Sign In-- Introductions

Ohhhh!!! All our responses disappeared.

Oh well... at least we're back up!

I'm Shawna, I live in Spokane Valley, and this is my 4th Nano. (Last year was the first I hit the 50K mark). I usually tend to "wing it". I don't write outlines or anything. I start letting ideas percolate in my brain starting in October. Usually mid-October I'll start trying to figure out a little bit of detail about my MC's... birthday, zodiac sign, birthstone... favorite colors, hobbies. Personality traits. Which usually gets all tossed once i start writing. I'm not sure what genre I'm attempting this year. I'm considering doing a multi-dimensional/alternate-reality novel... but I can see that getting really confusing really fast, so may scrap that idea before I ever begin.

The biggest hurdle I must overcome: procrastination tendencies plus I'm seriously in need of a 2nd job and a better first job... but I'm going to win this year :) I'm planning a 2-night hotel stay... locking myself away from cat, work, chores, and all distractions (though there will be a jacuzzi in the room. I'm hoping that will be "reward" enough, and I can keep myself out of it until I've beat my goals). My proudest NaNo accomplishment was crossing the 50K mark last year :)

How did I discover NaNoWriMo? Wow... good question. I *think* there was an article in the Inlander about it back in 2005, so naturally curious, I wandered onto the site... and it was just so cool I had to join.

Did any of you read the home page article about Seattle? There's a Star Trek: Phoenix (film?) and the top word count and top fund raiser in their area gets to be a "walk-on" on the set. I think we should challenge them. Not that we can in any way compete with their numbers (or their money!!! A coworker quit her job here to move there doing the same job for a different company... and will make 3 times the $). Still... it will be a lofty battle :)

Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn’t look up. Well, maybe once.
- Isaac Asimov

I'm Megan, home base in the Valley but going to school at Whitworth (w00p freshman!) Can't remember how I heard about NaNo...maybe through the magazine Writer's Digest?? Maybe just googling for writing forums :)

This will be my FIRST NaNo, though I won JulNo 08 (yayness!) and finished my first ever novel in August.

I find I cannot succeed without a detailed outline - for JulNo I had eight "plot points" or events that occurred in each chapter, and I usually have to have a certain number of pages in each chapter. (I have a couple incomplete novels and this is the only way I can get things done.)

I have three or four ideas bouncing around in my head still...I have to decide which one to use for NaNo.

"you did what? for how long? for HOW many cocoa pebbles?!?"

JulNo 08 - Adagio (winner!)
Romantic encounters: 2
Fainting spells: 4
Fights with BFF: 2
Deaths: 3
Un-deaths: 1

Hello all,

My name is Sammi, I live in the West Central Neighborhood (I love it here). This will be my first NaNo and I'm pretty excited. I have no idea what to expect, I heard about NaNoWriMo through a blog somewhere online last year in December, so I've literally waited this long to finally participate. That being said, I plan on winging it as soon as November starts. :) I have no writing experience under my belt, or any clue what type of genre I'll be writing. I do blog, journal, comment, email, and write consistently throughout every day, though, so I'm looking forward to putting it all towards one project.

I think that's about all I can say for now, I look forward to having a group to experience this with, though!

--Sammi

Howdy,

My name is Marshall and this is my first Nanowrimo.

I've been writing for myself for a few years and also do some writing for different forums and websites. I tend to write speculative fiction of some sort (though I used to do more poetry), but sometimes I also like to do short satires on writing itself.

I live up in the Cheney area, but Spokane is the closest area so I went with that. Since I'm going to EWU I am hoping that I won't have any schedule conflicts with anything but I'll make time as best I can since I would like to be successful in this my first attempt.

Uhm, I am planning on writing something horror or sci-fi like.

Well hey!

I'm Garrett, and am currently living in North Spokane near Whitworth College. I'm from the west side of the state but a couple years ago I got bored and dropped out of community college and me and a friend walked across Washington. We stayed with some friends at Whitworth and decided we liked it there so we both started attending. I got through a year of it, realized I had no idea what I was doing with my life, and dropped out to 'find myself,' so to speak. I live in a duplex with some friends who still go to Whitworth. After living there for a couple weeks doing nothing but eat corn dogs and walk around thinking about life, I got bored and got a job washing dishes at Whitworth. I work around 35 hours a week and I like it a lot.

I'm trying to find novel (haha) ways to fill my free time but haven't done too much of interest yet. This weekend I was visiting a camp I worked at the past few summers and the head cook told me about NaNoWriMo, which she will be doing for the first time this year. She wanted me to do it also so she'd have someone to keep her accountable, and although I was initially reluctant because I'm supposedly working on a memoir about some hitchhiking trips I've taken (though truth to tell I haven't written a word), I decided to go with it.

I've never been much good at fiction, but then again I haven't made too many attempts at it, so I'm not sure what to expect. I have a couple ideas as to what I want to do so far. Recently I noticed that one of my favorite movies and one of my favorite TV series are both about bored men travelling through space with hardly any purpose, so I may attempt a story where the characters are in a similar situation. I'm also considering beginning a story where the main character is essentially me, and his initial situation closely resembles my own current one, but from that point anything goes; it would progress into a fictional future, catalyzed by his realization that there are billions of possibilities in the world to be explored. This would be a nice way to ease into fiction writing, since I'd be able to start off with something and someone I know. So I'll either be exploring boredom in an extremely limited environment where it cannot be alleviated, or the contrasting problem of choosing what to do with pure freedom in a nearly limitless environment.

My biggest obstacle to finishing NaNoWriMo will be overcoming the habit of writing slowly and editing as I go, as well as just sticking to the project for the whole month despite how I feel about it.

I look forward to seeing some of you at the group events!

Well, hello again. This second time around won't be nearly as long as my original post since I've forgotten most of what I wrote.

My name is Dana, aka Jayce_Grae, and I live in Cheney. I'm an old married woman with 3 children, two of which are starting to drive and consequently taking up way more of my time worrying about them than I'd like. The third is a young 9 yrd old who is rapidly approaching 40 with his know-it-all attitude. I'm sure some of you understand and sympathize. =)

I am also the Co-ML for our illustrious region for the 2nd time in my lengthy three year participation of NaNo. I have been fortunate to win both previous years, but there is always the chance that this one will be my undoing. I'm counting on that fabulous cake-in-a-mug recipe to help stave off defeat. I can point you in the right direction if you missed it.

My most obvious obstacle this year is getting past the "oh my gosh I've 2 days left and still got 20k words to write!" panic. In other words, procrastination is my nemesis. On the other hand, my biggest accomplishment is finishing. Get out those whips! lol.

I am thrilled that there are so many more of you from my area participating this year! Enough of us to maybe even make our own region and take on challenging Spokane. *hint hint* Just kidding about the challenge. Although there is a poll up asking if there is enough interest in splitting off from Samantha's (and currently ours) wonderful region. Please be sure to check it out if it applies to you.

Two of my children will be attempting NaNo as well - one through the YWP (the 9yr old going on 40) and the other (the oldest and my only daughter) here. Her name is jourashii. You may have seen her around in the Google chat rooms.

I am very much looking forward to meeting you all! As they say, Game on!!

Dana
"This is a lot more fun when they're not shooting back!"

• Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison (2007-2008)

M'name's Emily (aka Amory_Risen) and this is my first time doing NaNo WriMo. I've watched one of my good friends do it the last three or four years but only recently worked up the courage to try it myself. I've been "writing" for nearly five years (it only vaguely counts as writing).

I'm a pure-blood Spokanite (bred, born, raised). I live in the far southeastern Valley, but go to school on the North Side. I'm a Junior in high school, so balancing writing with PSATs, term papers, and working my grades up past a B average is gonna take all my willpower. But I'm willing to give it a try this year.

I'm an avid fan of fantasy, so I have little doubt that's what I'll be writing. I'm probably gonna write about one of a few plot lines that have been buzzing in my head for several years, although which I cannot say. I'm worried about reaching the 50,000 mark and even more worried that I'll get overwhelmed and give up mid-November...

I'm still confused on some of the other aspects of NaNo WriMo (ie. what are "write-ins"?), so any words of wisdom would be duly appreciated.

I'm Sarah and I'm in Cheney going to EWU. This is my fourth year of NanoWriMo.
I'm planning to do a realistic fiction type story, which is weird for me because I usually play into the fantasy genre at least partially, so I'm hoping this will be my first realistic success! However, I'm sparse on plot and nil on conflict... hopefully I'll be able to fill that in before NaNo hits Q__Q I would perfer to not just wing it again this year. It would be much more enjoyable to have a direction my story is taking.

I was introduced to NaNoWriMo by a friend of mine and she's motivated me to keep it up every year. I think it's important to have people around you to keep you writing and to bounce ideas off of, which is why I was so excited when I found the Spokane group!
I hope this will be a good year for writing!

"Nobody said it was easy, it's such a shame for us to part. Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard. Oh take me back to the start...."

Hi,

My name's Alaric and I live on the South Hill and am 19. This'll be my second time doing Nanowrimo and my biggest hurdle will be procrastination, though I usually use the excuse that I'm not feeling inspired, which means I'll be spending a lot on music in November. I found Nanowrimo through a post in the forums at behindthename, where I usually get my character names. That first time I didn't succeed, but I'm ready to try again. In my other post I said I probably wouldn't decide on a plot till the 31st, but amazingly I have. Though I had a sci-fi and a horror plot in mind, I decided I'd stick to the familiar with my fantasy one. Right now the details are all very loose, but it'll hopefully work out.

Hello, Spokanites.

My name is Lindsey, I live on the South Hill, work in the ostentatious commercial bastion known as Northtown Mall, and this is actually my first foray into the madness that is NaNoWriMo. I have been writing since I was about two years old, when I finally mastered the small muscle control necessary to manipulate a crayon. Twenty-one years later, I am still in love with it-- and I will still, on occasion, write in crayon. Just for the hell of it.

While I adore writing, I am an avid procrastinator and oftentimes manage to go months without writing so much as one of the morose poems for which I am so notorious. It has been my lifelong dream to publish a novel, but a lack of discipline and the fickle favour of the muses has kept me from writing more than a few chapters before abandoning a novel in despair. Once upon a time, I was the president of Ferris High School's creative writing club. I used to boast every day that I would publish a novel before the age of twenty. I'm about three years past due on that deadline, but optimistically I feel that my life experiences during that period have provided more fecund inspiration for a solid novel than the tribulations of high school ever could have.

I plan to spend most of November focusing on my novel, of which I will divulge nothing until I have completed it. I tend to be rather pretentious when it comes to my work and will gladly discuss it with any interested (or uninterested) parties. Perhaps it is this braggadocio which curses me; punishment from the hand of the Dictionary God for the hubris of the literati....

...Or perhaps I am simply lazy. I suppose November will tell.

Hey everyone! I'm Kaitlyn, and this'll be my third year doing NaNo. I haven't won yet, ( I keep seeming to come down with a case of week-two-itis! ) but hopefully this year will be my first. I live down by Mead, so if there are a lot or write-ins down there ( *hint-hint* ) I can hit most of them. The Rocket Bakery near my house has the best-est coffee and snacks ever, so you might think about some there. :)

I'm an avid reader, mostly fantasy. I'll probably doing something along those lines. I'm thinking maybe horror type fantasy, though. The scant ideas I have in my head seem to lend themselves to something like that. I have names for my three main characters and a little more. I'll probably start November with that much, depending on whether or not I get bitten by the NaNo bugs early, then I might develop somemore.

In any case, I hope you all make it to your goals this year!

2006 - Starving Artist
2007 - What Dreams May Come ( Going ta' WIN! =3 )

Here I am, year 4, always had an idea and ended up with something else anyway.
This year I'm going to do something different, more stream of consciousness.
Until then
Tunguska is deleting old email, cleaning house, paying bills, answering letters.

INCOHERENT FEET 2007 (won)
MORONIC HANDS 2006 (won)
RUDE HAIR 2005 (won)

This is my first time and I am going to try to let things fly without an outline. I'm hoping that when it flies it doesn't crash into the nearest building or become tangled in high strung wires. I have two nameless characters in mind and I'll let it loose from there. Perhaps, I'll hit some blue sky.

Like all of you, I have a life before this venture. I'll have to work around 2 kids (9 & 11) and I'm working with my husband to start a new business.

I'd like to participate in some local events, but I'm not sure how to hook in. I tried to access Chatzee, but my password didn't work. Is that where I can hook into local chat? Where do I find about events? I noticed the schedule is blank yet, but have any been scheduled? Is there a list serve or RSS locally? Thanks for helping orient me.

Hey ya'll -- I'm Christy, aka "DisenchantedDoc". I'm orignially from Alabama, but now I live in the Valley.

This is my first NaNo, but I'm looking forward to it. I heard about it from the folks at AW ,and I thought I'd give it a try. I just finished revising a prior novel (now out with betas so I can get some feedback before querying), so my slate is clean. I'm burning up my terminal leave in November to focus on my writing before starting a new job. As for what I'm writing for NaNo, I'm still trying to decide between ruban fantasy or contemporary romance.

Hi, I'm Lynn from Davenport. This is my third year with NaNoWriMo and I won the previous two years! I hesitated to do this year because I never got around to editing my second novel, so I feel "behind" already. My first novel, "Even Hippos Can Drown," has been a hit with whoever gets to read it, so that I extended it from 50,444 words to closer to 70,000. It's my baby! Both previous years were serious adventure stories but this year I'm opting for a humorous route, more of an adventure comedy type.

I have a very supportive family (kids are 20 and 21) and they're eager for the new story. I don't attend too many events because the hour it takes to get there and another to return home are too valuable to waste on travel. Plus I write better in the morning. I work best with an outline. My most useful piece of advice when I got stuck was, "Kill someone." It worked, to my amazement! I love to give and get encouragement from fellow writers so I'm always open to writing buddies.

2006 NaNoWriMo Winner - "Even Hippos Can Drown"

Hey everyone. I'm Kaleena. Senior in high school in the valley. I'm an aspiring writer working on her senior project and hoping that this try at Nanowrimo will give me a good aid for my project. This is my first year, and I'm hoping to write out a story that I put together a few years ago but has changed with my growing experience. I'm currently looking for a mentor for the research portion of my paper, and I would greatly appreciate contact from anyone willing to help me. Other than that, I'm looking forward to an exciting month ahead.

"It's not my fault I fell in love with you...you tripped me!!!"

Hey, Kent Bogar reporting from the South Hill.

This'll be my first NaNo, but I'm by no means unexperienced; I actually have a novel in the works, but I have a whole bunch of ideas bumping around that'll start to get put on paper at the stroke of midnight of November first. As for a game plan? I have none; but we'll see how this goes. Here's hoping I come up with something better than "OMFG INITIAL D RIPOFF," which may be something of a feat.

My name is Heidi (GoosesGirl93), and I live in Spokane Valley. I discovered NaNoWriMo in January when I collected my "on-holds" at the library. One of the books I had chosen was "No Plot? No Problem!" and I was intrigued by the idea of writing a novel in 30 days. At the time, I was juggling three part time jobs, a husband, and our two homeschooled boys (ages 10 and 12) and I wasn't sure how I could find the time to write 50,000 words, but I started hinting around to a few select friends and family about participating in the 2008 NaNoWriMo come November. Well, as the start date approaches, I find myself mysteriously unemployed, with a new laptop and a small band of supporters. I am pretty sure that most thought I would chicken out before November, but they see that I am pretty serious (I must be, I bought the No Plot? No Problem! Novel Writing Kit!!) and as such, they are willing to do whatever to help me succeed.

Like Lindsey, I thought I’d have a published novel before I was twenty. Alas, I am turning 40 on October 22, and due to a nasty college professor, I have not written anything with a plot for twenty years. So, here I am to reclaim my right to write. I’m jumping right into the deep end with no plot, no characters, no outline. I have several ideas floating around in my head, so I guess I will just have to wait and see which story spills out onto the page. No problem.

I'm Kate and this is my third Nano, with two wins already. This year... I don't know. I live on the base, my husband is military, and we're moving to San Antonio in mid-November. ACK! So I still need to find a place to live there, organize the move, supervise the move, drive to Texas...oh yeah, and write a novel. I'm working on a VERY extensive outline, because I will fail without it. And by working on, I mean, it's in my head and I haven't even started putting pen to paper. So I'm screwed. No, no, I'm not. I can do a million things at one time. I do plan on hitting as many write-ins as I can to knock out word count, in between calling apartment complexes and moving companies. And hey, I have a power cord for the car, so I'll be writing when I'm not driving! (Thank goodness for DVD players to entertain my kiddo!)

Hello, my name is Travis. I live in the Garland District/Northtown area in my little bachelor pad. I turn 23 on the 14th of Nanowrimo month, so this shall be an exercise in discipline for me, especially considering I've got the celebration, then thanksgiving, black friday, and Gwar with my dad on the 15th. Still, I can feel that this is the year I become a nano champ.

This is my second nanowrimo. I did it in 2001, when I was 16, but failed miserably on the count of not having my own computer. I learned the hard way that writing your work in a spiral notebook, then transferring it to the family computer is not time efficient. But, of course, not only with my own computer, but also an office from a converted walk-in closet, I am sensing that this is my year.

I see a bunch of people in the Spokane crew are EWU students. I'm an EWU alumnist, class of 2007, with a BA in Communication Studies. In real life I'm a professional writer and editor for a marketing company. The job rocks. I work in West Central. So, this means you can spot me in the Garland neighborhood, in W.C., then you can often spot me in the movie theaters, because I'm always seeing movies, having coffee at one of the north side starbucks, or browsing for books.

My buddy, Steve, is also doing Nanowrimo 2008. I believe he told me it's his first one, but he's stoked. Both of us are looking forward to attending the kick off party on 10/25. After all, we're both writers by trade; fiction is both our passion, outside of sports, literature, music, movies, and soundtracks.

Oh yeah, my novel is called MY LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE FOUNDATION (get it?). It's about a kid named Cade, telling his story, memoir-style, of how he became one in what he thought was the goth scene, got out, then got back in when he was "re-schooled" if you will. I'm ecstatic to begin writing it. Let's just say that Starbucks is going to be my best friend here.

But I hope to meet cool people here for Spokane nanowrimo.

"The first draft of anything is #$%@." ~Ernest Hemingway

Hello! I'm Bits, and quite pleased to say this is my first year writing for NaNoWriMo. This is kind of my big challenge to myself, because I've only ever written short stories so far, but I've got high hopes for myself. I really have no idea what I'm doing, so any assistance from the NaNo writers will always be appreciated.
I'm going with a fantasy-type setting, because in my experience, magic can get you out of any sticky situation. Hooray for dirty tricks and deus ex machina.

THE STATUS:
Mental: Buggering out.
Physical: Walking dead.
Novel: Might as well be the bin.
Cupboard: Out of microwave foodstuffs.

Look at it this way, a novel is really just a collection of short stories that intertwine. Wheneever I start to tire of one I move to the next or a new one, that has always kept me going.

INCOHERENT FEET 2007 (won)
MORONIC HANDS 2006 (won)
RUDE HAIR 2005 (won)

I'm Kathryn. I recently moved to Spokane Valley from Michigan, where I actually used to be an ML, so I'm looking forward to writing without dealing with organizing everything this year. This is my fifth year participating, and so far I have a 50% success rate. I'm giving it a try this year after taking last year off, but I don't have high hopes. I'm in EWU's MFA program, so I'll have to balance NaNo writing with class writing. Bit nervous about that, actually.

I have no plans for what to write yet, since I only decided ten minutes ago to participate this year and because I've been writing short stories lately and am going to have to kick my brain back into novel mode. It'll probably be in that murky literary fiction area though.

Anyway. Hello!

Hi, I'm Sara. I'm 25, live in Rockford (about 15 min. south of the Valley, if you're not familiar) and this is my 5th time doing NaNo. I've "won" every year but last year. Last year I had a 2 month old who ate every 2.5 seconds (Now he'll be 14 months old and I also have a 4 and a half year old girl), but I did make it to 25,000. Made myself.

First year-- went in with sort of a plan, and it should never see the light of day again
Second year -- A good story, went in with sort of a plan, never reached 'the end' but plan on going back to it eventually
Third year -- Where I started the first draft of the novel I'm currently wrapping up Draft 2.5 (yeah.. 2.5), which will be done...uh... well before November, anyway. I plan on actually doing something with this one and it's going to clock in around 85,000 words.
Last year -- no plan, just jumped in. Some things were plesantly surprising, but it's light on plot. May do something similar to what it was at some point.

This year-- I have a setting and 2 characters in mind. That's it. Need to think of things for them to do, ha.

Looking forward to coming back winning with a vengence. I tend to stay in literary fiction territory.

When I'm not pecking away at the novel (draft 2.5 I've been working on since June) or wrangling the two kids, I occasionaly write things of varying quality here:

http://lactoseintolerance.blogspot.com (When Dairy is Not Your Friend: Reviews, Rants and Recipes for the Lactose Intolerant)

-and-

http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com (Glorfied Love Letters ... mainly thoughts on music at the moment, and not in a snarky reviewer sort of way)

I'm really looking forward to starting on something new this coming month and turning off the inner editor for awhile.

I think all of us have to worry about that problem with being the hard-on-yourself, compulsive self-editor.

"The first draft of anything is #$%@." ~Ernest Hemingway

Hi, I'm back for my forth NaNo, after taking last year off to finish another writing (non-novel) project. I've got loads of plot ideas, but haven't yet settled on which story I'll be going with this time around.

Just curious; how do you get your plot ideas? Where are the most common sources for your muse?

"The first draft of anything is #$%@." ~Ernest Hemingway

Welcome back, Mike, we missed you last year. Did you retire your old username and decide to start afresh? Or are you making up for last year and working on 2 novels this time?

Just don't forget to set Spokane as your home region for this new incarnation so we get the benefit of all your words.

Samantha

_________________________
Samantha
Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison (2003-2008)
Age Group: 50-Plus - Moderator

Yeah, I retired the old name. I use a number of message boards, and just got tired of having multiple screen names, and decided to just go with my own real name.

I'm working on the rewrite of another novel right now, but will be setting that aside to do the first, very rough, draft in November. Later, I'll tidy it up with a good edit and then polish it with a couple of rewrites.

I missed doing it last year, and look forward to getting into the writing this time around.

Hello,
My name's Holly and I'm new to the Spokane area. Just moved here from California 2 weeks ago, and I must say this city is a little bit of paradise. My husband and I live in the Browne's Addition and we love it here.

I've been doing Nano since 2004, and I've won two years. I first heard about Nano from an online friend who also writes. I tried it once and I'm hooked. Though it's painful it's also the most awesome feeling when you reach that 50k mark. I find myself compelled oto try it again year after year. I write well in a competitive atmosphere so it's always a good way for me to get word count even if I don't make that 50k.

I'm a speculative fiction writer, mostly SF and horror. My first Nano win was an SF novel called "Farswept". Mt second was the first half of a historical horror novel called "Red Butterflies". Last year I attempted to finish the second half of the horror noel but I didn't make it, as live was quite chaotic, including an unexpected move right in the middle of November. I managed to get 15k words out but lost steam there, amid the stress of life at that time. "Red Butterflies" has been my pride as well as my bane for years. I want to finish it so badly that I think this year I will attempt once more to complete it in Nano. The research and outline for Part 2 is ready to go, so I feel this time I will succeed.

My proudest Nano moment was when I wrote 25k words plus in 10 days, a push to the finish when I won my second year of Nano. Doing that I proved to myself that I can accomplish anything if I put my mind to it.

I look forward to another awesome year, best of luck to all of you!