United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

***Write-Ins and other info

sapphirestar — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:19:10 -0700

Hi Everyone--- I've seen a few questions floating around, so here is some info.

First of all, for general questions about Nano, I encourage you to look through the FAQ on this website. Also, Chris Baty's book "No Plot, No Problem" is an excellent guidebook on how to do Nano. It's got a lot of good writing advice and is a very fun read. And of course, you can ask questions on the forum, or email me as well.

Write-Ins are gatherings, usually in coffee shops, during the month of November. You bring your laptop or notebook and work on your Nano novel in the company of other Wrimos. It helps to have some way to identify yourself as a Wrimo-- wear a Nano t-shirt, carry "No Plot, No Problem" or make a little table-tent that says Nanowrimo on it. Write-ins are optional, but I recommend you try them at least once. They're fun, you get to meet other people doing the same crazy thing you are, and I think people who come to write-ins have a better chance of making it to 50,000 words.

You can find out about write-ins on this forum. ANYBODY can set up a write-in during November, and please do! It's great to see Wrimos meeting in their favorite writing spots all over town. Just post where you will be writing, the location and time. Ask if anyone wants to join you.

Hmmm... is there anything I'm forgetting? I can't think right now... just ask if something isn't clear!

--Theresa
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Theresa, aka Sapphirestar
Twin Cities ML
http://sapphire.albatross.org

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

INFO and RSVP for the TGIO PARTY!

sapphirestar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:15:29 -0800

Greetings, fellow TC Wrimos--

Every year when the glorious month of Nanovember comes to a close, we celebrate our efforts and/or victories by gathering for the TGIO Party (that's Thank God It's Over). Whether you make the 50K goal or not, you are invited to join us for a rolicking good time!

Here's the basic info, with more details following:

TGIO Party
1:00 - 4:00 pm on Saturday, December 1
at The Loft, Open Book Center
1011 Washington Avenue South
(2nd floor) (612) 215-2575

It's Potluck! So please bring a dish to share.
MLs will provide plates, cups, supplies, etc.,
Beverages can be brought from home or purchased from the Coffee Gallery on the first floor.

We will have a donation bucket like last year, to cover the cost of the party AND, we will send any extras to Nanowrimo Central. It's great if you can put in a dollar to help cover party costs, but more importantly, we are welcoming donations big or small to help the Nano organization in continuing to do this wonderful thing they do every year. So, if you haven't had a chance to make a donation to Nano yet, here's a great and easy way to do it. You can even write a check! Don't forget, after Nanowrimo covers its operational costs, it uses the money for its Young Writers Program, which gets kids excited about writing! So let's help keep Nano going for next year!

This year, we will try out having readings again... it's totally optional, but if you'd like to read an excerpt of your Nano-novel, we will let people sign up to read. This time we are going to have scheduled times for readings, so that the party has a mix of time for readings and time for socializing. People will have 3 minutes to read (we figure about 3 double-spaced pages), so plan your material accordingly. The first set of readings will be from 1:30 - 2 pm, and the second set will be from 2:30 - 3 pm (depending on the popularity, we could have a third set later on, too). **Sign up sheets will be at the party. **

If you don't want to read your work aloud but would still like to share your work, we will have again an area for excerpts to be set on tables in a reading area. People can read each other's excerpts at leisure. This was very popular last year! You could have more than 3 pages for this.

If you've never been to The Loft, here's some info on how to get there from their website. The Loft is a great organization for writers, and they have been so generous to let us host our TGIO Parties there for 3 years in a row! It's a great website to look around, too.
http://www.loft.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=25

I know people worry about parking, but there is plenty available in this neighborhood. There are parking meters on side streets, parking lots on 11th Ave, and parking ramps by the Guthrie on 2nd Street. Here is more info from the Guthrie: http://www.guthrietheater.org/visit/driving_parking

So let's see, have I forgotten anything? I think that's everything! And now, just so we get an idea of how many are planning to come, just RSVP on this thread. We hope many of you will join us to celebrate another great Nanovember!

-- Your MLs

Theresa and Nell

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Theresa, aka Sapphirestar
Twin Cities ML
http://sapphire.albatross.org

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

PLEASE READ: CALENDAR for WRITE-INS and EVENTS

sapphirestar — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:08:52 -0700

So far, we don't have a calendar feature this year on the Nano website, and we don't know if we're actually going to get one. I've looked around and the calendars on Yahoo are actually very good, and easy to use, so I have set up a Yahoo Group for us, "TC Wrimos." There is a message board there, but we won't use that (all our messages can stay here on this regional forum). I like that ANYONE in our region can set up their own write-in and list it on the yahoo calendar.

You will have to set up a yahoo account and "join" the group to use the calendar-- but it's free and painless.

I hope that everyone will use the calendar and check it often. It's a known fact that Wrimos who go to write-ins are more likely to reach 50,000 words-- plus, it's a lot more fun!

Find the TCWrimos Yahoo group here (and let me know if you have any trouble with it):

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TCWrimos/

Try to be as detailed as possible about your write-ins, and be sure to list yourself as a contact person.

Happy Writing,

Theresa

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Theresa, aka Sapphirestar
Twin Cities ML
http://sapphire.albatross.org

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

July 20 - 26 weekly thread

rosalindmn — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:24:18 -0700

Trying to reintroduce the weekly thread.

I finally got back to my 2007 novel, and am trying to do an outline that allows for a real plot and a second draft where most of the scenes further the plot. My theory is that if I can get the plot working, smoothing out the prose should be fairly simple.

Is any one else working on rewrites this month? Working on something else? Just sitting back and relaxing?

Rosalind
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United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

July Monthly Thread

CallipygianKing — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:09:43 -0700

So we're 11 days in... How was your 4th? I marched 3 parades: Delano, Apple Valley, and Chanhassan. Good times.
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Why I love write-ins:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7263466382698839005

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

MnNaNo meetings

expatrie — Mon, 5 May 2008 15:50:21 -0700

Ok, maybe this can just be a general topic instead somebody making a new topic every half-month, and sometimes posting information about the meeting, like, the day before the meeting (that was me.)

So our next meeting is 7pm-9pm on May 12. Corner coffee.

Directions via: http://www.yourcornercoffee.com/

Topic is "Continuing" - the regulars have been asked to try to continue something they've not been making much progress on, keep at it. If you haven't got anything incomplete, we had a "write 12 opening lines to 12 different stories," exercise last time, so do that exercise and pick one and write a middle. We're hoping to see a continuation of Melissa and Andy's stories they started at the exercise last month. We're hoping to see Renee and Jeannine told me she's getting started on a new story so she might bring that (HINT!).

If you get stalled on your piece, bring it in to share and maybe the group can offer some suggestions, encouragement, or guidance on where to go next (if you've read No Plot?... No Problem! you've seen this item as the "business case" discussed there.)

Most of our things go out via private email from my Yahoo account (we know Nano will be down in October and the messages wiped, and it also keeps our stuff private should you seriously seek publication, posting your stuff on the internet for all to read, well, publishers aren't so excited about that, moving along... ), if you want in on the emails, please send me a nanomail and I'll add your name to the list.

Becki's input on the topic - (since it was her idea for the three meeting cycle we're currently in the middle of)

darkwolf58 wrote:

How about we start off with discussing continuing the story, plot
development, characters running off to Mexico, etc, and then we can
spend some time on motivation.

So there's the agenda. Thorin is bringing an exercise we didn't get to last meeting (if he's not there, I'll have something). I'm going to ask for help on the "discuss plot development" segment, folks.

Before this gets too long I'm hitting submit.

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JanNoWriMo07 - Still Waters Run Deep - >70,000 won (didn't now there was a group!)
AugNoWriMo07 - The Wreck of the Day ->50,000 won (over on Proboards)
NaNoWriMo08 - Fever.

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

June 1-7 Weekly Thread: What will you do with your summer vacation?

CallipygianKing — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 07:25:21 -0700

Ha! It's a preemptive strike with the classic start-of-school essay question! So, what will you do now that summer is finally upon us? What are the big plans?
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Why I love write-ins:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7263466382698839005

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

May 25-31 weekly thread -- Progress check-in

expatrie — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:30:00 -0700

Ok, last week was the first week we missed a weekly entry.

So, this week, since it's Wednesday, I'm going to create the weekly entry.

Well, trying (like the rest of the group) to finish some stories this week, although this is being complicated (some) by moving and (a lot) by not having the computer in one piece and for that matter, not being quite sure where the keyboard and mouse are right now, along with everything in boxes, painting going on at the new place. So, I've gotten one story "finished" but after printing it realized the first two chapters are in the present and need to be switched to past tense and frankly, wondering why there isn't a "tense converter" in Word so i can highlight the whole dang story and hit "past tense" and be done. Oh well, it probably wouldn't work right if it's a Microsoft product, right? Or I'd write the whole thing hit convert and it would crash and I'd have forgotten to hit save (again) before doing the conversion.

I've got the meeting prep done for next week, did that on Friday last between midnight and two am. And got a few more notes made since then, although finding the books I want to bring to the meeting is another item I'll have to find the books. Box by box search.

Will we ever see Calipigian King at a meeting?

How is your writing going this week? Have any of the writing group members gotten their objectives achieved in advance of the meeting? Have you been making time to write, and if so, when?
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JanNoWriMo07 - Still Waters Run Deep - >70,000 won (didn't now there was a group!)
AugNoWriMo07 - The Wreck of the Day ->50,000 won (over on Proboards)
NaNoWriMo08 - Fever.

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

May 11 - 17 Weekly Thread

BenPanced — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:00:51 -0700

Gonna keep this one short. The Tylenol PM are kickin' in.

Going through my 2004 NaNo for the ninth draft this week. Really, really, really want to start querying agents with this. If this one doesn't work, 2007 should be kicked into shape later this year.

Been having some serious email problems. My current USInternet address is being sporadically kicked back as unknown or connection refused. So if you've tried to send something to the writers' group and it came back, I'm still around. Let me know via PM if you need my new email address; I've let Brian know, as well, so the mailing list should be okay.

Ninth draft. Wow.

Oh, GHOD, the Tylenol PM are kickin' in...
----------
2004 - But I Never Said I Didn't Love You! - WIN
2005 - I've Told You That I Love You, Haven't I? - WIN
2006 - Forever Isn't Long Enough - WIN
2007 - The Gay Man's Guide To Love, Cat Ownership, and Other Mysteries - WIN

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

Alpha and Omega

expatrie — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:15:59 -0700

I got this from the france regional forum. Sounded cool to me.

Post your first paragraph and your last paragraph of your NaNo2007.
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JanNoWriMo07 - Still Waters Run Deep - >70,000 won (didn't now there was a group!)
AugNoWriMo07 - The Wreck of the Day ->50,000 won (over on Proboards)
NaNoWriMo08 - Fever.

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

April 27- May 3 Weekly Thread: A day late...

CallipygianKing — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:14:54 -0700

... and a dollar short. And I have barely touched anything I've written in months.

What other shortcomings are we willing to divulge this week?
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Why I love write-ins:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7263466382698839005

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

May 4-10 Weekly Thread

CallipygianKing — Sun, 4 May 2008 16:58:58 -0700

Well, my in-laws have just moved back from England. Right into the spare room in my attic. I'm going to see if my British-born sister-in-law has any good bits and bobs for stories as we spend our time at home this week taking care of our babies.
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Why I love write-ins:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7263466382698839005

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

MnNaNo meeting April 28, Corner coffee 7-9pm

expatrie — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:16:05 -0700

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet so sorry for the short notice if you're not on the email version of this and getting mail from me more that weekly, from my yahoo email address.

The meeting is 7-9pm at Corner coffee (troll the forum for directions and the official name, since it is one of those things that doesn't stick to the texture of my mind so I'm never sure if it's corner coffee or coffee corner. Anyhow. mycornercoffee or mycoffecorner or yourcoffeecorner or yourcornercoffee.com, somethign like that. Try them all!)

The meeting topic is "Beginning," so if you've missed all the meetings so far now is a great time to jump in since it's part of a limited three meeting engagement (continuing and finishing being the next two). Bring something to write on and to write with because I've got a writing exercise in mind, but expect some discussion of how others get their ideas or how they start, or something they're bringing in to get comments on. The exercise for last meeting was a quickie - write down twelve opening lines to stories you (have or haven't) written.

Side note: I just started reading Trainspotting and may I say, holy $(*& krabaple. Talk about dialect.
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JanNoWriMo07 - Still Waters Run Deep - >70,000 won (didn't now there was a group!)
AugNoWriMo07 - The Wreck of the Day ->50,000 won (over on Proboards)
NaNoWriMo08 - Fever.

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

April 20-26 Weekly Thread: Now with more esoteric, pretentious, bad form poetry!

CallipygianKing — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:16:39 -0700

This

i
s

the

w
e
e
k
l
y

thread

.
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Why I love write-ins:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7263466382698839005

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

New writers' workshop opens in Hopkins

CallipygianKing — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:49:23 -0700

From the Hopkins Sun-Sailor:

Quote:

New writers' workshop opens in Hopkins

BY Marc Ingber - Sun Newspapers
(Created: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 10:27 PM CDT)

Ashley Shelby loves to write, but something she loves just as much is teaching and coaching others on their writing projects.

Shelby, a local author and former Penguin Books acquisitions editor, launched the Mill City Writers' Workshop last month at 6 Sixth Ave. N. in Hopkins.

Shelby, the daughter of WCCO news anchor Don Shelby, grew up in Hopkins. She lived in New York for eight years, where she worked at Penguin.

She is also a published author herself. Her book, "Red River Rising: The Anatomy of a Flood and the Survival of an American City," about the catastrophic floods in the Red River Valley in the winter of 1997, was published in 2004.

Shelby moved back to Hopkins two years ago and decided to open a writers' workshop. She said that when you are writing your own material, you don't get the rewarding payoff until you are finished, which tends to take a long time.

"Teaching is an instant reward," she said. "I love that instant gratification."

The rest of the article is here: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2008/04/17/sports/aw17writersworkshop.txt

Maybe this is something the NaNo writers' group would be interested in? Or maybe it's a place to keep in mind when November rolls around? The website for the workshop is www.millcitywriters.com.
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Why I love write-ins:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7263466382698839005

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

April 13 - 19 Weekly Thread - Now with extra weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth!

BenPanced — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:13:46 -0700

I'm off this week, the relevance of taking the time off in relation to what we're doing at work completely escaping me until last Wednesday or so (we're in the final throes of recertifying users of our online application and the deadline is this Wednesday, when we begin inactivating accounts).

So I'll be taking advantage of all the extra free time and editing my 2007 manuscript. I thought I'd found a new direction (see earlier posts) and I began rewriting it with those thoughts in mind. However. After reading how much I've already written on two of the characters and how much I enjoy their interaction, I'm going back to the way things were when I first started writing this and make them exes, as opposed to the new idea of having them "meet cute". In the process, I'd written some new scenes for the "meet cute" draft of the manuscript that I really liked so now I'm shoehorning them into the "they're exes" draft that I've started again.

Didn't help that one of the drafts of chapter one wasn't numbered, so I had to spend about 30 minutes yesterday separating the two drafts from each other and numbering pages.

Ennyweigh, I may or may not be out and about to my usual coffee house haunts this week. I'll post here the night before I show up anywhere, in case you'd like to get together and hang out. Tomorrow, 4/14, since I'll be in the neighborhood I'm planning on being at Open Book early/mid afternoon, about 1:00 or so.
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2004 - But I Never Said I Didn't Love You! - WIN
2005 - I've Told You That I Love You, Haven't I? - WIN
2006 - Forever Isn't Long Enough - WIN
2007 - The Gay Man's Guide To Love, Cat Ownership, and Other Mysteries - WIN

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

April 6-12 Weekly Thread

CallipygianKing — Sat, 5 Apr 2008 22:13:13 -0700

It is too late to be this early in the morning. But I got to start the weekly thread. And now I'm going to bed.

The wife goes back to work at the end of this week, and I get to be stay-at-home dad. So, we'll see how that goes...
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Why I love write-ins:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7263466382698839005

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

Tonight's meeting postponed to April 7

rosalindmn — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:51:02 -0700

Due to weather, the meeting has been postponed to April 7, same time, same location.

And BenPanced is promising us an as-yet-unknown volcano erupting under the Metrodome if we show up downtown on April 7. How exciting is that?

Rosalind
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United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

March 23 - 30 Weekly Thread

expatrie — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:57:34 -0700

a) remember there is a meeting 7-9pm on March 31st. Oh, at Coffee Corner, or Corner Coffee, I forget the order of the words.

If I'm not incarcerated for assaulting a pseudo-coworker (which currently requires travel to Chicago, and after Wednesday, will require driving across all of North Dakota in a rental car to do it), I'll be there, even if I get fired for the email I just hit send on (it's not all that likely, but there's an outside chance), I'll be there. There should really be an emoticon for "I want to throttle you," not just the old useless I'm laughing smiely :) I mean, seriously, we need some USEFUL emoticons. WORK useful.

my proposals -
a) throttling you like a cat in a violent Tom and Jerry cartoon. (eyes bulged out, neck stretched out)
b) that thing the abominable snowman does to wile e. coyote, where his feet stretch out every time he baps wile on the head
c) some gesture involving the writer (me) wondering if the other person (the recipient) has a tinfoil coated ceiling. AYSUS (Are you sure you're sane?)
d) some kind of "bad touching," "don't touch me there" emoticon, for when people try to #$(*&#$ you.
e) one for the middle finger that most people won't get for at least a year. I can add it to my work email signature. TT?
f) that one cartoons do when they fall a long way and they're hurt. Or dizzy.

I guess if it were easy they wouldn't have to pay me to do it, right?

Awk. 7pm, time to go home.
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JanNoWriMo07 - Still Waters Run Deep - >70,000 won (didn't now there was a group!)
AugNoWriMo07 - The Wreck of the Day ->50,000 won (over on Proboards)
NaNoWriMo08 - Fever.

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

March 16 - 22 Weekly Thread

BenPanced — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:20:01 -0700

My turn again?

Nice to see everybody who turned out on Saturday. Got over a couple blocks afterwards.

I'm screaming towards the finish line, guys. I'm on chapter 17 of 17, about to revise it, highlighter marks and all, so I can go back to chapter 1, type everything up, and begin the process again. The upcoming round of edits will be a serious rewrite, as I've discovered some new angles, one I had from the beginning last November but didn't convey it correctly and the other just happening as I was going through chapter 14, helping pull the focus together a bit more. Hopefully I won't lose the lightheated, comedic tone.

Ennyweigh, that's where I'm at. Hope all y'all have a good week ahead. Even though it's mostly over.
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2004 - But I Never Said I Didn't Love You! - WIN
2005 - I've Told You That I Love You, Haven't I? - WIN
2006 - Forever Isn't Long Enough - WIN
2007 - The Gay Man's Guide To Love, Cat Ownership, and Other Mysteries - WIN

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

March 9-15 Weekly Thread

CallipygianKing — Sun, 9 Mar 2008 15:56:20 -0700

Hopefully everything's going well with everyone. Just enjoying that fresh, new baby myself. And with the time off and my transition to working from the home, perhaps I could get some writing or revising done on the various things I've got started.

Have a good week, people. What's up in your lives?
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Why I love write-ins:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7263466382698839005

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

MnNaNo "edit-in" "write-in" "meeting' March 15 at Nina's 1-3 pm.

expatrie — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 06:52:38 -0800

In honour of National Novel Editing Month, there will be an edit-in / write-in / meeting at Nina's on March 15, (Saturday) from 1 to 3 pm. We picked 1-3 hoping for less lunch crowd traffic.

Bring something to write, bring blank pages, bring an open mind, if people want to talk shop on editing, we'll be there for it, if they want to huddle in the corner, fetal-ball style, there's coffee/chocolate/food to assist your prompt recovery (or assist in the mindful wallowing), bring your November novel printed out so you can read through it, or just so you can whap others with it when they make dumb jokes (please, no 20 lb bond 600 page manuscripts for hitting me, there have to be some reasonable limits).

Anyway, I'm hoping to discuss rewriting, revising, editing, and so on. Having completed one round of light editing on my 07 JanNo, I have at least some comments to make, and others are welcome to contribute if they wish. The try-it for the next two weeks is to pretend you lost something you wrote and rewrite it from scratch, preferably a short piece, print out original and complete rewrite and compare the two.

See you there.

Brian.

Unelected, self-appointed "leader-for-life" of the MnNanNo writer's group, a non-profit organization of at least one.

Andy - Try out the tantric yoga line you overheard on your ninja master! You were gone by the time we got to the writing suggestion, try rewriting your chapter 3,6, or 9 completely from scratch, without referring to the original. Let us know if you find something useful or break into editing the original chapter 3 that way.

Next idea - now that Thorin brought us some purple prose examples, (THANK YOU!) go get a nice, short, adjective and adverb-free Hemingway story and 'pollute it' with purple prose.
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JanNoWriMo07 - Still Waters Run Deep - >70,000 won (didn't now there was a group!)
AugNoWriMo07 - The Wreck of the Day ->50,000 won (over on Proboards)
NaNoWriMo08 - Fever.

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

Mar. 2 - 8 weekly thread, kinda lateish

BenPanced — Tue, 4 Mar 2008 12:22:39 -0800

Hang up the phone, stop the presses, call Gramma and the kids around the table, and switch off the wireless! After the longest time of seeing him at the coffee shop every morning, my memory's been jarred and I think I've finally found out Emmett/White Star of the North's real name!

Now only if the gods would smile upon me and grant me the chance to see him somewhere outside the coffee house...

Around the same time they grant me the nerve to actually talk to him...

Welcome to the weekly thread. The above is actually the theme of my 2007 NaNo. And the story of my life.
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2004 - But I Never Said I Didn't Love You! - WIN
2005 - I've Told You That I Love You, Haven't I? - WIN
2006 - Forever Isn't Long Enough - WIN
2007 - The Gay Man's Guide To Love, Cat Ownership, and Other Mysteries - WIN

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

Feb. 24 - Mar. 1 weekly thread

BenPanced — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:20:17 -0800

It's that time again!

Still working on editing my 2007 NaNo, and I've found a second Golden Word Syndrome chapter. My, can you tell I'm just dyin' from excitement. As the old saying goes, "it'll all come out in the edit". (I hope the pattern doesn't continue. The first chapter I found where I didn't edit anything was chapter 3. Now, it's chapter 6. And chapter 9's coming up soon...)

And there's no way I'm doing Script Frenzy. I suspect I'll still be in the throes of editing this ms or beginning to work on a query letter, so I can't work it into the schedule, as much as I'd like to.
----------
2004 - But I Never Said I Didn't Love You! - WIN
2005 - I've Told You That I Love You, Haven't I? - WIN
2006 - Forever Isn't Long Enough - WIN
2007 - The Gay Man's Guide To Love, Cat Ownership, and Other Mysteries - WIN

United States :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

February writing assignment

quixotic_hope — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:01:48 -0800

Hey everyone!

I just realized that I told everyone that I had written a second story, but I had never actually shown it to anyone. My bad. Here's the second one. I did use "to be" in this one, though it was still rather difficult to write. I wrote this in the hours before our meeting.

And, just because I know you were all very concerned, I went out and bought a map of Minneapolis. I carry it with me wherever I go, so I cannot get lost again. =)

And just for the record--my roommates boyfriend was NOT drunk. However, substance abuse was one of the requirements, so I sort of implied that he was.

I'm not really looking for feedback for this one, as it's rather terrible, but it's done, and that's all that matters.

“My feet hurt.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

Pause.

“Can I have my feet back, please?”

“No.”

Kaillyn attempted to lift her feet out of her boyfriend’s grasp and found him too strong. He tightened his grip on her feet and ankles, causing her to topple over onto the floor with a giant bang.

“Ow. Get off of me!”

“No.”

“Stupid boys and their stupid stupidness!”

Kaillyn and Race continued their little wrestling match while her roommate, Heather, attempted to concentrate on the book she was reading. Not until she heard a particularly loud crash did Heather look up, immediately wishing she hadn’t. Race was lying on the floor with Kaillyn straddling his waist. He was holding her so tightly that she couldn’t move. Had it not been for the smile on Kaillyn’s face, Heather might have been concerned. She looked away again as the two kissed.

“Come on, I don’t think Heather really wants to see this,” said Kaillyn, attempting to separate herself from Race. He ignored her and tried to kiss her again.

“Seriously,” said Kaillyn, succeeding in standing up.

“What time would you like me back?” asked Heather, half-serious.

“You don’t have to leave,” said Kaillyn. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him today. He’s never been this…frisky before.”

“How much did he have to drink?”

“Not that much,” said Kaillyn. “We just finished up what was left over from last weekend. It shouldn’t have been enough to turn him into this.”

“I’m not drunk,” protested Race; “I’m just high on life.”

Rolling her eyes at the complete lack of originality in that sentence, Kaillyn turned her back on Race and sat down at her desk. “Were you abducted by aliens over winter break or something?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” answered Race. “Is there any cheese left?”

“Cheesehead,” said Kaillyn fondly, reaching for the cheese sampler she had given him for Christmas. “Sorry—all out.”

“Damn it. We could go down to the C-Store and get some more.”

“You’re not going anywhere like that,” she told him.

“Like what? I’m telling you—I’m not drunk. Can’t a guy just be happy spending time with his girlfriend?”

“You’re never this happy,” Kaillyn pointed out.

“Fine. You stay here, then. I’m going to get some more cheese.”

“Race—”

“Not from the C-Store. I have some up in my room. Not as good, mind you, although it’ll have to do.”

“Fine.”

Kaillyn waited until Race had walked out the door and up the stairs before turning to Heather and saying, “Never date anyone from Wisconsin.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Heather, getting up and walking over to her laptop. “Thanks for the advice.”

Heather and Kaillyn surfed the Internet for a few moments before they heard Race bounding down the stairs.

“I’ve got it all figured out,” he said as if they had just been in the middle of a conversation. “All you have to do is take a bunch of entrepreneurial classes from Carlson and take all the martial arts classes you can, and you basically have a degree in ninja.”

Heather didn’t know whether to roll her eyes or laugh. The two of them had been having some sort of on-going battle between ninjas and pirates since they first started dating. Heather fully expected Kaillyn to come back with some reason why pirates were better. And, sure enough—

“Yeah, well, all I have to do is sit around and drink all day, and I’ve basically got my degree in piratism.”

“You’d have to rape and pillage, too,” Race pointed out.

“I’d have to pillage,” conceded Kaillyn, “but I wouldn’t have to rape. Only male pirates rape.”

Heather tuned out the rest of their ninja-pirate debate and tried to focus on writing her French essay. This proved more difficult than she imagined, however. She had always marveled over how writing in a foreign language never failed to remind her of just how many words she didn’t know how to say. Plus, listening to two people in love kissing and teasing (verbally, not physically—thank the gods) each other was rather distracting, particularly when one is trying to write about the doomed future.

“Don’t touch me!”

Heather looked up from her miserable attempt at an essay to see Race once again on the floor with Kaillyn standing above him. He lifted himself up and started to tickle her.

“Stop it! Stop touching me. G—gj—oh, damn it! How do you say ‘don’t touch me’ in Norwegian?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Race asked. “You’re the one in the class.”

“I know that,” she told him, stepping away from him and over to her bookshelf. She grabbed her Norwegian dictionary and started flipping through the pages. Race waited, surprisingly patient, on the floor.

“Damn it—it’s not in here!” complained Kaillyn, putting the book back on the shelf.

Remembering that she was in the middle of writing an essay in a foreign language (which requires having a free, online translation dictionary open in another window), Heather switched back over to the Internet and clicked on the drop-down button to see what languages they offered. She clicked on the “English to Norwegian” button and typed in “touch.”

“Is that it?” she asked.

Kaillyn walked over to her. “Berøring,” she mumbled. “No; verbs don’t end in ‘ing.’”

“Hmmm.” Deciding to try another tactic, Heather switched the setting to “English to French” and typed in “to touch.” The dictionary gave her “pour toucher.”

“Okay, I know what you have to do,” she told Kaillyn, switching the setting back to Norwegian. “I typed ‘to touch,’ which means it will give you ‘to’ in Norwegian and the verb ‘to touch.’”

Kaillyn looked at the “til å berøre” that was displayed on the screen. “You’re right,” she said. “That a means ‘to.’” She turned to Race. “Ikke berør meg.”

“Whatever,” he said. “Want to go up to my room and watch ‘South Park’?”

“Sure,” she said, giving him a quick kiss before turning to shut down her computer. Next, she shoved her feet into her once-fluffy slippers, grabbed her keys, and turned to leave.

“I’ll be back at some point in time,” she said. “Probably.”

“Have fun,” said Heather, turning back to the computer.

For the next hour, she tried to keep her attention focused on the essay she was supposed to be writing. She soon, however, gave up completely and decided to watch “Lost” reruns instead. She watched so many episodes that she started to pick up on some of the Korean spoken between Sun and Jin. She was pretty sure “anyo” meant “soon.”

Around three in the morning, she decided to go to bed. Deciding that if Kaillyn weren’t back by now she wasn’t coming back, Heather moved to turn out the lights. Before she reached the light switch, however, a picture on the floor caught her eye. She picked it up and smiled sadly. It was a picture of her dog, T.J. She hadn’t seen him since she went away to college, and she missed him. Placing the picture in a more secure location on the shelf, Heather turned off the light and went to bed.

Heather and her friends Suzanne and Danielle were in the grocery store. They were seated at a table located in the dairy section. Danielle was holding up a green tortilla.

“Want some?”

“No, thanks,” said Heather.

Suzanne, on the other hand, grabbed a piece and shoved it in her mouth. It wasn’t until after she had swallowed it that she realized she didn’t like it. “I thought it was going to be pineapple,” she said.

The three at in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly Heather was in the car with her mother, going home. Dogs were all over the road, tiny puppies that looked like they were going to be hit any second. Although Heather was afraid that her mother would hit one of them, none of the dogs were hurt.

When Heather got home, she remembered that she had left her dog in the grocery store. Worried that he would end up one of the numerous dogs about to be killed on the street, she called up Danielle to ask her to pick him up. However by the time she had gotten her phone out of her pocket, Danielle was standing right in front of her. They were standing in the gym at the St. Paul campus. Heather called her anyway. As soon as Danielle picked up, Heather realized the stupidity of what she was doing and hung up.

“Did you see T.J. before you left?”

“Yeah, he was sitting on the side of the road,” she said.

Heather left and started walking back over to the grocery store. There he was, sitting on the sidewalk. He saw Heather and stood up, walking towards her. He stepped into traffic. Heather hurried forward, intent on getting the dog out of the street before he got hit by a car like his namesake had years before, and she tripped. She was falling, falling—

Heather jerked awake. Her heart was pounding as if she had just fallen off a cliff. Shaking her head, she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. She was just about to fall asleep, however, when the door burst open, and Kaillyn walked in.

“Hi,” mumbled Heather, letting Kaillyn know that it was okay to turn on the light.

“Hey,” said Kaillyn. “Race’s roommate has a few friends staying over. Is it alright if Race and I stay here tonight?”

“Sure,” answered Heather, knowing that the two would most likely be gone by the time she got up in the morning.

“Thanks,” said Kaillyn, turning on the closet light. Heather heard her fumbling around for something before the door opened and Race walked in. They climbed into the loft above Heather’s head and shifted until they were both comfortable. They started kissing again. Heather put a pillow over her head to muffle the sound.

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*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
NaNo 2007: Quixotic Hope (win!)
Screnzy 2008: Degeneration
Keep your friends close...and your family as far away from you as possible.