United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Capital Wordwar Smackdown

Brighterskyte — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:42:32 -0700

Dearest Olympia,

All year we have pined for you, we have waited in anticipation for this day, and now it has finally arrived. We could not be more excited.

The National Novel Writing Month Region of Oregon :: Salem would like to once again officially challenge the region of Washington :: Olympia to the Capital Word War Smackdown to see which Capital can write the most words during the month of November.

You are true competitors, and National Novel Writing Month would not be the same without you.

We hope to hear from you soon,

With love and affection,
Salem, Oregon
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- Jamie
Co-ML Salem, Oregon
2006/2007 Capitol Wordwar Smackdown Champions!
Proud member and founder of the Cardboard Box Wrimos
2008 Novel - Untitled

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

TGIO!

whitestar — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 16:39:58 -0800

I want to extend my hearty congratulations to all of the Olympia participants, even if, (like me) you didn't win this year. You did something brave, crazy and wonderful this November and that's awesome. Say it with me now - "Thank God It's Over!"

I'd like to ask for your feedback on our TGIO event - would a coffee shop fit the bill or would a restaurant be a nice change of pace? Would a weekday be acceptable or are weekends better for people? I'm open to suggestions - after all, this is your party, for you to celebrate all that you've achieved. Ideally I'd like to shoot for sometime between this weekend and the next, before the holiday madness descends in full.

Applauding loudly for you all,
Lisa, your proud ML
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There is a difference between dreaming and doing.
olympia_wa@nanowrimo.org

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

How's the writing going?

Kirlaskia — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 11:23:27 -0800

Figured I would see how everyone's writing is doing! :)

Mine is coming along quick enough, but I have to admit I don't think I really like it all that much. The plot is detailed enough and I like the characters enough... not quite sure what the problem is. It just doesn't feel "right", if that makes any sense? I've debated forming a new one and speeding to catch up again - which would be easy enough - but I still "like" this plot, kind of... o.O Anyway, now that I have confused myself... how is everyone else's doing?
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-Veronica-SF-Kirlaskia-

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Last-Minute Write-In Scheduled!

whitestar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:59:32 -0800

Hi folks!
As we enter our last week of NaNoWriMo insanity, I wanted to let you all know that I've scheduled our last write-in of the month at Batdorf & Bronson Coffeehouse for this Friday from 5-6:30 pm. This is your chance to get in a good push towards 50,000 before November draws to a close. I hope to see you there!

Where:
Batdorf & Bronson
516 S. Capitol Way
Olympia, Washington

When: Friday, November 28th 5-6:30pm
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There is a difference between dreaming and doing.
olympia_wa@nanowrimo.org

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Aliens, Leprechauns, Chickens, and Chimpanzees

geary — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 17:01:48 -0800

So, any aliens, leprechauns, chickens, chimpanzees, pirates, vampires, dragons, zombies or killer garden gnomes in your story yet? What’s craziest thing you’ve got so far?

I’ve got nothing (snore) except a mysterious brown paper bag under the driver’s seat of my MC’s rental car. The MC is stressed about it, so I expect to find something really, really good in there before the end of the story. I don't have a clue yet, but it makes me want to keep writing to find out. (Perhaps the desiccated hand--index finger gnawed off--of the crazy peacher who tried to drown him during baptism 50 years ago? Would that it were that kind of story!! :>D)

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United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Happy Halfway Day :)

Shann86 — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:25:41 -0800

Well, ok, yeah, it was yesterday but since I'm always a day late and usually a dollar short, I'm right on par! :)

How's the writing everyone?

Anybody written themselves into a corner yet?

What duex ex machina (I mangled the spelling there, just read it phonetically please, lol) if any, have you been tempted to OR have used?

My buddy came up with a secret tribe of shapeshifters that changes to hippogriffs (like "Buckbeak" from Harry Potter anyway). I am in awe actually.

Shann...procrastinating madly and determinedly...
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Shann...
I used to be a type A personality, now I'm a type Zzzzz....

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Oly Events?

konkreterandom — Mon, 6 Oct 2008 00:28:22 -0700

Hey everyone, I was just wondering if the Olympia group was going to be having any events or if we should brainstorm some. Whats the ML say?
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"I'm a drinker with a writing problem"

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

HI from your old ML!

heatherjune — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 18:12:25 -0800

OMG I MISS YOU GUYS.
THEY ARE TOO ORGANIZED HERE IN BUFFALO.

Srsly, 3 write-ins a week??? Crazy. I hope you are all treating Lisa(k) well!

Love,
June
(your ML for the previous three years)
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So This is What the Volume Knob is For: http://volume-knob.blogspot.com

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Swag Is In!

whitestar — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:16:43 -0700

Exciting news - the 2008 NaNo swag has arrived! If you won't be able to make it to any of our events, please send me your mailing address either via PM here on the site or email me at olympia_wa@nanowrimo.org and I'll send some of the shiny your way.
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There is a difference between dreaming and doing.
olympia_wa@nanowrimo.org

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

River Ridge Writers?

Flamez — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 09:18:54 -0800

If there are any writers from RRHS out there, go ahead and reply to this message! If you post on the forum, we can click each other's names and sign up as writing buddies.

Yay!
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United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Computer Troubles

maxiepie — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:52:52 -0800

OK, so I've got a dilemma- the laptop I'm using to write my novel on is literally older than I am, and the floppy drive is broken on it. There's no place on it for a thumb drive. It's got internet, but we dont have internet cables that old and I'm pretty sure that on the internet it would have MAJOR difficulties along with the possibility of it crashing. So, the problem is this- how do I get mky novel off of the laptop? Would writing the whole novel but then putting a bunch of junk into the word counter thing be considered cheating? 'Cause this is the only computer I have that I would be able to type 50000 word on, and I don't really know what to do. (My brother is writing his 50000 words on our computer computer, and 2 people writing a novel on it at once would be a nightmare)
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United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Stupid question RE: Bus routes

Inoru no Hoshi — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 08:27:30 -0800

Just in case I actually manage to make it or something.. I was just looking at bus routes, and now I'm all confused as to whether I should aim to catch the 44 at 2 or 2:30. I've already had it shown to me that I phail epikly at making sense of bus routes, haven't ridden public transit since I was seven or eight, so.. Yeah. :P

Sorry to be a bother. :P
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NaNo'04: {Title lost} Fail.
NaNo'06: Dreamspinner - Fail.
NaNo'07: The Hole in the World - Win. :D
Screnzy!08: {untitled} Fail.
NaNo'08: The Silver Stone - Win!
Screnzy!09: TBA

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

2008 OlyNoWriMo Soundtrack

whitestar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:17:09 -0700

Kaikuahine has graciously offered to organize this year's OlyNoWriMo soundtrack cd! The idea is this;
Pick out one or two songs that you'll be listening to while you write this November. These can be tied into the theme of your novel or be about the writing process. Anyone can share songs to be included on the cd. If you have the file on your computer, you can share it in this thread by uploading it to YouSendIt and posting the download link here. If you only have it on cd, you'll need to burn it to a blank cd and bring it to an event. Once everyone who wishes to contribute has done so, Kaikuahine will burn the cds. Ideally these will be done in time for distributing at the Thank-God-It's-Over party at the end of November.

A few tips:
Instrumental music is a very good choice for writing soundtracks. Because there are no lyrics, the music doesn't interfere with the language centers of your brain as you're writing.
Movie or musical soundtracks are a good source of music for this since they are specially designed to accompany a story.
Because we are a diverse group of awesome novelists, it's best that you refrain from submitting anything with explicit lyrics.

To get the ball rolling, my offering this year is inspired by the theme of my novel:
Spies - Coldplay
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There is a difference between dreaming and doing.
olympia_wa@nanowrimo.org

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

What's Your Favorite Procrastination?

geary — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:41:26 -0800

What's your favorite way to avoid working? Mine is looking for movies on Netflix (even though I already have more movies in the queue than I can watch in ten years).
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United States :: Washington :: Olympia

to kill or not to kill.

mayahuskee — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 14:23:58 -0800

So basically I've been thinking of ways to kill my main character, Makayla. I don't know why I want to kill her. It's not that I don't love her... because I love all my characters. But I've just been killing her over and over again in my mind. The only thing is I'm unsure of how I would fit it into my plot. I have an idea, but it seems so cliché to me. xD

Here is my thought:

Makayla dies. I kill her. (How? That's irrelevant)... And her best friend, Lucas, ends up writing a book about her life (of what he knows). Because he feels she needs to be remembered or something along those lines. He titles it "The Author's Daughter", which would give good reason for the title of my novel to be that. xD I mean, Makayla is meant to be the daughter of a famous author who dies... but... eh.

When I think of that ending, I think of the notebook. I think of cliché... I think of it being done a million times over. I don't know. I'm not quite sure what else to do with the ending. =/

Thoughts?

Oh, p.s... ever feel the need to kill your characters? xD
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The names Maya Huskee, got it memorized ?

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Countdown preparations

Shann86 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:08:33 -0700

So...we've only got 5 days left. I've got the coffee, candy & jerky cache ready, new printer cartridges & a couple reams of paper, 2 pristine notebooks and my pens & pencils ready. My blog is updated and ready...all of this readiness in anticipation of opening day (which of course by the end of I'll probably be sqealing I'm NOT READY!!! lol) My notes, outlines/brainstroms are all close at hand. These last few days I've reserved for major research and taking copious notes...

What are some of your pre-Nano preparations (dare I say "rituals" for some of us, lol)? Little quirky things you do to get yourself girded & geared? :) Stir crazy minds want to know :)

Shann

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Shann...
I used to be a type A personality, now I'm a type Zzzzz....

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Calimafornia?

MuffinKitty — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:07:57 -0700

I hadn't ever heard of the event in Cali on the 15th before... maybe it's new? I have no clue. But I saw it today in the newsletter thingy, and thought to myself "Gosh, I've never been to California... I should go!" I think it would be pretty awesome to show up down there and write my ass off for Washington State.
Before I make a singular fund-raising page (without a team), is anyone else thinking they could feasibly make it down there for the single little five hour event, or am I an ace short of fifty-two?
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--
Muffin Kitty the Pastry Cat

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Outlining and Plots... are you ready?

Kirlaskia — Sun, 5 Oct 2008 10:28:32 -0700

I figured I would see how far along in the planning process everyone is. :) Over the last few months I've thrown ideas around, written out plot/chapter outlines and then changed it the other day again - this time to what I will definitely be using. ^__^ I've mapped out a outline of the plot from start to finish and those added extra "goodies" to add in throughout. Finally got names created for my characters/planets/etc... and have chapter one and two outlined! I like to have about 10-15 chapters outlined before NaNo, so I'll be trying to get those done before Nov. 1. I am doing another sci-fi/romance/drama this year again.

Last years Nano is complete and located here if interested in reading: http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2433237/1/Fated_Enslavement

Lots of stuff going on here, so I am hoping I'll still be able to fit in getting outlines done and win Nano again this year. We're adopting (SO EXCITED!!!), so many "big events" going on right now! We're matched with a 5 year old girl and visits will be starting this coming week. I'm still going to try and win nano again though. ^___^

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-Veronica-SF-Kirlaskia-

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Greetings and Salutations

whitestar — Fri, 3 Oct 2008 14:06:35 -0700

Hello and welcome to NaNo '08!
I'm Lisa, your friendly regional municipal liaison. This will be my fourth year as a participant and my second year as an ML. You're welcome to message me with questions or comments, either here on the NaNo site or via email at olympia_wa@nanowrimo.org. We have an event calendar this year, hosted through Google, that I'll be updating as events are scheduled. You can find it here:
OlyNoWriMo Event Calendar

Please take a minute to say hello to your fellow Oly novelists and share your plans for this year's NaNo.

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There is a difference between dreaming and doing.
olympia_wa@nanowrimo.org

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

The Opening Scene

geary — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:31:59 -0700

Excerpts from
Hooked, by Les Ederton
The Opening Scene

INCITING INCIDENT: A scene in which something happens to the protagonist that creates his surface problem and introduces the first indications of the story-worthy problem. This is where today’s stories begin.

THE TROUBLE: The protagonist’s world has been altered profoundly by an event—not altered in terms of material or surface things, such as a loss of income, the death of a loved one, or an injury—but in terms of the inner psychological world of the character being significantly changed for the worse.

INITIAL SURFACE PROBLEM: This is the problem that occurs as a direct result of the inciting incident. And while it may seem at first glance that solving this problem is what the story is really all about, it’s not. Every story is ultimately about solving the deeper more complicated story-worthy problem that is slowly revealed as the story progresses. It propels the protagonist to take action to solve it (which he must for the story to work), and assists in the eventual revelation of the story-worthy problem. The initial surface problem can evolve into or create additional, even larger surface problems, but these must raise organically from the initial problem and always be firmly moored to the story-worthy problem.

THE STORY-WORTHY PROBLEM: (What the story is really about.) The inciting incident sets the stage for the story-worthy problem, which functions just beneath the surface of the story on a more psychological level. It is the driving force behind the initial surface problem as it’s ultimately what the protagonist must reconcile at the end of the story. The inciting incident introduces this problem by either bringing to the forefront a buried problem or creating a new one, thus beginning the gradual revealing process that will encompass the rest of the story as the protagonist’s—and the reader’s—understanding of the true nature of story-worthy problem deepens.

The balance of the rest of the story involves the protagonist’s struggle to resolve the surface and story-worthy-problems despite obstacles the antagonist throws his way to prevent him from reaching that goal.

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United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Hi!

Kirlaskia — Fri, 3 Oct 2008 13:50:24 -0700

Just thought I would say hello!

Anyone else around?
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-Veronica-SF-Kirlaskia-

United States :: Washington :: Olympia

Ursula K. Le Guin at the WA Center

whitestar — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 13:16:43 -0700

This isn't strictly NaNo business, but I wanted to share this with you all in case you're a fantasy reader and interested in seeing a legend in the flesh, right here in our town! Le Guin published A Wizard of Earthsea in 1968 and this will be the very first time she's done a public reading of it. Also, since this is a library-sponsored event, it's free! I'll definitely be there and hopefully some of you are interested in attending as well.

Stolen from the Olympian site:

'A Wizard of Earthsea'

What: Author Ursula K. Le Guin reads from her classic fantasy novel as part of Timberland Regional Library's fourth annual Timberland Reads Together campaign. She'll answer questions and sign books.
In Olympia: 7 p.m. Friday at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. S.E.
Tickets: Free

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There is a difference between dreaming and doing.
olympia_wa@nanowrimo.org