United States :: California :: Los Angeles

The Great List of Coffee Houses for Write-Ins, Meet-Ups and hangin' out

Gategrrl — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:21:32 -0700

The old thread from last year was wiped out, along with all the information in it, but luckily, I still had Cybele's list. Let me know if there are corrections. You can also add your own coffee houses to the list, too. Just try and follow the format of the titles so it's easy to see at a glance where the business is located!

Here's an easy format to follow:

Name - weblink if they've got it

Location - not just the address, usually a description of where it is in relation to other stuff

Hours - especially useful if they're open very early or very late

Prices - as well as selection and how they serve the food/drinks (table service, counter, refills, real cups, etc.)

Ambiance[ - type of seating, do they play music, indoor/outdoor space (for smokers), clientele

Connections - are there places to plug in, WiFi, cell phone deadspots?

Parking - street parking, meters/limits, lots, prices

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________________________________
2004: Land of the Dead - WON! | 2005: Gaia's Plan - WON!
2006: Mindless - WON! | 2007: Diary of a Were-Dog - WON!

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

LA Region Calender is Here!

Gategrrl — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:03:14 -0700

Here's the new LA Region Calender!

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=rg80gnnf9dp1u3tppeo4kehfok%40gr...

Anyone can submit a Write-In or single day event on this thread. Just be sure to include date, time, address and all other pertinent information on this thread so that either I, or Omouse can add it to the calender.

Any questions, just ask here. :-)
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________________________________
2004: Land of the Dead - WON! | 2005: Gaia's Plan - WON!
2006: Mindless - WON! | 2007: Diary of a Were-Dog - WON!

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

UCLA Anyone?

Arobow — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:56:57 -0700

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th or even campus-convenient alums?
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United States :: California :: Los Angeles

March is National Novel EDITING Month!

Storeetllr — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 21:23:52 -0800

I've been wanting to edit my NaNo novel but just can't seem to get motivated and, besides, I miss the frantic fun of November, so when I learned about NaNoEdMo, I jumped right in. It starts March 1 and runs through the 31st. Goal is to edit for 50 hours. The website is modeled on NaNoWriMo, with forums, MLs, edit-ins (local and online), and parties (Kick-Off and TGIO). Anyway, here's the website if you're interested: http://www.nanoedmo.net/xoops2/

Hope to see you there!
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Mary w/a Storeetllr
She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain. Louisa May Alcott (1873)
>^..^<

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

A shout out to those who actually finished their book!

Deli Korkmaz — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 12:40:34 -0800

If anyone is still listening . . .

Have you finished your book? If so, this is where you can give yourself a shout out, and inspire the rest of us to keep up the slog.

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Silencio ranas, que va a cantar el sapo.

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Saturdays at Groundworks, Reminder

SpaceXDebris — Sat, 8 Dec 2007 11:40:42 -0800

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to remind everyone that several us will be meeting at Groundworks on the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga at a12:30 on Saturday. Which is an hour from now! Yeah! We'll also be there next Saturday 12/15. The purpose of the group is to motivate each other to continue writing, so that we can give each other feedback (if desired), and so that we can talk about other writerly things, like how to find the time, etc.

Hope you all can come!
Chris
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The Gravedigger's Daughter (2006)
The Lost City of Caeceron (2005)
Burning Daisies (2004)
Midnight Sun (2003)
"If history is to change, let it change. If the world is to be destroyed, so be it. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh." - Magus

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Woooord Waaaar: LA v. Seattle. There can only be one.

dream_snail — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 20:08:51 -0800

I don't know if everyone knows this or not but Seattle traditionally kicks our butt in wordcount. This cannot stand. We're Californians. We survive fires, earthquakes, floods, landslides, riots and traffic on the 405! Yeah, that's right, I said "the 405" cause we put a "the" before our freeways! (Did you know other places don't? What's that about? We drive on the 5... not I-5.)

As it stands, Seattle is beating us!

Seattle: 3,214,742
LA: 2,860,057

That's 354,000+ words. Cue overdramatic: Noooooooooooooo. But we can rally and destroy Seattle with a flood of words, right? I do believe it's on, so let's bring it.

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It came to me in a dream. And I forgot it in another dream.
-Prof Farnsworth, "Futurama"
--
Now he's trapped in a book I wrote! A crummy world of plot holes and spelling errors!
-Fry, "Futurama"

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

VROMAN'S GROUP! Wazzup?

tsuyoshikentsu — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:46:40 -0800

Told you I'd start it. ;-)

I'm Tucker. The tall one, with the Jew hat and the excellent taste in clothing. ;-)
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United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Auto-Summarize- butcher your Nano!

carriesflame — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 16:02:28 -0800

This is always a fun one. In Microsoft Word, go to Tools -> Auto-Summarize, then select one of the lower options (I normally do 100 words or less). It will mush your Nano into the appropriate word number, normally something quite nonsensical that favors one character's name over all others.

With 21,188 words, mine is:

Quote:

Elli spluttered. Elli inquired. Elli snapped. “Elli.”
“Okay,” Elli whispered. “Hi, Elli. “Genie?”
Elli inquired. Elli asked. “Elli.
Great, Elli thought. Elli murmured. Elli asked.
Elli asked. “Hi Delilah,” Elli said. Elli inquired. Elli asked.
Elli asked. Elli nodded. Elli asked. Elli stammered.
Elli guessed. Elli followed. Elli waited.
“Elli?” Elli shrugged. Elli nodded. Elli asked.
Elli whispered, shivering.Elli and Delilah followed.
Elli asked. Elli asked. Elli said.
Elli asked. “Elli does,” Delilah chimed. Elli asked. Elli asked. Elli asked.
Your turn, Elli.” Elli glowered. Elli reminded.
Nathan. Elli asked. Elli snapped.
Elli inquired. Elli asked. [./quote]

... dang, it likes Elli! Yet Genie and Nathan only warrant one mention, and Delilah... two? Three? Granted, Elli does have a few more mentions than any of those people-- but not that many more.

So, what's your auto-summary?
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~Carrie
Nano '04 - Carson (Won)
Nano '05 - The Left on Aubrey Street (Won)
Nano '06 - 2000 Miles From St. Louis (Won)
Nano '07 - Corporation (Won!)

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

TGIO Party Dec 1, 5-8pm! RSVP here!

Gategrrl — Mon, 5 Nov 2007 16:44:51 -0800

http://www.thecatandfiddle.com/about.html

This year's party is at the Cat & Fiddle Restaurant. A bunch of tables are reserved and waiting for all LA WriMos to cluster and eat and talk and read one page from everyone's manuscript! (the page is optional)

C&F has valet parking ($4), and there is some metered street parking.

So come on over and party til you drop!

Let the MLs know if you're coming via the thread that's starting up, or PM.

Can't wait to see y'all again!

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________________________________
2004: Land of the Dead - WON! | 2005: Gaia's Plan - WON!
2006: Mindless - WON! | 2007: Diary of a Were-Dog - WON!

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Your FINAL Nano 2007 stats

veganfred — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:48:08 -0800

It’s time for one of my favorite post-Nano items, your final stats. We all know the obvious ones, the total words and hours, but hopefully you’ll come up with a few novel ones (get it?) of your own. I’ll start you off with some of the easier ones, especially if you have a Nano Report Card spreadsheet, or other such tool. You may use some or all of these, but please feel free to add some creative ones of your own:

TOTAL WORDS WRITTEN:

ACTUAL WRITING DAYS IT TOOK YOU:

BIGGEST WORD COUNT DAY:

NUMBER OF HOURS IT TOOK:

AVERAGE WORDS PER HOUR:

HIGHEST WORD COUNT HOUR:

MOST HOURS YOU WROTE IN ONE DAY:

CUPS OF COFFEE CONSUMED:

NUMBER OF MEALS SKIPPED:

NUMBER OF FUN OUTTINGS YOU HAD:

HOURS OF TIVO YOU NOW HAVE TO CATCH UP ON:

LOADS OF LAUNDRY WAITING FOR YOU:

WHAT YOU WILL DO TO REWARD YOURSELF:

ARE YOU READY FOR NANO 2008?
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Winner 2001 - The "M" Word
Winner 2002 - Running Time
Winner 2003 - Changing Time
Winner 2004 - Time Out
Winner 2005 - Buying Time
Winner 2006 - Finding Time
Winner 2007 - Fireballs

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Want to Continue Writing? Here are some links

Gategrrl — Sat, 1 Dec 2007 14:19:31 -0800

Here's a link to a page that'll take you to other links, to help you continue your writing on this novel (if it needs more fleshing out), and if you want to edit your novel.

http://ymakadomain.com/janno/links.shtml
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________________________________
2004: Land of the Dead - WON! | 2005: Gaia's Plan - WON!
2006: Mindless - WON! | 2007: Diary of a Were-Dog - WON!

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Way behind pace? Think you can't possibly finish? Read this and think again.

veganfred — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:19:11 -0800

Okay, I'm sorry, 'you-know-who,' for posting this yet again this year, but in the interest of inspiring those who are lagging way behind and feel they are on an impossible quest, I offer the now traditional, "It ain't over till it's over motivational posting."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ladies and gentlemen, buckle your seat belts for the "write" of your life:

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 10:38 pm Post subject: Hello. My name is Dianne and I am insane...

I certainly hope I beat out everyone here, if only because I would never, ever wish my last 48 hours on anyone! (And I will *so* not be doing it ever again -- next year I keep going *early* in the month!!!)

As of 10am yesterday morning (11/29) I had a mere 17,843 words.

As of just before 8pm tonight (11/30) I finished, at 50,005.

For the non-mathematically inclined, I consult my handy dandy spreadsheet to report that that's

13 hours yesterday, for 12,313 words
and
10-1/2 hours today, for 19,858 words

My wrists may never recover, I doubt my brain ever will, and I must admit that while the first two thirds are solid, the last third is... um... wandering off into the extremely creative territory (read: Fox Mulder, time travel, aliens, and a very large T-rex!).

But damn, I did it!

Going off to collapse now...
_________________
Dianne la Mercenaire ~ Champion of Procrastination!
Winner 2002: Corpse In The Closet
Winner 2003: My Life As In My Tyme
"Good intentions are no substitute for action;
failure usually follows the path of least persistence."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, nothing is impossible. It ain't easy, but it ain't impossible!!! Be proud, Dianne, you are still my all-time champ and hero!
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Winner 2001 - The "M" Word
Winner 2002 - Running Time
Winner 2003 - Changing Time
Winner 2004 - Time Out
Winner 2005 - Buying Time
Winner 2006 - Finding Time
Winner 2007 - Fireballs

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Writer's Support Group - Post Nano

RichardRossi — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:24:10 -0800

Write Now! A monthly support group open to writers of all genres is forming to meet monthly in the San Fernando Valley after Nano is finished. The group will offer mutual encouragement and unrelenting support. To be added to invite list send your email to: richardrossiactor@yahoo.com
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Forge ahead to writing completion

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Finishing the Novel.

SpaceXDebris — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:19:52 -0800

Friends, Writers, All,

This is a call out to anyone who has hit 50k, but is not finished. This is a call out to those who did not hit 50k, but still remain dedicated to the task. This is a call out to anyone who wants to continue writing into December.

December, after all, is known by some to be National Novel Finishing Month. I prefer to call it Round 2.

Some people are just crazy. You've seen them, shooting for 100k, 150k, finishing after 3, 7, or 10 days. They are crazy and they are awesome.

This is my fifth time doing nanowrimo, so this year I wanted to be crazy, just like those other crazy people.

But then I realized that I am more of a distance runner than a sprinter.

With you, fellow Wrimos, as my witnesses, I hereby, in full public view, charge myself with the task of writing another 50k by the end of December. I do this because I want to finish my novel. I do this because I understand that if I stop now, I will never finish it.

I know there must be others in the same boat. Where are you?

Also, for those interested in a Post-Nano Write-In / Discussion / Critique Group, several of us meet on Saturdays at Groundworks in Hollywood, on the corner of Cahuenga and Sunset, from 12:30 to 4ish (or as long as you care to stay). We will be there tomorrow, December 1.

Congratulations to everyone who finished. Congratulations to everyone who has written more this month than they've ever written before. I know this was me five years ago. And also, thanks for being such an awesome support group.

-Chris
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The Gravedigger's Daughter (2006)
The Lost City of Caeceron (2005)
Burning Daisies (2004)
Midnight Sun (2003)
"If history is to change, let it change. If the world is to be destroyed, so be it. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh." - Magus

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

What were your most popular (overused?) words?

veganfred — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:23:01 -0800

I did a little 'find and replace' to see which words I fell in love with this year.

***You may have to put a space before and/or after certain words like ‘a’ and ‘the’ or it will replace either the letter ‘a’ or words that begin or end in 'a', or parts of words like ‘there’ will become 're.' Have fun with your learning experience.

Here are mine:
(MC) Aaron = 120
(Sister) Sophie = 258
(Friend) Billy = 245
Mom / Mommy = 170 / 128
Dad / Daddy = 47 / 34
I = 3542
The = 2407
You = 1819
A = 1790
And = 1583
But = 667
He = 655
She = 599
Said = 331
Oh = 178
Fireball(s) = 32

Of course, you should really only do this on a copy of your final document, and also undo each one after you check its total.
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Winner 2001 - The "M" Word
Winner 2002 - Running Time
Winner 2003 - Changing Time
Winner 2004 - Time Out
Winner 2005 - Buying Time
Winner 2006 - Finding Time
Winner 2007 - Fireballs

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

South Bay (Beach Cities) Wrimos, Chime in!

RaDragon — Sat, 1 Dec 2007 00:15:58 -0800

Here's hoping all my fellow neighbours made it!

Congratulations to all that began/gave up/ finished NaNoWriMo 2007. I wish I could have met some of you in person but I will definitely make it to a write-in next year.

Have a lovely holiday!

Cheers,

Raciel
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(\__/) Cheers,
(='.'=)
(")_(") Raciel

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Well.. I did it. (50k)

October-Rising — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:22:47 -0800

My first NaNoWriMo word-goal is accomplished. But it's far from over for me. I'm only half way through the novel, if that. I'll still be writing right along side of you guys for the next two weeks. It feels so great to have reached this point and I'm looking forward to the next 50k words.

Best of luck to all of you in your goals, be it 50k or 150k. :)
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United States :: California :: Los Angeles

I Made It To 50K

tarmarq — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:33:29 -0800

This was my first time doing NaNoWriMo and I enjoyed doing it. I have reached 50k and I am happy with myself. I slacked off during the holidays. I didn't write for a couple of days but I was determined to complete this goal. I hope everyone here makes it to 50k
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United States :: California :: Los Angeles

WEST LA anyone?

asusa — Sun, 4 Nov 2007 19:10:28 -0800

Greetings,

Any one in West LA? Is the writer known at Novel from 3-Day here?
Any west side meetups?

Susanne
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Susanne
Artist, Author, Educator

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

SFV Thread, anyone...?

winds23 — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:49:10 -0700

The last time I was able to participate actively in NaNo was back in 2005. I discovered that NaNos in the San Fernando Valley were relatively few and far between back then, and those willing and able to attend write-outs were fewer and ... I guess farther between. I'm curious to see if the number of Nanos, particularly in the West Valley, has grown at all, and if there's any interest in write-outs or anything like that.

Thoughts? Comments? Threats? Recipes? Battle plans? Interjections?
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United States :: California :: Los Angeles

What Have You Done Rather Than Write?

diannelamerc — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:00:30 -0800

(In honor of veganfred ;-)

Come on, big or small, 'fess up: what have you done so far this ear rather than write (for the day or the moment).

I started off the month by completely taking apart and reconfiguring my computer.

Today I've spent massively re-organizing the tool/cords/spare stuff corner of the apartment.
It's been on my to-do list for approximately forever (nearly a year at least). Today I decide to do it.

Give the cat a bath? Suddenly decide your toenails are clearly a full 1/8 inch too long and must be fixed?

(In addition to poking around the forums, of course) what have *you* done this year in the transparent attempt to avoid actual writing?
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~~~
Participant since 2001 ~ Winner since 2002

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Home stretch!!! The 40K Club!

veganfred — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:22:34 -0800

Okay, It might not be as much fun as The Mile High Club, but for a true Nanoer, it is probably as exciting.

I hereby annoint myself a proud member for the seventh time in as many years.

Feel free to annoint yourself here and become a member in good standing of "The 40K Club."
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Winner 2001 - The "M" Word
Winner 2002 - Running Time
Winner 2003 - Changing Time
Winner 2004 - Time Out
Winner 2005 - Buying Time
Winner 2006 - Finding Time
Winner 2007 - Fireballs

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

CHRIS BATY coming to Los Angeles Write-In!

Gategrrl — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 09:35:30 -0800

Chris Baty is coming to LA to Lulu's Beehive on Saturday morning on November 24th! Meet the Big Cahuna and get some writing done (riiight). Cybele, our wise NaNo Forum Moderator and Candy blogger, will be coming as well.

Details:

Lulu's Beehive. Write-In from 9am to 11am

Lots of street parking along Ventura, but bring change for the meters! Small parking lot in the rear. Plenty of large tables that can fit between two or three people depending on the size of their laptops and amount of stuff. It's the traditional Write-In location. Good coffee, awesome breakfast sandwiches and bagels, reasonable prices. And it's not crowded. Outlets available, but it you need to keep your laptop plugged in, you might want to bring an extension cord.

13203 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604-1835
818 986 2233
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________________________________
2004: Land of the Dead - WON! | 2005: Gaia's Plan - WON!
2006: Mindless - WON! | 2007: Diary of a Were-Dog - WON!

United States :: California :: Los Angeles

Thanksgiving Survival Stories

Desertdreamer — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 00:57:49 -0800

What did everyone do to keep the noveling going over the holiday?

I had to spend the day with my DH's extended family, and did not want to be rude by going off and hiding in a handy closet or bathroom, so I stayed on the couch in full sight of everyone, and when anyone asked what I was doing I told them all about Nano, and kept on writing. I had a good word count day, and came up with a new game to keep me going next year too: While writing and playing a game of Scrabble wit hthree other people, I challenged myself to fit into the story, right where I was in it, any words on the board. It was fun and got my juices flowing again!

Only a few days left in November!
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