Introduction Thread

Heya people of peopletown! Woohoo Nano!

Anyway, I'm Arilan, or Sarah or "that weird anime chick" depending on what you feel like calling me. I'm 22 and an English student at IUPUI. I'm new to Indiana, but not to Nano itself. I've been doing it since 2003(joined the site in 2004) and have won the last 2 years.

I have done 2 warm-up Nano attempts this year, one in April, one in June both of which were moderate successes. I have worked through several different novel ideas for this November already but finally settled on "All Secrets Aside" for 2 main reasons. 1) It's a scifi universe, not a fantasy, which makes it officially the 2nd ever non-fantasy serious story idea I've had. 2) The plot is such that I can indulge my tendency to drip my MCs in drama and angst. Yay for abusive backstories and scientific experimentation!

I'm willing to be writing-buddy/hyperactive cheerleader for anyone who asks, and I will totally read your outline/plot summary/whatever if you want a second opinion. I will also probably try and set up a recurring write-in on the west side(Brownsburg/Avon/Plainfield) on Sundays. Deets TBA. Just gotta scope out a few places, looking for plugs and tables first.

Try to look unimportant. The enemy may be low on ammo.

Dudes! Totally back for '09! Woohoo! ROCK!

In spite of the fact that I have not a shred of an idea what I should write for November (which is kind of starting to creep me out like in a horror movie at the beginning when the main character just starts to see the ghost out of the corner of her eye, but she's not sure it's there yet so she starts thinking she's crazy, and it's not until later that she realizes she's not crazy *whew!* and that there really IS a homicidal ghost trying to kill her. Yeah, like that.), I'm all stoked about getting back to some real writing!

Last year was my first NaNo, and it was everything I could have hoped for. Good times, caffeine, and - well, that's really all I need for my happiness, I guess. I ended '08 with 76K but not a finished story, which I then chipped away at for another...um...seven months(!) until June 30th of this year when I finished it up at 92K. So, yeah, November - totally gets me to write faster than any other month. I'm a fan.

I'll be at probably every Saturday meeting, and I'll probably be showing up at numerous other locations that serve coffee into the late hours of the evening.

Oh, and Alicia: I made another one of those kinetic sculptures that you like so much. Some kids bent it, but I think I can fix it again. Will try to show up with the goods soon.

"What could I do if I did not have to do it perfectly? A lot more than I am now."

Hey fellow Indy-ish NaNoers! I'm Debbie and I'm returning to try my hand at my second-ever official NaNo. I won last year with a hair over 50K... my first fantasy/sci-fi novel that I waited all year to write then was able to only get a beginning, half-done middle, and muddled end on. At 50K it was probably between 50-75% finished. Instead of finishing it, though, I have been working really hard on 2 things:

1) revising my first FINISHED novel, "Isaac's Eyes," which was pretty much done but I did a MAJOR plot/character/backstory overhaul and added a whole new draft to the mix (I am about halfway through the *hopeful* last draft... had wanted to get it done by 12/31 but idk if that'll happen now...)

2) finishing my last full year as an undergraduate student!! I am a senior at IUPUI, and I would have graduated in December but I got the flu -- yes, the flu, and it sucked -- and missed 3 weeks of school in September, which caused me to have to drop a couple of classes and retake them in the spring. It sucks, but what can you do?

As far as my writing goes, I am a novelist, unpublished, trying my hand at some short stories. I am taking a creative writing class at IUPUI (I'm an English/linguistics major and a psychology major) and that has helped get my mojo going...

But I have NO IDEA what my NaNo novel will be. I made this nifty year-long goals list in December but haven't completed a darn thing from it fully... so, I think I might just take the first novel on my list and work it. We'll see.

I look forward to chatting with you all -- hopefully I can make it to some writeins, but I live in Greenwood and my Saturdays are usually spent helping out my husband's wrestling company (Insanity Pro Wrestling, they run shows Saturdays in Fountain Square) or catching up on homework. So we'll see if I can carve out some time to meet y'all!

Later,

Debbie

*Insert a clever remark here, and pretend I said it.*

~ 2nd year NaNo participant ~
2009 -- Providence... won, with 2 days to spare and am over 50K!!
2008 -- Vaampyr.... won!

Hey, all.

I'm Strange/David. Last year I came to one Mo'Joe's event and was pleasantly surprised by how cool everybody was. I hope to attend again, but I'm having serious laptop issues. =(

(Anybody have a cheap cheap cheap cheap laptop I can use for word processing and wi-fi internet?)

I work in insurance, do improv comedy on weekends, and consider myself a writer of murder mystery novels, but last year I did my NaNoWriMo as a modern urban fantasy, and I really enjoyed the process. This year I'm considering a sequel, despite having absolutely no idea what it will be about.

Like many of you, I'm much less shy when writing.

Hello everyone!

I'm Chris, and this is my third year of NaNo. I'm 41 and I live on Indy's NW side with my wife, stepdaughter and three cats. I won both other years, and have self-published the results through Lulu and Amazon's Kindle platform.

I'd only ever written short stories up until 2007, and only two of those were complete and solid enough for me to try to submitting for publication (both were rejected with positive comments at least). Writing is something I love doing but also dread doing. It's work, and it's hard coming up with ideas to start on something, and my inner critic shoots down lots of decent ideas because they're not good enough or too much like something else that already exists. I always doubted I could really complete something novel-length as a result.

That all ended with NaNo '07. I had lost my uncle Chuck, who was a writer himself, just that October. I realized that despite identifying to his core as a writer, not only had ne never published anything, but he also hadn't shared much of his writing with anyone outside of writing circles. I thought I'd write something in his honor and try to get it published. I ended up surprising myself with how well that first novel went, and I was positively glowing with pride when I came to the end of November with a finished book, _Four 'til Late_.

It went so well, I hastily edited it and had enough copies printed to give out to family and friends as Christmas gifts. I wrote the book's sequel, Sinking Down, for NaNo '08 and gave it out as Christmas presents again as well.

No, I'm unlikely to ever be a professional novelist, but I don't write for money, I write because I like writing, and I like people reading my stories and giving me feedback.

Anyway, about NaNo... don't be anxious about it. The first year I only started thinking about the book a few days before November, starting only with the barest of ideas... the novel took on its own life day by day as I wrote, going to bed with the last chapter on my mind, waking up with the kernel of an idea for the next chapter and so on. Notes from a funny dream I had became the first chapter of my second book, and I actually made a rough outline of what the chapters would cover before November began. It changed as I wrote, but it was nice to have a loose plan to follow.

I've found NaNo to be a great outlet for frustration, pain, and anxiety. I throw myself into it and hope the emotions come out clearly through my characters, putting them through Hell and back in the process. I involve my poor wife in the process, giving her chapters to read as I go. I pull friends into it, posting chapters online to get comments and encouragement.

Anyway that's my story. I'll try to show up to write-ins and other events, but I'm already starting to rethink my regular events for November to make sure the third in my series gets done in 30 days... the writing comes first, socializing next. :)

Take care, and good luck!

Chris
chris@homebrew.net
http://homebrew.net/chris

--
NaNo 2007 - Four 'til Late - Winner!
NaNo 2008 - Sinking Down - Winner!
NaNo 2009 - Me and the Devil - In Progress!

Hi. This is James. I used to write under JTHeyman but changed my nom-de-plume.

After several completed NaNoWriMo novels in the past, this year I'm done with practice novels. The novel I write in November (possibly continuing into December depending on its length) if definitely going to be submitted for possible publication.

I hope to attend the writing group again, so I might see some of you there.

If anyone is interested, samples of my shorter work can be seen at http://mendur.blogspot.com

~ Jas.

Hello all, I go by Mike or Michael (or various derivative versions) and this is my first NaNoWriMo. I found out about it last year and decided to give it a try this time around. Being a grad student in English, I've become proficient at using padding my page counts in research papers, so hopefully this skill will come in handy during NaNoWriMo.

I've got a blog http://www.gottahavacuppamocha.com which mostly consists of haiku. I'm 41, live downtown, and work at IUPUI as a computer tech. Most of my writing has been for papers in school, but very little of it has been for creative writing.

I look forward to meeting you all.

Hello everyone.
I'm probably the youngest Indy member as I am in my Junior High School year this time around. Hopefully, school work won't get in the way of NaNo although I lost the last two years monotary wise.
I'd love to get published someday but my lack of syntax, the lack of a finished piece, my low-selfesteem, and the fact that most of what I write is really fantasy with an overload of cheesy romance and drama and all that junk. But hey, NaNoWriMo is all about writting great garbage so I will save all inner editoring for my homework. My biggest issue right now is that my two charecters aren't corroporating and my two previous novel's charecters are looking at me with big puppy eyes begging to be worked with.

Well, I probably won't be around at any of the write-ins but I am here, adding whatever words I can to the word count.

Best of luck to all of you guys in the upcomming month.

NaNo 07- The One Halves -Lost (but trying to finish)
SF 08-Stuck In Anime-Lost
NaNo 08- Addicted To Darkness -Another loss
SF 09 -Kappa's Revenge - Well....I was close.
NaNo 09 -Bird The Third (working title) -Toes crossed 'cause my fingers are typi

Christine here... I've done Nano for the last 5 years, and I think this is going to be the toughest yet. In addition to the standard work/novel juggling, I've also tossed some college courses into the mix, and if I get truly lucky, I'll also have stuff for my soapmaking business to do, so.... I'm probably going to be writing some variant on sci-fi/fantasy/mystery, but we'll have to wait until October 31 to determine how that's all going to fit together.

Looking forward to seeing all of you at the write-ins!

And Debbie, I live in Greenwood as well, and usually try to set up a write-in on Sundays. Hopefully you can join us sometime!

Woooooo it's good to see both familiar and new faces!

I'm Ericka, and this will be my fifth NaNo and fourth year as ML. I've been down with the flu this week, so I'm struggling with the MLishness so far, but I'm here (online, in unplaguey fashion -- no writers' group for me this week, sadly).

I wing it every year, and I've made it to 50k with each... attempt (one in particular doesn't deserve to be called a story). I have a good feeling about this year.

Ericka
Co-ML, Indianapolis

Inspired vessel of the Traveling Shovel of Death

Hi, I'm Linda. From what I've read on the the other comments, I expect I will be the old lady of this group! I'm 54, married, have three grown sons (who all got married in the last 15 months!), and I am a soon-to-br-grandma for the first time - something that I never took time to ponder, but I think I'm looking forward to the new role in life. I'm semi-retired by teaching two days a week at a private school, so I thought this would be a great time to return to writing.

Years ago, when my boys were small, I published some short pieces for children's magazines and church magazines. Little pay, but warm, fuzzy feelings from the success. I have had various novel ideas swirling around in my brain for over two decades now. Let's see what I can put on paper.

My November novel will be a children's book, upper-elementary level readers. I seem to gravitate toward that age group. Taught fifth grade for years and years before moving on to middle school, and they remain my favorites as I relate to kids in first through eighth grades right now. I don't have a title for this novel, but it will bring together four characters from different backgrounds who will eventually have to work together to solve a crisis. To prepare, I'm going to make it a point to read a lot of recent children's novels throughout October to make sure I have the right voice for the one I'm writing. I've read loads of books from ten and twenty years ago, but need to get a feel for today's market.

Weekends are kind of sacred for me and my husband, so my ventures to write-ins may be few and far between, but please keep me posted and I'll come when I am able.

angelteach

Hi everyone, I'm Jen.

This will be my fourth year of participating in NaNo... I've not had any difficulty attaining the 50K goal, but I have a terrible tendency to put my writing aside after the dust of November clears. Long story short: I am the proud creator of three "wins" that have been hanging around in limbo for a while now, patiently awaiting endings.

I'm aces at procrastinating. I sing loudly at concerts. I am fond of hyperbole. My cats are jerks.

Some of my co-workers are planning on participating this year (although I suspect some of them are just placating me so I'll stop blathering on), so I expect there will be some write-ins happening somewhere between the Avon Half Price Books and downtown. I'd be happy to post the pertinent information if any of y'all might be interested in joining us.

Come on, November!

Hello,

My name is Crysa, and this is my first time participating in NaNoWriMo. I’ve heard of it before, of course, but I never before thought that I might actually be able to do this. Now, however, since I’ve decided to give writing an honest go, I figured “Why not?”. I’ve been planning to write a novel anyway but with so many things going on (writing and submitting short stories and poems, and moving) I haven’t had a chance to start any actual writing. Now November is reserved just for writing this novel (and maybe a couple of short stories if I’m feeling particularly productive…but probably not.) and I’m lucky enough to be able to devote most of my time to writing. Yay! I can’t wait.

To me writing is 70% thinking, 15 % writing, 10% marketing, and 5% inspiration and if we're lucky and extra 25% luck.

Hi Indy NaNo-ers.

I'm a new to actually doing NaNo, though I've got two novels I've written in the past and am seriously pursuing publication on one of them. I'm usign NaNo to jumpstart my next project.

I've got characters and plots and am pretty determined to come up with a mostly-usable book when I'm done with NaNo. I keep telling myself all I'm really doing is doubling my daily word count. Not sure my self pep-talks are working, but.... we'll see.

Looking forward to any write-in type events going on to meet more Indy-based writer-types. :)

Word Nerd: No pocket protectors here; just don't break the spines on books. bkwriter.blogspot.com and @BKWordNerd

Hi Guys,

My wife and I moved to Indy in June, from Brooklyn (bit of a change, that!). We're 32, I'm American, she's French, and we both successfully completed NANOWRIMO in 2007, took 2008 off because we got married that November, and are planning on jumping back in this year. We live in Broad Ripple, on 61st St, with our two cats Carbomb and Baron Salvatore H. Lynx II. :)

I have three different plots I'm considering for this year. One involves a thirteen year old girl who kills a werewolf and gets invited to join a society of monster hunters. Another involves four guys working at a startup in 1999-2000 during the dotcom crash (based on personal experience). The third involves a gangster in New York City circa 2050, after the ice caps have melted and big chunks of the city have flooded. All three of them appeal to me for different reasons and I'm having a hard time choosing!

Good luck to all. I'll keep an eye out to see if there are any meetups being scheduled at any of the roughly six-dozen coffee shops in our area!

-Chris

I would love to know when and where you plan some write-ins in or near Avon. Please let me know.

angelteach

Hello,
I'm new to Indianapolis and to NaNo. I've been starting and restarting on the same novel for the better part of 5 years, and I finally have a pretty clear idea of where I want to take it. Hopefully this will be the motivation I need to finish it. It's going to be young-adult coming-of-age drama, because that is the only thing I have personal experience with.

I am 25 and living in Broad Ripple and would like to meet some fellow writers. Looking forward to the possibility of attending a write-in soon.

Cheers,

Greg

Hi, I'm Illyria. This is my 3rd NaNo and by the Gods, I will finish. I'm a mom and wife taking a dip into the horror genre this year. I live on the Far Eastside of the city. I know there is probably more to tell but my brain is not working w/me @ this point. lol.

Illyria

I had a handle on things...but it broke.

Hey everyone! I'm Spenser, and I'm an English major at Butler University. This will be my third NaNo (hopefully my second win). Not really sure what I'm going to be writing about this year yet, but I'm thinking urban fantasy (with a streak of horror). I've never been to any of the official NaNo events, but I'm planning on making out to at least one next month.

Hi everyone!

I'm Elizabeth, 24, and a second-degree nursing student at IUPUI. Just moved to downtown Indy last year, and I really can't believe it's been a whole year since Nano 2008!

This is my fifth year doing Nano, and hopefully will be my third win. My problem at the moment is that I have absolutely no good story ideas...just a bunch of bad ones. But hopefully the excitement of November will be enough to get me through.
I mostly write what I call "real life fiction" - crazy and/or challenging things that happen to everyday people. Sometimes I drift into historical fiction, too.

Should be interesting this month to see what the heck comes out of my brain and onto the computer screen. Looking forward to meeting you all at write-ins!

----------
Nano 2004: Untitled (2k) - Lost miserably
Nano 2006: New Westbridge (37,400) - Almost there!
Nano 2007: Winter in Woodbury (50,063) - Won!!
Nano 2008: Layers (50,070) - Won!!
Nano 2009: Untitled (8,985...sadly, life got in the way.)

Hey everyone! I'm Kristen. I'm a 34 yo mom of four. This is my second Nano. I won last year, but haven't done anything with that story since Dec. 1st. It was a good first try and at least I can look at it with some satisfaction that I actually hit 50K pretty easily.

This year is different. I have no story in mind, at least nothing is popping to the front. Hell, I can't even think of a name for my main character! Good thing I work well under pressure....... :D

Hope to make a write in somewhere sometime this year. Just to be around other people who don't look at me like I'm crazy when I mention that I'm doing this!

Hi! I'm Kelli and none of you have seen me around here before because I used to live in Bloomington and now actually live in Kokomo. I commute every day to work on the NW side of Indy, though, and will be moving down there at...some point. Probably not before the new year, but I was feeling kind of lonely because there aren't any events in my area of the state. I'd really love to come to some write-ins if there are any during the evenings on weekdays since I usually get off work between 5:30 and 6:00.

Anyway, I'm 27 and this is my sixth year doing NaNo. I've won every year but my first. I also write regularly year-round, but it's sort of just a semi-serious hobby at the moment because the past several years of my life have been occupied with grad school and then my job. A lot of the short stories I write can be put under the category "Contemporary mainstream"--whatever that means--but my novels almost always fall under some subgenre of fantasy/science fiction.

I don't plan my NaNo stories out much, but I have a general idea where this year's is going to go. It's kind of a fantasy/science fiction mix with travel to parallel worlds and such (I'm kind of on a parallel world kick right now). I think it'll be fun to write, if a bit ridiculous.

Giving' a nod to a fellow Kokomoan... although, I moved AWAY from Kokomo, not toward it. And that loneliness that comes from nothing ever going on in the area is why I moved :)

Good luck Nanoing!

Debbie

*Insert a clever remark here, and pretend I said it.*

~ 2nd year NaNo participant ~
2009 -- Providence... won, with 2 days to spare and am over 50K!!
2008 -- Vaampyr.... won!

Hello everyone!

My name is Courtney and this is my first year to participate in NaNoWrMo, though I have promoted it to several classes of 7th and 8th graders I taught a few years ago. I'm 29, with an 18 month old, and I have my Master's in History.

I'm so excited to participate this year, and am looking forward to the challenge that lays ahead. Good Luck to everyone on their novels!

Hello, fellow central hoosiers! ^.^
I'm Christina (Kurisutiina is the Japanese form of my name) and I'm in 10th grade. I'm 14 (another young person), and this is my first year with NaNoWriMo. I'm so excited!! :D
A little bit about me... I love to write. I haven't ever tried anything as big as 50,000 words, but there's always a first, right? I have several friends who have done it before, so I decided to give it a shot. We'll see how it goes. I am hoping to make it though, because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and if I ph41l I may have a hard time coming back. :P
My favorite thing I've written was a short story called Darkness. It's very minimalist and dark (thus the name), and I loved it, even though some of my friends deemed it depressing. Which is kind of ironic, because I'm a very happy-smiles-and-rainbows kind of person.
For NaNoWriMo this year, I'm torn between writing the real story of Santa Claus told through his wife's eyes that has been rolling around in my head and developing quite nicely since last Christmas, or a shadowy story of a guy named Hero who goes off to save a princess and comes back with a whole new point of view of the world, which has been rolling around in my head since.... September. I'm not entirely sure if I could really get 50K off of either of them though. >.< If you like one idea better than the other, let me know. Maybe it'll help me figure it out. ^.^

I'm sure it'll be fun getting to know you all!

Christina

"I'd rather pick flowers instead of fights; and rather than flaunt my style, I'd flash you a smile of clean pearly whites." -Dental Care

Kelli, whereabouts on the NW side? I work in that general area as well. We might be able to set something up around there a weeknight or two during November. :-)

Tara ~ Co-ML, Indianapolis

Tara, that would be awesome! I work at Dow on Zionsville Rd. between 86th and 96th Street.

Hi, my name is Wendy, I'm 44 and I live in Pittsboro, IN. I moved here from DeKalb, IL 3 years ago and had to leave a fabulous writer's group behind. I have 3 sons (2 of them are pre-schoolers), so I'm hoping I can focus well enough to meet this incredible goal. This is my first NaNoWriMo and my husband thinks I'm seriously deranged. I do not write well with any distractions, so I'm hoping this challenge teaches me to lighten up and learn to write on the fly (since I have limited moments of silence these days). At the moment, most of the writing I do is for my blog at www.ofbooksandboys.blogspot.com.

At this point, I haven't selected a particular story idea, but I do have several brimming away in my brain. I tend to write children's and young adult fiction. I'm not sure I can manage to get into the city for any write-ins, but might try to make it to some in Brownsburg or Avon. It would be fabulous to meet some other writers, since I have mainly been trapped at home for the past 3 years with my little boys.

Best of luck to all of you.

Hi everyone!

This is my first year doing NaNo, and I'm PSYCHED!!! I'm 25 and just got back from my honeymoon in Italy - my new wife and I had a terrific time, and I'm ready to do some writing! By trade I'm a pharmacist, but I've secretly had a passion for writing since high school. Over the years I've written less and less for fun (and more and more scientific material for work....ugh!).... I hope this month will bring back some of those sweet memories of what writing was like in high school.

I'm a little nervous about "finding the time" to do this much writing, but as I'm sure we all know it's more about "making time" for things that are important to us. Glad to see there are so many people that are more worried about WHAT to write - I've had a novel idea I've been outlining for a few months now, and I'm confident I'll be ready to write on November 1.

Looking forward to a great month!

Yay for another year of NaNo!

This will be my sixth year participating in NaNoWriMo. I found out about it about a week before November of 2004 and jumped head-first into the chaos. I've managed to 'win' every year, but my real wins are that I actually *finished* two of them. That doesn't mean I edited them or anything, but I did get to "The End" and have everything in the middle, so first drafts are done. I spent a lot of the summer working on another novel I started in January of 2005. The goal was to have that one finished and edited before NaNo started, but.... I don't like editing much. Do many writers?

I actually live in the Lebanon area with my husband (where we moved after we got married at the end of May), but he works in Indy and I commute to school at Ivy Tech in Indy as well, so I'm hoping we'll be able to participate in some of the parties/write-ins/etc. in Indy. I'll probably also be tagging along with the Lafayette group as well though, since we go up to Lafayette once or twice a week on a normal basis. I'm hoping that if I hang out with two groups I might make it to more than two write-ins throughout the month.

My most exciting difference this year is that I'm married and living in a house with my husband rather than in a house with four siblings and the parents. I'm so excited about having my own space and writing along with my husband (he's doing NaNo as well). I think I've also sucked my younger brother in, incidentally. Buahaha.

My novel idea is one I got... two days ago. The plan is to write about a girl who is possessed by a demon but doesn't know it. I'm planning on having dual-narrators - the girl and the demon. This is a far cry from the makeshift idea I had prior to two days ago, which was a little boy who took an adventure to the sky and found out what makes lightning at night (it's the moon-oil the giants pour down from the sky and then light on fire) and other intriguing mysteries. If the two-day-old idea doesn't pan out, boy-in-the-sky is my backup plan.

P.S. I'm semi-nocturnal. My husband is a registered nurse and works from seven at night to seven in the morning, so I try to stay as close as I can to his schedule while still getting the sleep I need. This means that my class in Indy at 3:30 is actually like a 'first-thing-in-the-morning' class to me. I *love* not having to get up at six in the morning, but it can make hanging out with friends difficult!

------

04: Spirograph (won)
05: Becoming (won)
06: Bricks (won)
07: The Mind's Eye (won)
08: Haldereth (won)
09: Inhabited (won!)