[Sticky!] The Big Write-In Thread

Looks like we will be having a kickoff party in Hilo on Halloween at my place!

The time: Show up around 9 or 10 pm. :D

How to get there: My address is Hale Ikena F302 (on-campus dorm). If you walk straight from the campus center towards the dorms under the long covered walkway, all the way past the Ikena office, just keep going straight along the sidewalk until you hit some stairs and I'm at the top. I'll have my door open, with a NaNo sign. :D

This is my first year participating in NaNoWriMo, so please pardon my ignorance, but what can one expect at a write in? Is it just literally folks sitting around writing while in each others company? Is there any interaction or discussion about the writing process and/or our respective novels? Something else? Just curious. There's a write in today at the Kaneohe Borders, which is close to me, but I won't be able to make it. But I just want to know what I could expect and if it would be worth my while to attend a future write in.

-r-

Hi Richard:

A write-in, in its strictest sense, is just a gathering of people who are working on their novels. Yesterday's was my first official write-in with our current MLs, and it was a really good time. Yes, for the most part, it is just a bunch of people sitting around and working. There is sometimes conversation: How's it going? Where are you? What're you giggling at? Mostly, it is just writing.

Yesterday, I participated in my first word-war. Composr declared it and we wrote like crazy for fifteen minutes. I got 615 words down, about near the bottom of those who participated, but those were my first 615 words of the write-in, and I'd been sitting in that cafe for more than an hour. It set me off and I got another couple of thousand words by day's end.

Some people can't write while in the company of others; they are bothered by the distractions or whatever. I do better in a room full of similarly-tasked people. When I'm alone, nobody knows if I'm taking a moment to play a quick game of Bloons Tower Defense 3 or if that moment stretches out to a few hours. When I'm with others who are writing like crazy (and I do mean crazy), I feel I should have something to show for my time. I want people to see me being productive!

Anyway, it's fun. Please join us when you can. I can't make it to today's Windward write-in because my job requires some amount of time spent getting ready sometime during the weekend. I'll be at whatever I can, though, and hope to see you there.

Does anyone want to join me for a write-in at the Borders Starbucks at Pearlridge Shopping Center on Sunday the 16th from 1:30-5:30? I'll be going there to get in some writing time, and will hopefully have Lessa (Charybdis) there with me at least part of the time. I'll be the very short Asian girl typing away on the small pink laptop or dark green alphasmart neo.

the Big Island Westsiders are going to be meeting up at Borders in Kona again on Saturday the 22nd. We'll meet around 9:30 or so and hang out there all morning. Last time we were in the back corner of the lanai, we'll probably try to stake that spot out again this time.

Hi There!
I might make an effort to head down there on Sunday. I have a meeting of the Honolulu Chapter of the National Writers Association on the 15th but I really need to do a write-in ASAP! I'm not doing too bad though... I'm up to 10,000 words and have finally gotten my story gelled so that I can get the rest on paper. It's coming along nicely! So may see you there!
Keep plugging away!
Liz

Oh, wow. I totally just realized how close the one tonight is to me! I will be there :)

oh man.. .it was FUN TODAY! not that every OTHER write in isn't... but.. wow...

the word wars!