Europe :: Northern Ireland

Events: Belfast write-ins

farfalla — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:08:40 +0000

Who's up for a meeting/write-in on Monday evenings in November, somewhere around the Botanic Avenue area? (As you can see, I've already added these to the calendar.)
The venue is to be decided though - might be the same as last year, in Undaground on Dublin Road - suggestions are welcome.

I believe Speculator is organising something for Friday evenings too, but I'll let him post about that.
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

We dare you!

farfalla — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:26:14 +0000

Those of you who've done NaNoWriMo in Northern Ireland before will know that a challenge of reaching 50,000 words in one month isn't enough for us. Oh no, we like to chuck in an extra challenge by daring you to include something specific in your novel (and then post the appropriate excerpt).

In 2006, we all put David Hasslehoff in our novels. 2007 was the first year for the Pumpkin of Sugary Doom, so to include a pumpkin (or more than one) was the challenge. Last year, we went for the fearsome foursome of ninja-pirate-monkey-robot (extra brownie points to anyone who got all four).

This year, to honour our Collection Pig (see his photo here), we dare you to include a pig in your novel.
(Pig-related products such as bacon sandwiches are acceptable.)
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

The Annual All-Ireland Word War (Leader Board & Chatter)

farfalla — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:31:30 +0000

No results on the Leader Board yet - the first lot are due tomorrow night. (I can say that there are some excellent word counts being clocked up already though!)

This is the thread for word-war-related chatter/banter/slagging though, as well as being where I will post results every 3rd day.

Play nice now...
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

The Annual All-Ireland Word War (Rules & Sign-ups)

farfalla — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:07:16 +0000

I've lost count now of how many years we've been doing this (I think since 2006), but once more, there will be a word war between the four Irish provinces plus Dublin.

The idea of the All-Ireland Word War is to boost our word counts with some healthy competition and friendly banter - and seeing as 66% of the people who started the war last year made it to their 50k (and beyond, in many cases), it's an idea that definitely works!
(For reference, the world percentage of winners is around 18%.)

Last year's winners were Connacht (highest average word count of word war 'finishers') and Munster (highest average word count of all participants, and highest percentage of 50k winners).

How to take part:

1. Comment in this thread, stating who you'll be writing for: Connacht (or Connaught - there's always a spelling argument), Leinster, Munster, Ulster or Dublin. It doesn't matter what NaNoWriMo region you're in - you just need some link to the province (born there, grew up there, or live there).
The deadline for sign-ups this year is midnight on Friday November 20th.

2. Update your word count at least every 3 days during November, by the usual means of updating it in your profile or in the nifty little box at the top-right of this website.

3. The winning groups are the one with the highest average word count by midnight on November 30th, and the one with the highest percentage of people reaching 50K or more. And if last year's anything to go by, I'll probably churn out a whole load of other statistics too. :)

Rules (some changes for this year):

- I'll be taking a snapshot of the word counts, and posting a leader board (in a different thread), every third day up until the 24th. After that, I'll do it daily. (Doing it every 2 days as I used to was getting a bit too time-consuming.)
The leader board gives the average word count for each group - in other words, total word count divided by number of members.

- Once you're signed up, you cannot drop out voluntarily - unless there are incredibly mitigating circumstances such as a broken wrist. NaNoMail me if necessary. Although I suppose that could be tricky with a broken wrist.

- Anyone who hasn't updated their word count for two consecutive snapshots (so at least once every 6 days to start with) will be dropped unless they have NaNoMailed me to let me know they won't be able to update.
For example, if you have a word count for the 3rd, you need to update by the 9th to avoid being dropped on that day's snapshot.
No-one will be dropped after the 24th.

- If you have been dropped out, and wish to be reinstated, NaNoMail me.

[Note: this is a single thread which is visible in all the Ireland forums.]
[Later note: edited to explain what I actually post on the leader board.]
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Europe :: Ireland :: Dublin

YAY! Everything's going great!

farfalla — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:32:25 +0000

Share your NaNoWriMo triumphs and successes and happy moments here!
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

ARGH! Everything's going wrong!

farfalla — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:37:07 +0000

Share your NaNoWriMo trials and tribulations here...
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Event: TGIO

farfalla — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:14:45 +0000

It's past time we started to think about our TGIO (Thank God It's Over) bash.

Everyone taking part in NaNoWriMo is welcome to come along (and bring friends, family and supporters) whether they wrote 1 word or 100,000. It's a celebration of the fact we survived November!

November 30th is a Monday this year, and it's usual to have the TGIO in the following week. I suppose that meeting in Undaground is as good a place or any, unless people would like to go somewhere that we can get a proper drink too?

Can you let me know your preferences for the following times/dates, plus any location suggestions?
- 6 or 7ish on Thursday 3rd
- 6 or 7ish on Friday 4th
- 5 or 6ish on Saturday 5th
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Raising money for NaNoWriMo

farfalla — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:32:53 +0000

There are lots of ways that we can raise money for NaNoWriMo, which is of course a non-profit organisation that needs a lot of money to run (have a look at the homepage to see how much)!

We can make our own contributions of course, by donating via the store (http://store.lettersandlight.org/) or by using GoodSearch or doing some of the other things on the Donating When Broke page.
I'll also be passing around the collection tin at meetings, though that money will be going primarily to cover the costs of running NaNoWriMo in Northern Ireland itself - more on that later.

But better yet, we can get people who aren't themselves doing NaNoWriMo to contribute to the cause, by getting them to sponsor us!

So come join Team NI NoWriMo at GiftTool (http://www.gifttool.com/athon/OurTeamPage?ID=1891&AID=777&TID=4945) and get sponsored to write your 50,000 words!
I've set a lowly goal of getting 5 team members (including me) and of raising $400 (about £250 based on today's exchange rate) - but of course, the more of us take part, the higher our goals can be!
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Events: Author Readings and Q&A at Castlereagh

farfalla — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:59:27 +0000

The utterly amazing crowling (also known as the author T. A. Moore) has arranged a series of readings and Q&As with local authors during November, to be held at the Lock Keeper's Cottage coffee shop in Castlereagh.

Thursday 5th November, 5.30pm - 7.00pm - T.A Moore and Gerard Brennan
Thursday 12th November, 5.30pm - 7.00pm - Stuart Neville
Thursday 19th November, 5.30pm - 7.00pm - Annie McCartney
Thursday 26th November, 5.30pm - 7.00pm - Ian McDonald

Each of these author-ful events will be followed by a NaNoWriMo write-in from 7pm onwards.

Please do come along if you can possibly make it!

I'll post up some driving & public transport directions soon (or maybe crowling can, since I'm not that sure myself).

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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Aren't we doing well? Shout-outs!

farfalla — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:40:47 +0000

I thought I'd open a thread (like many MLs have been doing) so we can be all self-congratulatory on making our various word count goals. Post your personal shout-outs here (and for others too if you want).

Me, I'm just happy to have finally broken 20k. And I know it'll get even easier if I can just get to 30k by the end of Saturday... fingers crossed!
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Richard Crawford Workshop in Belfast

Josephina — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:06:30 +0000

I wasn't quite sure where to put this, so I thought I might open a new topic.

Now, I am just back from the workshop, and I want to say that it was brilliant! I learnt heaps from this writer, and it was one of the most practical and useful writing workshop I ever attended. And it was really inspiring!

So thanks for organising it!

I thought the ones who participated might want to tell those who didn't what they took away from it.

Well the way Richard asked questions about the characters and the plot was really helpful to me, because I usually just write on the spur of the moment and see where the plot takes me. I never plan, and I never outline. But this just doesn't seem to work with my NaNo novel this time, and I was getting nowhere.
I just came home from the session and started to ask all those questions (yes, about the wool!), and I finally seem to have a story! Hurrah!

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What do you mean, this is just wool? Are you sure? Do you really know what's in your knitting bag?

Europe :: Northern Ireland

Events: Derry write-ins

farfalla — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:06:45 +0000

We've managed to have a couple of years now with weekly write-ins in Derry, and I'd hate to break tradition!

So when works best for people? I'm good to be in Derry on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday nights, as well as on the weekend, so would personally prefer one of those... but don't let that stop the rest of you from picking another evening.

And the other question is where? Last year, we had about half of them in Starbucks in Foyleside, which at least was open late, plus another couple in Cafe Boho on the Strand Road (though I don't think that's open any more). Anyone got any alternative suggestions?
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Event: Mid-month meeting

farfalla — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:55:07 +0000

Our calendar has a tentative event for this Saturday afternoon aka the mid-month meeting.

With the way things have gone for me this month, I know I won't be able to attend anything in Belfast this weekend. But if anyone wants to pick a place and be there (or maybe even do it on Sunday), then I will support you all in spirit...

We can always have an online mid-month meeting on Sunday afternoon though, if anyone's game for that?
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

First-timers! What brings you to NaNoWriMo?

farfalla — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:14:06 +0000

According to our regional stats (on the Regional Info tab of the forum's main page), quite a large percentage of our homed Wrimos are new to this. And our Introduction thread bears this out too.

So guys... here are some questions for you, and I'm very interested in the answers because they can only help improve how we promote and communicate NaNoWriMo in Northern Ireland.

How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
(Getting the winner's certificate is pretty special, I can tell you!)
What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?

Old-timers, feel free to chip in on these, particularly in terms of your own first-year experiences! But it's you new people I really want to hear from. :) Feel free to ask questions of your own, too!

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Europe :: Northern Ireland

help w/ Belfast details

jbug — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:00:50 +0000

Hmmm, I submitted this earlier but it didn't show up, ever, so this is take two.

I'm actually writing from sunny South Texas, but my MC may be from Belfast. In any case, he's spending some time there. I am trying to place some areas, and my memory is a bit faulty. Can someone set me straight on some things?

Firstly, if you know Carmoney Cemetery, are there any businesses within walking distance?

Is there any market/grocery store close to The Black Box?

Where the hell does Manuel the Waiter really work? (Ok, has nothing to do with my story, but who doesn't want to know?)

If you know Wilson's Entry, what is the main street in front of it... ? I can't find the Entries on a map, so I sure can't figure out the street I'm looking for.

Where would be a sort of prestigious place to live -- I'm thinking a loft or luxury apartment. Not a single dwelling house.

If you happen to have, or want, any Texas-type character, feel free to ask me anything.

Happy writing, ya'll!

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Europe :: Northern Ireland

NI NoWriMo teens - this one's for you

farfalla — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:24:14 +0000

We have an awful lot of teenaged WriMos in the region, and quite frankly, I'm impressed since writing 50,000 words in 30 days isn't something I would have wanted to tackle while in school or college!

I know it's unlikely you guys will be able to come to meetings (although you are very welcome, and also very welcome to bring a non-novelling parent or friend along with you), but we do have an online chat room at http://writers.sharp-words.co.uk/chat-room. It's open all the time, though pretty quiet on weekdays, and you're very welcome to come and hang out and chat NaNo with your friends - and make new friends too.

But tell me - how are you managing to fit NaNo into your lives? Have you pestered your friends into taking part (or been pestered)? If you've done NaNo before - and succeeded - how did you do it?
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Welcome back - introduce yourself!

farfalla — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:22:46 +0000

Hi all, and welcome to another year of November novelling with NI NoWriMo.

I'm back as your Municipal Liaison, and I'm lucky enough this year to finally have a co-ML: Bruce aka speculator, who anyone who's been to Belfast meetings in the past will probably know.

We've got a lot of things lined up for this year, so keep an eye on the events calendar (you can also see it here in its full glory). And remember, if you want to organise something local to you, please do - just let your MLs know so we can add it to the calendar.

So... who's here? Who's new? Who's back again for another year, aiming to reach 50k for the first, or second, or umpteenth time? Introduce yourself!
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Local non-NaNoWriMo events

farfalla — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:39:31 +0000

Anything going on in Northern Ireland that you think your fellow WriMos would like know about? (Writing workshops, author sigings, that sort of thing?)

Please do not post anything that could be considered personal marketing - i.e. posting about an event for which you will earn money - as this belongs in the Marketing forum. I will remove any unsuitable posts if necessary.
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Getting started at midnight?

farfalla — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:08:44 +0000

Is anyone planning to start writing immediately after midnight on Saturday/Sunday night?

Since I'm not going out for Halloween this year (the first time in nearly 10 years!) I've decided that I might just have to start writing at 00:01 on Sunday.

And if anyone wants to join me, I'll be in our chat room from sometime before that!
http://writers.sharp-words.co.uk/chat-room
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Events: Kick-off

farfalla — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:30:47 +0000

Thanks to speculator, we are booked in for our Kick-off event at Blick Shared Studios, Malone Road, Belfast, on Friday October 30th from 7pm till 9pm.

And I'm pretty damn excited about this, as we have plans for things-to-happen at the kick-off.
In fact, we have Plans with a capital P.

First up, I'll be driving up from Derry, leaving about 5pm - which means that I have car-space for up to 4 people (although that would make it a squash in the back seat) if anyone wants to come along. It wouldbe great to have as many people as possible there from all over Northern Ireland.
Drop me a NaNoMail if you're interested in a lift; I can promise that I don't bite and I do drive safely, and hopefully Larys will vouch for that.

Secondly, please do feel free to bring friends and family and supporters, even if they're not taking part in NaNoWriMo. (Maybe we can convert them.)

Thirdly, there will be games played - beneficial, writing-related ones. With prizes.
Bring a notebook and pen, and hopefully at least a vague idea of what your novel's about. There won't be any actual writing done of course, since it'll still be October. But there will be talk about plotting and probably some actual plotting.

Fourthly, we are trying to raise as much money as possible this year, both to cover our costs and to donate to NaNoWriMo. There will definitely be a raffle happening (as well as a collection pig being passed around) - if anyone has any suitable writing-related prizes they'd be happy to donate, drop me a NaNoMail. I already have some good ones, including a collection of vintage official swag, and a copy of Chris Baty's The NaNoLand Chronicles: Bedtime Stories.

PLEASE RSVP to me or Speculator or by commenting here or by RSVPing on Facebook, and let us know that you're coming. If you don't let us know at least the day before, then you probably won't get a goodie bag.
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Events: Introduction to NaNoWriMo

farfalla — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:53:56 +0000

I'll be running a couple of Intro to NaNoWriMo sessions in the last week of October, aimed particularly at first-timers, although everyone is welcome to come along.

* Belfast: Monday October 26th, 7pm in Studio 1 of the Crescent Arts Centre (http://www.crescentarts.org)

* Derry: Tuesday October 27th, 6:30pm in Derry Central Library

The sessions should last about an hour; I'll do a bit of a 'story of NaNoWriMo' to explain the background and what it's all about, and then we can generally talk about getting organised for November.

If anyone's got suggestions for things they would like or have liked to have known about as a first-time WriMo, please comment!
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Anyone know what they're writing yet?

farfalla — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:20:15 +0000

Anyone got a plot yet? Even an outline? Although I suppose we do have a few weeks to go before panic-time...

I was going to be writing something set in my long-plotted and well-wiki'ed fantasy world, from the point of view of a character I'm quite fond of, and who it struck me lately would be the perfect protagonist. That's the one currently listed in my profile...
But the other day I had a sudden inspiration based partly on a dream a few weeks ago, and had the idea for a SF novel called 'Blue is the Colour of My True Love's Hair'... and now I'm torn.
Play it safe and go with my well-thought-out piece, or wing it completely and write something completely off-the-wall? (Why am I even asking myself this - it /is/ NaNoWriMo, after all!)

How about the rest of you?
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

Shall we join in the UK & Ireland word war?

farfalla — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:18:57 +0000

Much like our All-Ireland Word War, in previous years we've taken part in the UK & Ireland word war.

Is anyone interested in taking part this year? We'd be competing against other NaNoWriMo regions in the UK and Ireland. We did pretty miserably last year, which was our first as Northern Ireland, but hopefully we can do better this year.

Participation isn't compulsary; like the All-Ireland, you sign up as individuals. This is /not/ the sign-up thread, by the way (although I may turn it into one later) - at the moment I'm just trying to see if there are enough interested people. There's a new rule this year that each region must have at least 5 participants (although if the number drops below 5, they can combine with another small region), so I need to make sure there's enough interest before committing us.

I'll have a go, of course. Anyone else want to try and uphold our rather battered honour?
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

NINoWriMo Twitter - do you want it to follow you back?

farfalla — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:12:28 +0000

We have a Twitter account - http://twitter.com/ninowrimo - which is being used to post general rubbish at the moment, but will be used for meeting reminders, 50k congratulations, and 140-character pep talks.

You don't have to use Twitter yourself to see it, of course, but it's worth knowing about the webpage it's shown on - if for example you're coming to a meeting, to check that we are all where we say we're going to be.

However, quite a lot of you are following the account already. I haven't automatically added you back, but unless I do so, you won't be able to send direct messages. So the question to you Twitter followers of @ninowrimo is: do you want it to follow you back?
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Europe :: Northern Ireland

A useful website if you don't know what to write about or run out of inspiration...

Larys — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:39:31 +0000

A friend of mine's just posted this on the French forum : a site called TV Tropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage)

If you haven't heard of it, it's a Wiki about all the tropes, archetypes and stereotypes found in stories - may they be books, films, TV series, animation, comics, mangas, RPGs, video games, etc. It's a real treasure box of ideas for writers and storytellers.

What my friend suggested to do if you run out of ideas for characters/settings/plot devices is to do the following :
1) Go to http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage
2) Click on "Random Item" (right on top of the page)
3) Read the article and think of how you can use the trope.

For example :

-- http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnlyYouCanRepopulateMyRace --> Your character meets a mysterious specimen of the opposite sex who seems to be very interested in the latter, but that character turns out to be the last of his/her kind and wants your MC to be the father/mother of his/her child, so his/her race can survive.

-- http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrammarNazi?from=Main.Grammar... --> Add a character who is obsessed with grammar and goes berserk any time he/she sees words badly spelt. Why not make him/her a Joker-like psychopathic villain who goes on waging a war against mobile phone and Internet companies (which they think are responsible for the degradation of grammar with SMS and Lolcat speak) ?

-- http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodCouple --> Add two super heroes or characters with godlike powers and make them fall in love with each other.

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~ The Unquiet Mind (http://minamzi.livejournal.com)
2007 : House of Wolves
2008 : Red Hot Moon (Won)
2009 : The Small Print