United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

South Hills Wrimos?

MossAngel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:19:47 +0000

I'm over here in Brookline, wondering if anyone else is in the immediate area along Rt 51. It'd be cool to hit up some of the write-ins, but I'm new to Pittsburgh and get very lost especially with construction detours (yay!) so I'd prefer to hang out with the folks closer to home. My work hours are also likely to hinder write-in participation (I work 8am-11am and 4:30-7:30pm plus travel time to Monroeville for the afternoon hours). :(

Anyone in the area willing to hang out at a semi-local place (there's a Caribou Coffee up the road from me, I think!) for sporadic local write-ins, or should I keep an eye on the calendar and attempt to make it to the group ones?
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Year 7 of NaNo... 6 years of avoiding the end results!

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

What Are Yinz Listening To?

lttlredcorvette — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:31:51 +0000

My guess is Donnie Iris...?

Seriously though, my fellow Pittsburghers, let's get talking about what we're all listening to while we're noveling. I could use some new music (realized the other night that my 'novel music' playlist is about three or four years old, with a few songs just tossed on here and there since then). Sure, there's a whole forum dedicated to this sort of thing, but I want to know what people I may presumably meet in the next few weeks are hearing! So, what is it that's inspiring us while we're typing away? And can you bring some to the next write-in so we can all share and check it out?

Lately I've been listening to a lot of The Slip (2004 and previous), back when they were in their more-jammy era. Writing a fantasy novel, so all their melodic meandering seems to really be helping. Other than that, it's the Duffy Radio on Pandora (loooove her), and my old standard, Mr. Ryan Adams.

How about you? Discuss :)

My Husband Thinks I'm Writing,
fox

(PS, if you've never heard of The Slip and want to check them out, let me know, and I will make you a disc of their finest songs to bring to the next write-in! The only thing I love more than NaNoWriMo is making mix tapes! :)
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Something Helpful

StevietheGreat — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:34:15 +0000

I don't know about you, but sometimes I spend more time researching than I spend writing. Which is why I want to ease some minds and help. By giving you names.

I'm at a write in at Borders, yay for us Monroeville attending individuals, and one of the questions that appeared was 'What do I name so-and-so?' I offered the idea to use a baby name website and then went scrambling to find one of the best site I've come to use in a long time.

For some people, it's really helpful because it gives a range of names used in certain years. So if you're looking for an obscure name, etc, this is the site for you.

If anyone else has anything they feel would be particularly helpful, post it below. Sometimes there's nothing better than something small and uniquely helpful.

http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Grove City/Slippery Rock Area?

StevietheGreat — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:29:44 +0000

We have two nice universities up this way and yet, I haven't seen anything from anyone in this area. Which makes me nervous.

While I live in Pittsburgh on the weekends, are there any other writers that will be up in this area? I'd love to attend the Cranberry event, and I probably will, but there aren't many other options for those of us who are at least an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh. :/

So if you're up in this direction, I'd love to find somewhere to plug in and type away with some collegian support. I mean, seriously, kudos to all of us in writing intensive programs at our respective schools plus NaNo. It's going to be intense.

Get back to me. :)
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Complain About the Stuff You Should Be Doing Right Now

Jack Frost — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:57:07 +0000

i can't be the only busy person crazy enough to take this on. Share your misery with me here!

Things I've got lined up and should be doing, except I've got this awesome novel in my head -

1. College coursework
2. Internet serial novel (and I'm almost out of pre-written chapters, so I'll be doubling up starting next week! *gulp*)
3. Book reviews and author/editor/publisher interviews - at least three lined up so far
4. Submissions for various short story magazines/anthologies
5. Flash fiction contests
6. Exercise
7. Attempting to sustain a social life.

Still, here I am, writing away. I'm going slower than I did last year and the year before, but I'm still making the daily deadlines. I'm way behind on the podcasts I subscribe to, so at least I'll have a bit of audio to keep me company while I'm working.

I'd better get used to staying up all night.
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http://jessicarbrown.blogspot.com

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Word War Updates

katster — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:38:56 +0000

If I've done this right, this should crosspost among all three regional forums that are in a semi-unofficial war with one another. Finland, meet Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, meet Finland. Both of you, meet Sacramento. :)

Basic rules here is the regional average divided by the number of participants. The region that wins gets the warm and fuzzy bragging rights [nearly wrote "writes" there, heh] and the losing regions gets to stew in the cold harsh fact that they weren't good enough to win. (And who knows. There may be more awesome prizes, if we can be bothered to come up with any.)

Anyway, the tale of the tape under the regional tab seems to be that on this, the fifth day of November, the head of our leaderboard goes to....*drum roll please*

FINLAND!

Yes, those plucky Finns are out in front, having a large (but possibly not insurmountable) lead.

Here are the standings:

Finland -- 425 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 42% are new. Wrimos in this region have written 2,022,416 words (5,879 per Wrimo with wordcount) [89th overall in words per wrimo]
Sacramento -- 470 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 45% are new. Wrimos in this region have written 1,526,457 words (5,088 per Wrimo with wordcount) [229th overall in words per wrimo]
Pittsburgh -- 422 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 40% are new. Wrimos in this region have written 1,303,952 words (4,690 per Wrimo with wordcount) [341th overall in words per wrimo]

Or shorter version, with the important numbers:

Finland: 5,879 words per Wrimo
Sacramento: 5,088 words per Wrimo
Pittsburgh: 4,690 words per Wrimo

May this inspire you all to newer and higher wordcounts.

I'll be back on the 10th for a status update.

-kat
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Kat Templeton, Sacramento Region co-ML * http://www.retstak.org
"If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." --Paul Simon

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Charity anyone?

alifeofourown — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:11:21 +0000

For those of you who are writing novels that do not exist on far off planets or galaxies, or maybe even for those who are, why not consider adding a charity or non-profit organization of some sort into your novel?

For example, I'm sneaking To Write Love on Her Arms into mine, which is awesome because the National TWLOHA day lands on November 13th.

Anyone else think this is a good idea?
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The gears in my mind are turning like dancers.
~ The Downtown Fiction
2006: Untitled - Lost
2007: The Five Guardians - Won
2008: How Long is Forever - Lost
2009: Pink Heart - ?

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Where To Be This Week: November 1 - November 7

lttlredcorvette — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:09:51 +0000

Hello, hello, soon-to-be-novelists! Can you believe the month is starting in just a few short days?? And that means that you get to start receiving weekly e-mails from me about the events coming in the next week. Our first week is a big one, with our two Kick-Off events. The full month can be seen at our Google Calendar. Dates, times, and locations can change as the month goes on, so make sure to double check before you head out to an event. Here are the events for the week of November 1st through the 7th:

Midnight Kick-Off Write-In:
12:01am on November 1st (as in, the midnight that happens right at the end of Saturday, but before daylight on Sunday) until 2ish
Squirrel Hill Eat n Park
1816 Murray Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Notes: we'll be sitting in the back, but plug space is minimal - charge up your laptop battery! Also, plan to bring enough cash to get some food and coffee. All ages are welcome.

Official Kick-Off Party:
12:00 noon - 1:30/2ish on Sunday, November 1
Church Brew Works
3525 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Notes: check out the menu ahead of time if you'd like, and bring some money for the dish you'd like best. This is a laptop-free event - just a getting-to-know each other, relaxed kind of meet-up. All ages are welcome.

City Write-In:
6pm - 9pm Wednesday, November 4
Caribou Coffee Oakland
3619 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Notes: I'll try to snag us that big-ish table in the back, but if not, we can move smaller tables together so we can be all close and cozy :) All ages are welcome.

North Write-In:
6pm - 9pm Thursday, November 5
Barnes & Noble
1000 Cranberry Sq Dr (the same shopping center as Wal-Mart)
Cranberry, PA 16066
Notes: This one is kind of tenative - I will send out a post when the info is confirmed (JackFrost or Saalon - NaNoMail me please - I will also try to make it out), so check here and/or the Google Calendar before you leave for the event. All ages are welcome.

Monroeville Write-In:
11am - 2pm Saturday, November 7
Monroeville Borders
200 Mall Blvd.
Monroeville, PA 15146
Notes: Meeting in the cafe of the Borders. All ages are welcome.

If anybody has any questions, let me know, and I will try my best to answer them! I really look forward to seeing friends from last year and welcoming new WriMos to our group. I'll also keep you guys posted on new events (Robinson & South Hills people - let me know when you are planning Write-Ins, and I'll add them to our list and calendar), including our first-ever 21+ Write-In near the end of the month, and a Pittsburgh NaNoWriMo trip to see New Moon on opening night!

So Excited For The Kick-Off She Will Probably Not Even Need Coffee (But Will Drink It Anyway),
fox
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Monroeville Write In

imsupergirl — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:29:57 +0000

Ok, I know I'm at the right Barnes and Noble this time...did I miss the write in again?? I couldn't get myself out of bed any earlier so I got here an hour late but....

Unless you guys are somewhere else besides the cafe?
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"I no longer regard myself as a slave. My life's my own...even though I am thief and pirate..."
~Errol Flynn, Captain Blood

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Westmoreland County WriMos?

moniquebkelly — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:43:42 +0000

Hi! My name is Monique and this is my first year with nanowrimo. I am looking for other wrimos in or around Irwin/Norwin/North Huntingdon. Anybody out there?
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Beaver County?

axm9237 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:27:25 +0000

Hey, all, anyone in Beaver County? Just curious. I go to school in Pittsburgh, but that's about the extent of my Pittsburgh-ness. This is my first year doing NaNo, and I'm pretty far behind on my word count, as I don't have a lot of free time this semester.
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~Alexandra~

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Bake Sale anyone?

tontoisrobot — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:23:39 +0000

As I'm trying to up my word count this evening, I'm also trying to brainstorm for ways we, as Pittsburgh WriMos, can raise money for OLL this year.

A bake sale sounds wonderful to me, I am a fan of baking for ANY reason! Or as was suggested by tinamats in the Philippines forum, see Fundraising for NaNoWriMo (and then some) , we could get our friends and family to pledge for us or something.

What say thee, WriMos?
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Who in the 'Burgh is Writing Fantasy?

lttlredcorvette — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:25:56 +0000

Hey my fellow yinzers, is there anyone else out there attempting to write a fantasy novel? This is my first time going *true* fantasy (with all the made-up creatures and adventures and 'chosen one' heroine and all that), and I'm getting stuck early... I want to write some romance! I know there's eventually going to be a love story, but it's kind of the end of things, and I'm getting frustrated NOW!

So those of you who are writing fantasy... How's it going? What's happening in your novels? Am I too far along to quit and write Chick Lit for the remaining 25 days??

Just Wants To Write Something That Would Make Guillermo del Toro Proud,
Fox
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Join me in Masochism! ...I mean writing, a lot of writing

Ayako — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:12:25 +0000

Hihi! Friendly Ayako here. This November I'm writing until my keyboard catches fire and I'm going to bash out 100,000 words! (If not more~) I want you to join me! 100,000 words may be a bit much for some of you, but I think it'd be really cool if you guys would join me in setting crazy high insane word goals for yourselves this November! At the very least 60,000... I want company in this suicide mission! :D

(besides, we need to ~~beat the crap out of~~ write more than Philly! ...and would you really want to leave me alone to my literary masochism?)
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Dreamer of Inescapable Nightmares
ぜつぼうした！
And I will look at these scars and shove my despair aside, and forthwidth shall come a grand total of 100,000 words!
Self proclaimed Empress of Vu!

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Northside Wrimos?

moondai — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:28:05 +0000

I'm having trouble finding northside wrimos to hang with this season! I think it'd be great if we could get together one saturday for novel writing and chat, share the pains of the writing with the joys. I'm out near CCAC and would really like to find some writing companions to shoot the breeze with over apple cider or coffee. Anybody in my neck of the woods?
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Carnegie Mellon, anyone?

EmmaDavidBowie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:31:53 +0000

Is anyone else here writing from college?
It'd be great to be able to get a group together that could fit in a college schedule.
Plus, we could always use some extra encouragement!

--Emma
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Got a plot hole? Writer's block? A character you just hate? Pyromanicism? Today's the day to take care of that!

Ayako — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:38:22 +0000

Friendly reminder to all our lovely Pittsburgh wrimo-ers, tonight's Guy Fawkes Night, which means we can all set fire to our MCs, annoying characters, plot holes, novels, keyboards, and anything else that's giving us trouble, and justify it too. So beat that day five writer's block away with a big fire, set fire to those plotholes, and write like your house is going to go up in flames!
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Dreamer of Inescapable Nightmares
ぜつぼうした！
And I will look at these scars and shove my despair aside, and forthwidth shall come a grand total of 100,000 words!
Self proclaimed Empress of Vu!

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

The Official "I Was at the Kick-Off" Post

lttlredcorvette — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:06:15 +0000

Hey guys, it was suggested Saturday night that we have a post for everyone who was at one of the Kick-Offs (things were a bit hectic and huge at both events this year, so I know it was a bit tough to nail down names, let alone connect them to usernames). So, if you were at either Kick-Off event and would like to let people know who you are for the sake of 'ahhh, yes I met THAT person!' or the purpose of adding new writing buddies to help motivate you throughout the month, tack a reply onto this post! I'll start :)

My name is Fox.
I was at both events, wearing a red NaNoWriMo 2009 shirt on Saturday (with large gaming laptop that overtook table space), and the greenish NaNo 2007 shirt on Sunday (had cute, nerdy husband with me on Sunday :).

See, just like that! Woohoo!

Likes To Procrastinate By Checking Everyone's Stats,
Fox
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Writing Buddies anyone?

Nooe — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:35:55 +0000

I'm terribly behind in my wrimo this year. Things just fell like SUCK but I have my plan, if not my plot, all figured out! I will be starting my official writing tonight and shooting to finish by November 25 rather than 30 - I love to give myself pressure!

Anyhow - I'd love to have some buddies from my region to share the joys and miseries of the season with - anyone interested in sharing their stories?

I'm from the Uniontown Area, previously lived in Whitehall (outskirts of Pittsburgh).

I'm on livejournal as countershade if people want to swap information, always available via messengers and such.

Thanks, and good luck on your word-counts!

Noh
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Be the change you wish to see in the world.
"You know me, therefore I am." ~The Muse

United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Dictionary dot com

tontoisrobot — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:47:15 +0000

Is anyone else having issues searching and navigating the site?

lost for words,
t.
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Upper Saint Clair?

kporco — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:41:56 +0000

I live in Upper Saint Clair, does anyone live close? Can we set up something in this area??
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Greetings from your Friendly ML!

lttlredcorvette — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:38:56 +0000

Hey yinz guyz! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Fox, your friendly Municipal Liaison for the Pittsburgh region. Welcome back to all of you veteran WriMos out there, and welcome aboard to anyone who's joining us in this madness for the very first time. If you're new, you're in the perfect region for it - Pittsburghers are just as friendly and helpful with novel-ing as we are with offering driving directions and giving out-of-towners statistics about the Steelers :)

However, before we get started on November 1 (that's 12:01am again, those of you who were at our midnight kick-off write-in at Eat n Park last year!), I need some information. Our write-ins are a huge help - they offer us a chance to network, commiserate, bounce ideas off of other writers, make new friends, and explore different coffeeshops throughout the city. But they only work if people make it out to the events!

So, I need everyone interested in attending write-ins to answer the following questions (feel free to just copy and paste and fill them in as a reply to this post - I'll keep the anal retentive Excel spreadsheet to organize it all):

Area of the City Where I Live:
Nights I Would Most Likely Attend a Write-In:
Suggestion for a Coffeeshop/Write-In Location:
Suggestion for Kick-Off Party Location:

If you are new to NaNoWriMo, the Kick-Off Party is a chance for us to get together right at the beginning of the month and have a tasty meal and sit around a restaurant table getting to know each other (okay, okay, and maybe writing just a *teeny* bit). Last year, we had it in the downstairs room of Fuel & Fuddle, but I need to know where you guys would like to have it this year. We need a place that has yummy, pretty reasonably-priced food (F&F brunch was $7.50 or less per dish) and enough room to accommodate a bunch of us at a single table or area. Help me out - what's your best Kick-Off Party location recommendation?

Last year, we had at least three write-ins a week: one in the north, one in the city, and one in Monroeville. I'd like to do a similar setup this year, and that's why I need to figure out the best day of the week for each write-in. So help me out! :)

As we get closer to the start of the month, you'll be hearing a lot more from me with information about our write-ins and events, and also some motivational things and reminders (like backing up your work!) once we're into the swing of things. I also maintain a Google Calendar for us to keep track of everything, and I'll let you know once that's up. And if you have any questions, feel free to NaNomail me, and I will answer as very best I can.

So once again, welcome back to all of our seasoned Pittsburgh WriMos, and welcome to the madness, all of you first-timers out there. We've only got 27 days until our favorite crazy month begins!!!

Posting During Commercial Breaks of Pittsburgh Steeler Time,
fox
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Anyone live near Pleasant Hills?

Axariel — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:16:30 +0000

I live near Belle Vernon, but I work in Pleasant Hills. We should definitely plan a get-together at the Panara Bread!
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Washington, PA writer

marnaday — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:21:53 +0000

Not too many peeps who write in this little town. I'm not far from South Hills. First year doing this, but this is my 7th book. I've accumulated a lot of compost. Looking forward to it. Anyone close?
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United States :: Pennsylvania :: Pittsburgh

Bloomfield/Lawrenceville/Shadyside/East Liberty?

vermilionskies — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:23:51 +0000

So, is anyone in the more east bits of the East Side of Pittsburgh interested in setting up more local meet up? There are a bunch of really nice little coffee shops in the Bloomfield area, and its immediate environs, that would be great places to sit and chat and work on our wordcounts (without having to trek out to Oakland in the middle of High Scholastic Season, when the coffee shops are swamped with studying freshmen).

So what do we think?
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