Welcome Back, Verwrimos!

Hi Stregoica and all the Verwrimos,

This is my first attempt at NaNo and I'm very excited. I've been preparing, though haven't a clue what that means exactly, so I'm figuring it out as I go. Day to day I'm a middle level teacher, so am trying to get all plans for November organized before the end of this month so I'll have minimal distractions. I have high expectations for myself. I got Chris's book today and will keep that handy throughout - think it will be motivational.
Today I had a brainstorm - I'm going to print out 31 motivational sayings - words/quotes/phrases I know will keep me going - on mailing labels and then stick one on my NaNo board every day in November - a little self motivation. I have a writing dream board which reminds me of my writing goals, and it works, so I figured a NaNo board for November would be cool.
Looking forward to getting to know more of the Vermont participants - anyone in the Lyndonville area??

nekwriter

Hello...I'm Sharon, aka Henwhisperer. My husband and I live on 12 acres in Enosburg. We raise our own meat (pigs and chickens currently), have a horse and two dogs. I also make an attempt to grow a garden, but, ah, CSAs are so much better, aren't they?

In my 'spare time' I am an activist fighting against the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). It is due, in large part, to my efforts that here in Vermont farm animals do not have to be tagged with RFID chips. If you are interested in learning more about my activism, my blog is henwhisperer.blogspot.com.

This is my third year with NaNoWriMo.My first novel, First They Came for the Cows: An Activist's Story took on a life of its own due to the offer by CreateSpace for all winners to self publish. I've sold more copies of it than I ever dreamed I would! And, it isn't over yet. Just last week I was on a national radio show and as a result sold more copies off of Amazon. That's just really cool.

I try very hard to not think much about what I might write this year, though think the theme this year will be about a mother's difficulty after her daughter grows up and cuts the emotional ties they have had in their close relationship. Might turn out to be something different though because the fingers can have a will of their own.

Which brings me to my advice for you newbies; just let it flow. Don't worry about the minutiae as it tends to take care of itself. My novel last year, Christian sci-fi about our fascist future, basically wrote itself towards the second half. Plot lines came together and the people fleshed themselves out. And, most shocking, a character from the third group of characters showed me how she was married to a man from the second group of characters. I had no idea about that.

Don't look for me to go to any of the write-ins, I'm too old to appreciate the night life anymore. But I'll be there with you in spirit!

Most of all, have fun with it.

Second year NaNoWriMo participant
Winner 2007 with First They Came for the Cows - An Activist's Story

Ahoy fellow insane project enthusiasts, I am your friendly sous-ML, CelestiHel. Stregoica and I both have unusually high caffeine tolerance and a totally wonky sense of how far is too far to travel for a day trip. So with a little luck a good planning, we hope to get out of Chittenden County a couple time to see the shining faces of the Wrimos elsewhere in this state! Look for us in a town near you. We'll be the ones that look a little cracked out with our laptops stapled to our fingertips. In other words, we'll look like you ;-)

This will be my 4th go 'round but only my 2nd really serious attempt at the finish line. Last year I made it within spitting distance and flaked at 42000+/- words. Sigh. I do not write novels, however, or fiction at all. Maybe someday. I write memoir pieces and string them together. I'm really psyched about this years project which is why I think it will be a raging success! Details to go up on my profile page shortly if you are interested.

When not Nanoing, I'm a librarian at a small college. In a great deal of my spare time, I am doing more library stuff with professional organizations, so I'm kind of all work all the time! I also knit funny hats and cat toys and make dirty cross-stitch signs. I love to roadtrip, go to diners, the drive-in, yard sales. I play games of all kinds with zeal. I am also a huge critter lover. I have wild snakes living in my house and I think it's just the bees knees so you can just imagine how I am around even cuddlier things. After years of not having television, and then trying on having an ethos about the evils of television, I will happily admit to being a total TV addict without regret. Finally, I am huge into debt reduction and saving money and personal finance in general to the limited extent that I understand it.

So, there's my little patchwork quilt of a life. I can't wait to meet you all and go on this crazy roller coaster ride with everyone!

>^..^<
Following the path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked!~Utah Phillips
>^..^<
Writers are a little below clowns and a little above trained seals.~ John Steinbeck
>^..^<

Hi, everyone! This will be my third year doing NaNo. I completed my novel the first year, but due to my mom's death last year and the work of settling her affairs, I didn't have the time or energy to finish in 2008. However, I had a good beginning, so am working on completing it. I have several ideas for this year -- not sure which one I'll run with, or if my fingers will take over once I'm actually at the keyboard and write something I haven't begun to even imagine, yet.

Since last we met I have begun learning Spanish, drawing/sketching, joined Facebook and Twitter (after being nagged -- uh, I mean encouraged -- to do so by my son), am writing, and am also now doing freelance editing. I'll even be listed in the acknowledgements when one author's book comes out in May 2010! And, I'm in the process of trying to get a blog going.

I'm looking forward to participating in the frantic frenzy next month. I know we'll all do Vermont proud.

--Paige
P.S. Stregoica and Celestihel, thanks for taking on the job of being MLs this year.

Hi, Vermonters! I'm really excited to do NaNo this year. It's my first year taking part, though I've wanted to for a few years now. I've been writing for most of my 22 years of life, though I've not published anything yet. While I have a tendency to do more short story work, I do have four or five tales that I plan on taking to novel-length. My only decision now is to choose one to work on for November! I've narrowed it down to one of two, either a fantasy or a sci-fi. I want to work on the science fiction piece, but I have more of an idea as to where the fantasy is headed. We'll see!

Anyhow, when I am not writing I can be found reading, watching movies, shopping, cooking, making jewelry, or pretending that I know how to sew. I love editing, and would love to help people if they want editing assistance with their writings. My red pen is never far from me.

I live in the Burlington area and would love to get together with some fo my fellow Vermonters and do some writing. I look forward to meeting you!

~M

Hello, all!

Another year, another NaNoWriMo is upon us, it seems.

I'm definitely on board this year. I've been writing down ideas all year (And part of last year too), but what was the one that most leapt out at me to write? The one that entered my head a week ago. Of course.

In an unprecedented move, I've actually been making some extensive notes, as the ideas are just flowing for me. I've not had such a clear idea for a story in a long time, and hope I can pull it off half as well as I see it in my brain.

Jason Grey
Back again.

2002 - I forget, I never finished!
2003 - Life Goes On
2004 - Creatures of the Night: Fire and Shadow
2005 - Gemini
2006 - Balance of Power
2007 - Unconventional Warefare.
2008 - Visions of a Parallel World
2009 - Black River

Howdy y'all, Sam King here. I've done NaNoWriMo the last two years and totally failed both times. I think I got to 30000 the first time and 20000 the second. Put those together and you'd have a whole novel, but it wouldn't make a lot of sense. Anyway, I remain optimistic about this year for some reason. I have no plot, no characters, in fact no ideas at all, which means I'm in an even worse position than I was the previous two times. Or is it even BETTER? It is, right? Right?!
Anyhow, in non-writing time I enjoy roleplaying games, video games, writing college papers and romance. As a student at Marlboro College I end up doing a lot of that third one and not a lot of the fourth. Still manage to find time for the first two though, perhaps I need to reorder my priorities. But I digress, I look forward to writing with all of you this year! Sic semper scriptores!

2007- I don't even remember the title, it was crummy though
2008- Under the Red Sun I think, also pretty crummy but it had a good opening chapter
2009- Aaaah! I don't know!

Greetings fellow Verwimo peoples!

For the past week or two I've been sullenly watching the regional emails swarm my inbox, wondering when the time would be right to relinquish myself to the ecstatic and feverish preperation of Nano. Today I could no longer hold myself back from the gathering fray, and my first step in this preparation is to introduce myself to this wonderful group of people in my own state. So here goes it.

HI! I'm Kass, I live in Vermont. I often state the utterly obvious. Let's try again. I live in BARRE...So hello to all you crazies over here. ;)

I scoped Nano out ehhh...two years ago, but felt I was far too tardy to now begin (I believe it was about the 19th).
Last year, I had far more sucess. I threw myself into the thick of Nano in a timely fashion, with, I believe, three of my friends? (if there was supposed to be a semi-colon there, I apologize. I am quite a failure to punctuation, and I have already spent a great deal of time staring and fueding with that sentence.) Well, regardless, I crossed the finish line at 11.58 or some horribly terrifying time like that. I made a mess of my writing schedule, and the novel itself in the process, and left the last oh, 20k for the weekend of the 30th.

I think I nearly died.

So thar it be! ^ My little intro of sorts, currently making me feel rather silly about myself. Well, that's really all I've got, so cheerio my good noveling chaps! Hope to chat soon!

Howdy and Salutations!

Another year another NaNo and this year I'm finishing! I swear to the powers that be! I've gotten a few short starts and... well... came short. SO... new year, new user name, new attitude and drive! Keeping motivated, in contact and doing... all fired up as they say.

By day I work for my folks and strive to return to school. By night I play video games and work on picking my brain for this years NaNo characters and plot. I think I have an idea (a good spot to start anyway) and I just gotta keep at it, straighten out a few kinks and hope to hell it's done by kick off. This year's understated goal is to have a good 'bad guy' or at least fall in love with my not so nice characters this time around.

Good luck to us all and see you on facebook too!

xoxo
Ali Farstrider

Okay...here I am, back again for my third NaNo! In 2006 I attempted it all on my own, and sputtered out about 13K words into it. Last year, buoyed by write-ins and good old-fashioned competition, I made it to 50K and beyond. Then, just to be really crazy, I published that novel -- A Scottish Ferry Tale -- through CreateSpace. What a rush. It seems to be getting decent reviews, and the feedback I've gotten has been positive.

This year, though I'm deep into writing the sequel to Ferry Tale, I'm committed to NaNo again, and have a couple of ideas brewing.

I live in Franklin County with my husband, 2 daughters, a huge dog and three cats. I have a full time job, a part time job, and multiple hobbies....and I like to sleep. Yet I'm still planning to pound out 50,000 words this November....looking forward to it!

2006: DNF

2008: A Scottish Ferry Tale, available on Amazon.com!

Oh jeez, I'm so psyced to be back!
Last year I couldn't participate because I was feverishly writing college essays...;o;
this year I am writingwritingwriting!

So yes. I'm a freshmen at Champlain College up in Burlington- the closest to any of the normal meet-up area's that I've ever been. I live down south near Bratt. and Putney, so I wasn't even able to dream of attending any sort of meeting.
Yup.
Um.
I'm not preparing at all. I never do...kinda sucks, is kinda fun....no ideas or anything (scary) but I think I've got my roommate hooked (writing major) so hopefully she'll be plodding along next to me, whining to our friends about wc.

I'm super super super excited!!!!! sorry, I've been getting all the forum stuff pouring into my inbox for the past day or so, and getting all hyper whenever I see [nanowrimo] blahblahblah.

so yeah.

Good luck everyone and I can't wait to see/hear from youuu~

chatter me up.
AIM- kurusania

"What will you do with your one wild and precious life?"-Mary --------

Hello everyone, This is my first year and I am looking forward to it. I have been working on a novel for several years and know how hard it is to put word to paper. I think this project will help me to let go of my inner critic and just write, which is just what I need. I am in the Burlington area and when I am not writing, I enjoy reading, TV, making porcelain dolls and meeting with friends for food and good conversations. It is my hope to finish my first novel within the next year and begin the arduous process of finding a publisher. In the meantime, participating in this event sounds like a lot of hard work, but also a whole lot of good fun. Good luck to all of us...

Daydreamer27

Daydreamer27 - Create Something Today

Hi, everybody. I'm excited to start the writing! I'm in Seton Hill University's Master's Program for Writing Popular Fiction (that's right, an accredited MFA in genre fiction!) and can't wait to put my thesis novel on the back burner for a month and whip up something new. This is my third NaNoWriMo, and I have won both times. I will win again! I'm in the Burlington area, and this year I have a job that will allow me to go to most all of the get-togethers. This website is my saving grace: http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html
-
Kristin

Hello everyone. This is my first attempt at writing a novel. Part of me is still wondering why I signed up for this, but I'm going to make an effort. I have no idea what to expect or how easy/hard it will be. An endeavor like this is just not on a scale I understand. I will be more than happy to get any morsel of advise from anyone willing to toss one in my direction.
Even though I'm from Massachusetts, I live here in Vermont most of the year to go to school. I love it here in Vermont. I find it easy to be relaxed here compared to the rush of MA. Hopefully, school work won't get in the way of writing or vice versa. Good luck everyone!

Greetings from Bristol! My name is Melinda, and this is my first ever NaNo, for which I am super psyched. I havn't a clue what I will write about, but it appears, from reading through other responders, that this is not unusual. So, like so many of you, I will see where my ideas take me - and run with it.

I look forward to writing with all of you this year, and hope to be able to meet up with a few of you.

Mel

Hey all! My wife has yet to sign in here, but she and I are definitely on board again for this year. We both won last year (our first year) and should be able to manage again this year. Totally different writing styles - she plugged in 1000 or so words a day all month, and I started the last week of nano with about 6k done, and plowed through the rest in one week (top day was 22,000 words, if I recall right - the last day!).

Plenty of ways to get the job done, just Never Give Up! ;)

Hiya,

I'm not new to Nano, but I am new to Vermont! I moved from San Francisco to Montpelier in August. Looking forward to writing for my new home team and maybe making some new friends if there are any meet-ups I can make it to.

J.

2008 - Rabbit Season (won)
2009 - The Girl Who Couldn't Stand Up Straight

Oh my oh my, is it already that time again?
I totally flopped on my first WriMo, churning out 26,000 words in four days that resulted in a total and complete literary burnout. This time, however, I hope to stick to my proverbial guns and produce something tangible; maybe even something others might get a kick out of reading. I just haven't the foggiest idea what it is I want to write.

Let's see... I've been inactive the last several years due to general life stress and a vagabond-esque traveling addiction, but I've been eagerly anticipating the time I'd be back in Vermont for the winter and could settle in and engage in some good old-fashioned self-inflicted caffeine OD. During the times that I'm not writing, however, I enjoy cooking, pedaling my music on the street and staring up at the clouds discussing the human condition with myself.

I made it to one of the meetups in 06, and I find myself wondering if I'm going to see any familiar faces at any events this year... Either way, I look forward to writing alongside (In spirit, if not body) each and every one of you, and wish you all the very best luck, and the strongest intestinal fortitude possible. Hopefully we can all get together and commiserate a couple times during the month. I'll drop my AIM and MSN in the appropriate thread if any of you want to use me as a sounding board - I've been told I work well for that.

Cheerio! =]

Greetings, all. Welcome, new people, and good to see you veterans again.

This is going to be my seventh consecutive NaNo. I've had some victories, some defeats.

My first year, I jumped in late on the 1st with no clear idea what I was going to write - and made it to 38k, which I figured was pretty respectable.

In 2004, I had characters and a plot outline and everything, all the world-building done beforehand, and then spent a couple weeks mid-month chasing around the state with a friend I hadn't seen in years instead of writing, which pretty much sealed my doom.

In 2005, I wrote 11,000+ words on the 30th in a panicked race against the clock to hit exactly 50k with maybe fifteen minutes to spare.

In 2006, I came up with a beginning, and an end, but neglected to figure out a middle, so I ended up wandering around (in an insufficiently wordy manner) trying to find a way from Point A to Point Z until the clock ran out on me.

In 2007, I walked across the finish line days early, with the one NaNo that I haven't ever let anyone else read any significant portion of, because it's embarrassingly bad. But 59,000 words.

Last year, I took a swing at finishing - or at least adding another 50k to - the novel - or series of novels - that my 2005 NaNo turned into. This turned out kind of problematic, because I'd been plugging away at it in off months all along, so when November began, I was at 80k already, and aiming for 130k, but didn't get the initial new-idea rush of words from the images that have just been waiting for the beginning of the month to burst out onto the page, nor the end-of-month panicked "Gotta finish this!", because I'd already won with it once. I still got another 25,000 words added to it, which I suppose I have to be content with.

This year, I've got a plot outline and characters ready to go. This may be a mistake, because I've generally seemed to do better the years that I had only the faintest idea what I was getting into; just started with a premise and discovered where that led me. We'll find out!

With any luck, I'm not* going to be making the kick-off, but I'm looking forward to meeting the new people and seeing the old people again at write-ins.

-----
* Yes, this makes sense. Nothing against you lot, but if I can get my transportation issues sorted out, I'm going to be across the Lake, in tunic and cloak, getting set up for a weekend of fighting, feasting, and fire, when the kick-off's going on. I have my priorities.

This also reminds me: If you're writing the sort of novel where people fight with swords and stuff, and you need some advice on how that works, feel free to ask me. I know a thing or three about it, and it's one of the subjects that I'll talk your ear off about. I'm not the only one here who does, either, but I won't presume to volunteer anyone else...

Hi all! *waves*
I'm a NaNoNewbie; decided to give it a shot in order to keep myself writing. I'm a couple of years out of college and my productivity level has dropped exponentially with the full-time job. Funny how that happens! I have an idea—there was something I tried to write for a while and finally realized it needs a complete redo from the ground up, so I'm going to work from that old inspiration.
I'll be out of town during the kickoff party, and November looks like a busy month for me even without the NaNo, but I am in Burlington so hopefully I'll be able to make it a to a write-in or two and meet some of y'all.

Hi! My name's Christine and I'm up here in St. J. This will be my fifth consecutive attempt at NaNo.

I heard about NaNoWriMo in November 2004, but it was late in the month and I had no idea what I wanted to write. So I signed up and asked to be notified for the following year.

2005 was my first official year. I might've started a day or so late with absolutely no idea, but I managed to win. I had to cheat a bit, but I made sure I kept at least two of the main rules....that the words had to be written in November of that year, and that it had to be a lengthy piece of fiction.

In the final week of NaNo '06, when I realized I might not make it, I looked for what could be "legally" done to reach the word count goal. Through "what could be included in the word count" and some acceptable cheats, I managed to win with only a few minutes remaining.

I won 2007's NaNo word count goal through a bit of cheating. The biggest cheat was to linger in the areas that could be counted in the word count. Creating lengthy chapter titles and dedication page was interesting, but at least it helped me win.

Last year's NaNo was a total fail. Major depression and writer's block hit and I couldn't even push out 30,000 words. And that was with tricks I had learned over the years. The only way I would've reached the word count goal was to actually break the rules and I didn't want to do that. So I just gave up.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to write yet, but that's typical. I'm a spontaneous writer that does better on the fly than to try and follow an outline. One idea at the moment is to take some of my old characters, put them in fictionalized version of my dreams, set them out on a long winding journey, and hope someone's alive in the end.

Besides writing, I'm a housewife. I am happily married to an older man and we currently share our lives with a dog, 2 cats and 3 rats (both of us are childless by choice). A mental illness keeps me home. I do volunteer and foster for Mainely Rat Rescue. And I have hobbies and things that keep me busy.

Anyway, I can't wait till NaNo starts. And I hope everyone is doing well.

Take Care!

~Christine

PS: If you're interested to know what all can be included in your word count or "cheat" ideas, here are a couple links....

What can be included in the word count ... http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3263724
"Cheat" ideas ... http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3263983

Hey all again :) I'm Onyx on pretty much everything on line. This is my fifth time doing nano, and hopefully the third time I win. I live in Jeff, but work in Williston, and pretty much get around the area a lot, so I hope to be able to get to some write-ins. This year my daughter is doing her second year of the Young Writer's program, and is actually old enough to want to go to write-ins with me, which is awesome, because she was the reason I haven't been able to attend them before! I write erotica, mainstream, sci-fi, fantasy and horror and have been published in several of those genres. This year I'm doing sci-fi, and love to have buddies to do sprints and challenges and basic encouragement/challenges with!

Hi all - this will be my fourth Nano, and hopefully my fourth win (fifth win if you count my '06 entries - I had a lot of time on my hands and was able to bang out two mediocre novels). My entry in '07 is actually now in the hands of an agent and is being shopped around to publisher, so I have high hopes for it ... but if it won't sell, then my plan is to use '09's entry as my next project to be shopped around. Assuming it is as good as I hope. That, of course, remains to be seen.

2009 Exeunt (37937 words)
2008 Radiance of Moon (52699, Winner!)
2007 Firmness of Rock (54705, Winner, Agented!)
2006 The Story of Jack (51846, Winner!)
2006 Spade (50344, Winner!)

Hello Everyone!

My name is Larrypotter. I'm a marathon runner, freelance writer, and I work at Stowe Mountain Resort. I've done Nano 5 times and won five times, but it's gotten more and more difficult for me! See, I actually have writing assignments for my job -- and it's more difficult to do my nano writing (read, non-paid) when I also have deadlines to meet all throughout November! Also, I work in the ski business... and November sort of happens to be the month when everything hits the fan, if you know what I mean. Why oh why can't Nano be in April? Or October? I guess every month is busy, but November is tough. Obviously I'm going to try this year -- I want to keep my win streak alive.

It's great to see so many people keeping the forums lively, and it's GREAT to see Stregoica and Celestihel taking the ML bull by the horns. Keep it up everyone!

larry

2005: Travels With Tuna
2005: The Pond Hockey Tournament
2006: A Ski Season on the Brink
2007: The Great American Hockey Novel
2008: The Cheater

my blog: www.aikenaction.blogspot.com
my dog's blog: www.askoscardog.blogspot.com

Hello again, everyone!

Oro here for round #4. I started in 2005 and failed miserably, I'm not sure I cracked 2k words. 2006 I managed 11k words before petering out, then, in 2007 I won! Woot! And my story took place in Vermont, so, total win there. Did I mention I write science fiction?

heh.

Anyway, I got a good start in 2007 but was distracted by my son, who was in utero at the time, This year, well, I'm going to give it a go, though between my 19 month old and work, well, I doubt I'll get close to finishing. Who knows, a miracle may occur.

Oh, I live in Marlboro and work in Brattleboro - maybe we can do some kind of meetup thing at the store I work in?

Oro

Hi, all! I can't believe this is my 4th go-round on this craziness! I find it great fun. I'm in the Upper Valley area, so if there are any NaNoWriMo-ers down this way who would like to meet up to write together, let me know.

**EDIT** Oy. How did I miss that this is my 5th NaNoWriMo?! I sort of forgot that 2008 happened.

I'm Suzanne, aka, Mousey. I'm in Milton Vermont. I have attempted NaNoWriMo 4 years. (maybe i can finish this year?) I hope this year I might get to a write in this year.

Nice to meet other Vermont WriMo-ers. :P

~Mousey

OK. Wow. So I haven't even posted on this thread yet. Duh.

Andy here. I'm back for my seventh NaNoWriMo. Woo hoo! Except that this is the first year where I've truly had no clue whatsoever about what to write. I've usually had some sort of plan or at least a little bit of inspiration. This year, I'm just going to write and see what comes out.

Cheers! And a kiss for luck! See you all around and about.

hey hey! great to check in and find so many returnees, and some enthusiastic new folks too.

I sure relied heavily on the forums last times doing this crazy NaNo thing. Unfortunately, as usual a few details will interfere with my perfect peace of mind and time available for Nano-ing. 2008 taxes for one thing-- yuck! other things mostly more fun like new images just about to come off the press for my card line expansion, and an art show to hang at City Market Members Wall Gallery, and a stained glass panel sold that needs a repair before it can be shipped.

Anyway, I'm off to google docs to begin; convoluted, disparate, severely distorted thoughts floating around my brain for days, weeks, now ... it will be good to start downloading.

See you soon!
Karen

KDawson
http://karendawson.com/
http://twitter.com/ArtVermont