Welcome to KanMoWriCo! ***Introduce Yourself Here!

Hi,

I'm new to this. Have seen it mentioned in some blogs over the last couple of years, so I decided to give it a go.
I'm considering it a good sign that I'm already wondering what I've gotten myself into :)

Kevin

Hello! I'm Ditty, and this is my fourth year on this crazy roller coaster. I'm a writer with a day job, and I've spent most of the past year writing screenplays. So, it'll be interesting to jump back into the world of prose. Hope to see you all at some write-ins soon!

Cheers,
Ditty

*bangs open both doors*

It's open! We can get started! Welcome to the KC forum, everyone!

*cough*
Sorry--I'll stop abusing the exclamation points...

I am, however, highly enthused about NaNoWriMo 2008. Great things are going to happen this November, and I'm looking forward to seeing your part in it.

That's why I love NaNoWriMo... because each participant creates an individual success, even as we're all rushing along together. Whether we win at 50k, or write a first 1000 words, NaNoWriMo means realizing that we are capable of more than we knew. Plus, the benefits can be different for each of us; I've gained something different each year. The first year, I came to NaNoWriMo just to give myself permission to write, even if it was bad. (I hadn't let myself write a single story til then.) The next year, my experience was about making myself finish, and last year was even better. This year? Who knows.

Whatever it is you should gain from NaNoWriMo, I look forward to seeing you go for it, and to encouraging you--or pushing you--or helping you come up with ideas--or telling you to shut up and write...

We're very supportive.

You can call me inkwet--I'll be your co-ML, co-brainstormer, co-plotter, co-coffee-drinker, co-conspirator, and co-crazyperson. This will be fourth year of NaNoWriMO, my first year as an ML, and hopefully my third win. Liberty, MO is where I spend most of my time, but I hope to see you downtown at one of our KanMoWriCo write-ins.

Introduce yourself! We can't wait to meet you. (Really--I'm done with the exclamation points.)

Hi, Ditty. Welcome back to prose.

Welcome to NaNoWriMo, Kevin. We’re glad you’re joining us.

I'm Mike, and I'm a Nanoholic.
I've been playing 7 years, with 7 wins.
One of my favorite sports to watch is Sumo - and I like to push.
If you're someone who has lots of desire to write and needs someone to cajole, encourage, taunt and tease you across whatever you have defined as a finish line - let me know. Although, like Chauncey, I like to watch, I will try to help you win.

While werepuppies are probably not going to be my subject this year, and gravediggers going out for business was last year, I'm still working on narrowing the world down to a focused, too tightly woven plot this year.

I'd be an ML, but I'm afraid of most people. I hear the voices in their heads.

"You think it's a Schwinn"

Yep, inkwet_image is our new co-ML. Yeaaaaaaaa! She's a veritable brainstorm of NaNoing ideas, thundering with great ideas for our forum and events, lightning with the energy to get it all done. Glad to have you on-board, woman!
---
But, you know, the KC metro is so large that the standard 2-ML complement of poetT and inkwet_image would have to be spread molecularly thin to try to cover it. Might be ok for fitting into size 0, but not a healthy thing.

That's why we rejoice in the existence of our outstanding Area Liaisons. These people stand in the gaps and do plenty of dirty work in helping others hit that 50K mark.

And two ALs have already shown up here:
-ditty1013 is the major presence in Lee's Summit, arranging for a coffeehouse to sponsor some regular write-ins. (Check out the write-in thread when I post it.) Wrimos over there are lucky to have her on their side. (And it was great to have you at the last write-in, Ditty!)
-mike oleary is our veteran of veterans. He's been a great behind-the-scenes ML's aide-and-abettor--I mean, support. And as he says, his not-so-undercover identity is as our take-charge Encourager--taking on those minions of distracting plot bunnies, kicking ass against terrorist self-doubts, brainstorming unconventional solutions to stuck plots, getting wrimos to kick off those high heels and aim for higher word counts, and generally cleaning up in KanMoWriCo. All of which he manages in a non-destructive manner (and aims for his own 100K to boot).

Community! It's what'll get us there.

*joins everyone in the exciment*

Hey guys, I must introduce myself. I am the ML in Emporia, KS because it seems like we might be getting a crowd of college students here this coming year. I live in Olathe when I am not at school so you guys might see me once and awhile on the weekends if I go home or get a ride to go home. I am getting excited for the hard work that is heading my way.

I just turned twenty one years old and this is my second year being an ML and my fourth year of doing Nanowrimo. I have one every year and have struggled with the rest of the students about making the grade in school as well. My friends have thought me crazy here on campus because when someone mentions November I am right with them about Nanowrimo. Of course that has helped me gather some followers this year in my pursit of getting more people to join Nanowirmo. I have even reached someone as far as the college called Purdue.

So I am excited, I like to just pop in all the time and say hey when I can. I am also taking writing classes this semister it's playwriting. I am working for my minor in creative writing as well as about to finish my first novel. So I am super excited for another chance at Nanowrimo. Now I kept you guys in reading this....

So I must go....

thediarywithin

P.S. I am going for 100K this year again.

SunflowerSage in Overland Park re-enlisting.

I really thought I would NOT sign up again this year. Your messages encouraged me to try one more time. My current record is one NaNoWriMo and one win. (2007). It might take a miracle to produce 50,000+ two years in a row, but I think I am up to the challenge. Good luck to all of you who will be running this race with me. Now I have to get busy and come up with some characters to pull me through a setting and plot. I'm still scratching my head to see if a light bulb comes on!

Mmm, shiny clean forums. *wriggle*

I'm Kit from Kansas City, Missouri. (People who already know me: yes, I was Kat last year. I changed nicknames. No candybar jokes, now.)

This is technically my fifth year, but I don't usually like to count 2004, because that was the year I heard about NaNo on November 3, wrote 400 words, and decided I didn't like writing after all. In 2005, I tried it again, banged out 50k, and was permanently hooked come hell or college courses. I met the lovely forum folks at the TGIO party that year. I won again in 2006 and 2007, despite 2007 being my first year at college. Strangely, I wrote more in 2007 than ever before--I think it was 54K or something. I guess I write more the more stressed I am (so I'm predicting I should hit at least 60K this year ;p).

I love NaNo because...

* it has helped me realise that I really can write a ridiculous number of words in a ridiculously short period of time. It turns out that skill is extremely important for writing English essays.

* it has provided a group of equally-disturbed, equally-overcaffeinated friends with whom to write and complain and talk about werepuppies. Don't worry, new people--we'll keep poetT away from the six-shot espressos this year. I think. But I can't guarantee the same for myself.

* it has taught me to finish things. Pre-NaNo, I tended to write beginnings, then stop. NaNo has forced me to add middles and even endings (once in awhile), and even if they're horrible, at least they exist when they never did before.

* it has taught me that having fun is more important than being the next Great Novelist.

* it is an excuse to be a hermit for thirty days. What better way is there to get time to yourself than saying, "I can't talk now, I'm writing a novel in a month"? Note: this excuse may not work in houses with excess cats, small children, etc.

Yo, the name's Katy.

... don't be confused by my 'penname.' I can't change it, now. :D

I'm a 15-year-old and a sophomore Shawnee Mission East - ever hear of it? I live in Fairway, for the record. :D I tried to do NaNo last year but gave up and was completely bored by my plot. But this year, I'm gonna rock it. YEAH!

I'm in student council and on November 17th I will be unable to write. D: Of course, it's for a good, nerdy reason! Has anyone ever heard of John and/or Hank Green? Nerdfighters? Brotherhood 2.0? Well... they're coming to Kansas City on November 17th! If there are any other nerdfighters on here, seriously, hit me up. I need some KC-NF friends. ;D If you have no idea what I'm talking about but sound interested, check out nerdfighters.com or youtube.com/vlogbrothers

I've always loved writing, and I found out about NaNo through the INTERNET, which I've also loved forever. /nerd

I love NaNo because
1. I love writing, and I carry around two notebooks, and 2. I love carrying around my little notebook all summer and having people ask "Why do you have two notebooks?" and me explaining "Well, this one is for general writings, and THIS one is for nanowrimo." The typical question after that one is "What the eff is nanowrimo," and 3. I love explaining it, because 4. it makes me feel really smart.

Good luck, everyone! Maybe we can all meet at a coffeehouse with our laptops and WRITE THE CRAP out of November! <3

Mike!
Nanoholism is very serious, Mike. I'm glad you're ready to admit it.

DW, share our good wishes with the kids in Emporia. Good luck this year, and good luck with your academic writing, too. Think you might make it to a KC write-in? By all means, come by.

I’m glad you’re giving it another go, sunflower. Why not make it two wins in a row? Have fun finding your characters—let us know what you find.

Write on, silverdolphin. So it’s Kit, now? I’ll try to get that right. Here we go again!

Well, Katy, I guess we’ve got ourselves a nerdfighter—welcome back! Let’s see how much you can pour into those notebooks this time around. Also, if you don’t find enough nerdfighters in KC, perhaps you can start a thread in the off-topic forum, or teens forum, or the writing groups & clubs forum, to look for others.

inkwet,
I am going to try my best to try to make to a KC write-in. Hopefully, I'll have a break that ends up perfect with a write-in.

I'm Mankoi, and I'm a writaholic...

Wait sorry, let me start again.

I'm Mankoi, and this is my second year. My genre is...actually I'm not sure. Superhero type thing, sort of like the show Heroes. I don't know what you'd call it.

Anyway, I'm hoping I can win again this year. Might be a bit harder now that I'm a full time collage student. Fingers crossed.

I'm called caracabe here, but you can also call me Carl -- that's what the "ca" stands for.

I did NaNoWriMo a few years ago, but I did it in October, and didn't sign up online. I produced a 50,100 word very derivative fantasy novel. I'm hoping to be more original this year. I haven't decided whether to stick with fantasy, or go realistic, or get all wild and experimental. I find I write some interesting things in my journal after taking Lunesta, but the word-count isn't so high and it tends to get illegible towards the end.

I also write poetry, and collaborate on screenplays with my wife (two screenplays written, one in progress, none sold or produced), and I've set a goal of writing a non-fiction book in October.

Aside from writing, I read more than I should (but I have to cram it all in before the writing starts), spend time with my family, and spend forty hours a week sitting in a box and doing things with computers.

Nice to meet you all!

Mankoi, you're the one who came out for TGIO last year, right?
Welcome back, and good luck on the college study+writing. That's quite
a load!

We met last week at the Writers Place, caracabe*/Carl. Glad to meet
you in the virtual world. I admire your wide range of writing ventures.
Screenplays, eh? You and/or your wife might want to tackle NaNo's
younger sibling http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/ come April.

::reconstructing response to Carl's response::
Yes, I was one of two.
Um, I was the short one? The one with darker hair and a little blond spot? The one without a long thin braid?
Oh, okay. ::sighs:: The older one? :-> I guess I wasn't wearing a black hat that day. Anyway, you're welcome.

poetT/Teri
sometimes the ML in the black hat

Yay! Nano-ing time again!

I'm halcali (you can call me hal or lauren) and this is my second year doing Nano. Unofficially third... something odd anyway. Last year I peetered out but this year I'm super pumped up. I haven't done much, so there's not a chance to overthink my plan! I'm big into fiction, especially fantasies and paranormals, but this year I'm shooting for something a little more mundane and a little closer to home. No far-off lands or ghosties for me!

I'm a freshman in high school (PHS!) and I've been writing since I was... seven I think? Seven years now if that's true. While I may bounce around with plots, I'm determined to stay on this one. Last year my newbie guide was inkwet-image and she was one of the few things that kept me writing last year (lots of tarts at the Roasterie helped too). I've officially managed to drag my Challenge Language Arts teacher into this madness as well as my dad. All three of us will probably show up at the Roasterie to pack on the words, regardless of weather.

Good luck to any of the newbies this year and are we going to start up an Adopt a Newbie thread again?

Hello everyone!

I'm Melissa (Mel), and this is my third year at NaNoWriMo. Made it to 30K in 2006, and crossed the finish line last year a few days ahead of schedule.

I am looking forward to the kickoff and November write-ins, at least I think I am. I've been interviewing for a new day job that will require a lot of travel, so it should be interesting if I get it. I'll know more as we get closer to November 1st. I just started the process, and I'm not sure about anything.

It's good to see some familiar faces (names) and some new ones as well. I hope to see everyone face-to-face at some point during this crazy adventure.

mel

Hello again everyone!
I'm Breezy and this will be my second year joining in the writing frenzy. I live in KCMO and work my day/ night job in KCKS. I am fresh off of a writing conference and am ready to go. (well, not ready like I have done any of my prep work yet, but that's what October 30th and 31st is for, right?!
I am mostly a lurker, because if I spend too much time on the boards, I get distracted and don't have much time to write. (Can you say **procrastination**?
I am so bummed that I didn't make it to any of the write ins last November (or since). I really had the best intentions, but the kids have a way of interfering with my plans....
This year, I am working on the sequel to last year's novel, BUMP. Don't have a title yet... maybe something like Roadkill ;)

See you on the boards,
B

My name is Nathan. I'm 16, a junior at Shawnee Mission East high school. This will be my third year participating in NaNoWriMo. I won in 2006, finished a few months (yes, months) late in 2007, and am planning on winning this time around, despite AP classes.

I have been writing literally all my life, and I fully intend to make a career out of writing fiction. I've been writing a lot of short stories lately, and I'm starting to send them out to literary journals. My goal is to be paid to be published by my 17th birthday. After I start getting into short story markets, it'll be time to clean up my NaNoWriMo's and try to get those out there. I write primarily science-fiction and fantasy, but I've been dipping into realistic fiction lately. It's just so much harder to make remotely interesting!

I think NaNoWriMo is an incredible thing. It builds a community and forces people to swallow the excuses they have for why they can't write or can't finish. It's the most powerful motivating tool I've ever come across, and I think it's just awEsome.

My other passion besides writing (and, of course, reading) is music. I play in a band called Mr. Fish (http://www.myspace.com/mrfishmusic) and one called The Terrifying Vistas (http://www.myspace.com/bxfxbxbx). I've also got some solo stuff in the works (http://www.myspace.com/nathangoldman). I play guitar and sing and write songs. I'm also obsessed with buying and listening to music and attending concerts. I've seen literally hundreds of bands in the four years I've been going to shows, from my friends' bands to bigger shows here to Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Hope to see you guys soon!

Hello KCers.

I'm 24 years old, and will likely do most of my writing at home or at work on the weekends.

I signed up last year and then lost electricity in my house. Meaning, I didn't really get to start anything. I actually lost electricity on Oct 31st. I had spent about 2 weeks prepping and then had no way to really get started. SO, while this is my second year at NaNo, its my first year writing it out.

Thanks to the MLs for sending out that reminder email, I totally forgot how incredibly excited I was last year.

I have already been trolling the forums and getting ideas. I went from writer's block to full blown ideas that I can't keep contained. I think that's why I love this event so much.

I am sorry, I am not much of a people person in person, so its unlikely you will see me at a Write-in, but I will totally be there in spirit with you, sitting like a crazy girl in my house.

Good luck to everyone!

Hello everyone!

I'm back for another year! Last year was my first year, and while I didn't manage to make the 50,000 word goal, I did pull out a great last minute surge to make a fight out of it :) This year I'm actually preparing ahead of time. . .well, okay, so far I've only thought about preparing ahead of time, but it's only October 4th! I still have time! I had been considering switching to historical fiction (from fantasy) this year, but perhaps that is a change better left to months when I'll have more time to play with it.

More happy news - I convinced my boyfriend to join us this year. Huzzah!

I'm getting more excited by the minute!

hi, i'm prairie!

i love exclamations and writing with terrible grammar, punctuation, and no caps!

i am joining NaNoWriMo seriously for the first time this year. i tried it once before but my attempt was really so lame the year it occurred doesn't even register in my memory!

my aim this year is probably to write my first 50,000 word poem. :) poetry is probably my true love, although i like and appreciate novels. i'm more like a poem. lots of empty spaces, but hopefully not a lot of dead air! so, as you might imagine, this 50,000 word count is going to push me to new extremes. and i just don't know where this might take me.

i don't know yet if i'll be able to make it to any write-in's but i'd love to try. i'm more of a home-body but i might show up to one in the spirit of getting myself into predicaments, which i seem to be so fond of, despite my best efforts. and i might come bearing chocolates or junior mints. i don't really like coffee, but chai sometimes hits the spot. sugar is my inspiration!

so i'm excited to get going and join with some other crazy writing people!

Hal! Mel! Such sonorous syllables for such lovely ladies.

Good to see you back, Hal. Bringing people with you, too, I see! I hope H.S. is off to a great start for you. It’ll be great to see your accomplishments this year. I’ll keep an eye out for you at write-ins.
(Yes, we should have an adoption thread; no worries.)

Mel--There you are. Welcome back. Good luck with the interviewing—I hope we’ll see you either way. I do have to ask--can you bullseye wamp rats in a T-16?

Breezyday! Good to see you back! Going to make it look like a breeze to juggle work, kids, and NaNo, like you did last year? It would be great to see you at a write-in, this year. Of course, it’ll be great just to see you on the boards.

I’m glad you’re giving this another go, Rachel! With that excitement, I don’t think anything can stop you this year. If you change your mind about write-ins, ditty1013 has a group in Lee’s Summit (and it’s not a huge group yet, so you wouldn’t have to be much of a people person). We’d be happy to see you around the forum, too.

Welcome back, Yasaibatake! I see you’re recruiting, too. Brilliant! It will be great to see how far you get this year—I think you could go all the way to 50k. Good luck with your prep, and hang around if you want to discuss it with anyone. Huzzah, indeed.

Hi, prairie. I’m glad you’re here seriously—as long as it’s not too serious. We welcome lame attempts, and lightheartedness. ;)
A 50k poem? That sounds fabulous—and challenging! I hope you keep us posted. Will this be a narrative poem, so that it’s still fiction, or are you a nanorebel? You can also drop by the Nanorebels Forum to see if anyone else is doing poetry. Good luck!

Hey Everyone
I'm Sarah. This is my 3rd year doing NaNo, but I've never really gotten anything done in past years. This year, I'm hoping that I'll actually be able to get further in.

Hey yourself, Sarah.
Welcome to NaNoWriMo2008! We'd love to see you write as much as you can, whether it's 50k or 5k. Do you have a plan for getting further this year? There will be plenty of conversations, here and on the other forums, about planning and progress... I hope we see you around here on the KC forum, or at a write-in. Good luck!

Hi! I'm Kate! *waves* I've in 7th grade and I've never done NaNo before, because I had never even heard of it until about a month ago, and even if I had heard of it before then I would have been too young to do it, considering that I just turned 13 earlier this week.

I like writing Fantasy and Adventure stories. I've never written anything long enough to be considered a novel before, though. I think that the longest fiction story that I've ever written was four pages long, and that was for a grade in Science (Yes, Science. My 6th grade Science teacher was a little weird, to say the least... XD).

Hi! My screen name is Aramel2. I know it's wierd- Aramel was a D and D character I had years ago. It's a good way to give out no personal information.
I've done this one year and I've won once, but this year'll be hard because I'm in high school now and very busy! Two instruments, two bands, ect. Still, I will be hard pressed to put school first and writing second. Too bad there isn't a Nanowrimo vacation.
I'm doing realistic fiction- I think that's mainstream fiction- about atheism and predjudice. I was inspired because I'm hanging between religions right now and people look down on atheists sometimes.
See you around!

Hello, Tyrante/Nathan! Sounds like you’re pretty serious about this—those are very ambitious goals. Good luck!
Good luck with AP, as well--we’ll certainly encourage you to prioritize that. It will be great to see your progress this November!

Greetings. I'm back and as unpronouncable as ever. (That means if you could pronounce it before, it still counts.)

I'm just going over to start a teens thread, as I am one. If anybody's interested.

Scorpio (for short)