been before: it's traditional around here to bring a piece of fruit to the party. It helps you find the right group of complete strangers (we'll be the weirdos holding fruit), it provides a nutritious snack afterwards, and it means you can officially call yourself a Fruity Writer. Yay!
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Claire - ML for England :: York & Leeds + Moderator of Newbies

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Gatecrashing the York etc region!

Quinnykins — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:10:38 +0000

As is now clear by my location I am no longer a Yorkie (though I will be in my heart!).

Earlier this year I moved to Ireland in persuit of my career and here I'm landed for the forseeable future!

I'm going to miss the opportunity to write in the beach hut! Seeing the snow on the beach (and the drive there) was an experience on it's own last time!

And my moleskine is mourning the fact we won't be at the kick off in Leeds - it was all so much fun!

I would still like to hang around though and keep in the know about York events!

Happy writing everyone!
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Yes, if you rub it on the back of a duck it goes quite fast...

Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Wakey (+ the five towns) Lot!

wirette — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:49:44 +0000

There's a few of us here! Show yerselves! :D

I think we should attempt a Wakey write-in in Costa or something. Hannah and I managed one last year, but it was just the two of us and it descended into conversations about Stargate. If other people don't come, it will happen again!
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Europe :: England :: York & Leeds

Hull Students?

zixxieclux — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:52:48 +0000

Hey there! Anyone from Hull? Any students? And (this is a long shot) any one from WOLFRETON SCHOOL?
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Flix.