United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Two, Four, Six, Eight – Why do we affiliate (and make Spokane our Home Region)?

Dichotomy6958 — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:20:22 -0800

Toto, we're home. Home! And this is my room, and you're all here. And I'm not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all, and - oh, Auntie Em - there's no place like home!

During November, it's fun to compare Spokane's progress against all the regions in the world, both in word count and donations. Please show Gypsy Pride by making sure your successes are included in our regional total. To do this, you need to affiliate with Spokane AND set Spokane as your Home Region. This is a relatively painless, two-step process:

If you’re not affiliated with Spokane:
Go to My NaNoWriMo, click My Regions. On the Regions tab, locate Spokane (page 5), and click Join. Then click Join again.

If you are already affiliated:
Do not pass Go. Proceed directly to the Home Region tab.

On the Home Region tab, click the circle beside United States::Washington::Spokane, and click the Set Home Region button.

That’s all there is to it! Well – to the short version. If you’d like more in-depth instructions, presented in a highly entertaining manner (you’ll laugh! you’ll cry! you’ll affiliate!), see these instructions, created by honorary gypsy and all-around nice guy, Mr. tweetywill.

My heartfelt thanks to lazym (Austin ML & Captain of Capital Ideas) for crafting such suscinct instructions on how to affiliate & set a home region; and to tweetywill for providing visual aids!!

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

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Details on the overnighter?

RandomGemini — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:13:58 -0800

I know the what and when, but I'd like to know how much and should we bring sleeping bags and cucumber facial masks along with our pink fluffy bunny slippers?

Thanks!
RG
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Word Count Standings

Dichotomy6958 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:43:57 -0800

If you've been around for the past few years, you'll recall that along about this time I start posting the word-count standings so you can keep track of how you're doing compared to everyone else in the region. If you've posted word count and you have set Spokane as your home region, you'll find yourself listed below, ranked from highest to lowest in word count.

Keep in mind that this is a snapshot of the moment I gather the information. Someone can update their word count minutes after I pull the information for the daily report, so you could actually place a little higher or lower than shown on the chart below.

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

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

One small victory

SKSuncloud — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:52:53 -0800

It took me all month, but finally my word count beat Dichotomy6958!!

Dichotomy6958
37,834 / 50,000

SKSuncloud
37,910 / 50,000

If only temporarily, I'm going to take a moment to be proud of myself for those 76 words. XD
Now I'm going to go rest and ice my hands...
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"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...."

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

oopsies.

mister_froggy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:26:38 -0800

So today I made a very stupid mistake. I had noticed that the word count validator was up for testing and decided I wanted to upload what I had so far to get it counted by the official counter. My novel was on my Alphasmart, so I had to transfer the files to the computer before pasting the text in the validator. Now, while the Alphasmart can send files to the computer, the computer can also send files to the Alphasmart, and I was not paying as much attention as I needed to and accidentally replaced a sizable chunk of my novel with an empty file from the computer.

LUCKILY, I had successfully loaded my novel on the computer last Saturday, so ONLY 5 or 6 thousand words were lost, but still, that's a lot of retyping. Grrr...

It was a fun part of the novel to write the first time around, so hopefully that carries over to the rewrite.
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Halfway there!

sparrowzingly — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 21:23:14 -0800

I broke 25,000 words today. I didn't think I could get this far but it feels amazing! Anyone else there?

If you're not... don't worry! You'll get there and it will feel fantastic. Keep plugging along!
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Roving Write-Ins!!

Jayce_Grae — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:26:43 -0700

What are they?

These are fun, unique write-in locations discovered and hosted by you! We've set aside Wednesday nights for you, that's right, YOU, to find a quirky coffe shop, grocery store aisle, bus route, or campfire just perfect for writing.

Add a post here with the name, location and time of a your write-in and watch for the responses. Please make sure (a) you have the permission of the owner/manager and (b) you can be there. Samantha and I will try our best, but we may not be able to make every write-in scheduled so it is important that you have some way for local Wrimos to recognize you.

Sounds easy right? It is easy! =) If you have any questions you can always send a PM (nanomail) to myself or Samantha (Dichotomy6958). Off you go!

Samantha here, to add my 2 cents worth

A couple of additional points when setting up a Roving Write-In:

It must be held in an all-ages location. Sorry, no taverns or bars.
It must be safe - both for you and for other people attending. Don't schedule a write-in at your home, or post personal information online.
If there is a limit to how many Wrimos your venue can accomodate, let us know. If there are only 2 tables available, we don't need 6 Wrimos showing up to write.
While it's not necessary to be online during a Write-In; many of us will show up with laptops, and if you're like me, you have an old laptop with zero battery life. Electrical outlets are essential, and if they are not well-spaced around the room, power-strips & extension cords will be needed. I carry at least one power-strip in my laptop case in November.
Dana &/or I will post one Wednesday Roving Write-In to the Spokane calendar Sunday afternoon for the upcoming Wednesday. If there is more than one contender, extra points will be given to creativity and unique venues. Perhaps you know someone who knows someone who can get us into an art gallery, a radio station, the roof of the Paulsen Building, a museum ... Of course, the perfect place might well be your neighborhood cafe or a classroom at your (or your child's) school we can use after hours.

Samantha

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

Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison (2007-2008)

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Write In

Tigress7 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:38:51 -0800

I want to go to one of the write ins at the service station. That's pretty good for me- it's only a few miles from my house. So can I get more information on this? Do we need to sign up, or just show up?
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

How is it going for everyone?

GoosesGirl93 — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 05:52:09 -0800

Just stopping in to check and see how everyone is doing. This is my first nano, and I am utterly amazed at how many completely different emotions I have experienced over the past almost thirty hours. Right now, it is almost 6am, and I have been writing for several hours. Overall I am pleasantly suprised at my progress. Of course this is only after ALSO feeling excited, confident, exhausted, confused, depressed, insecure, completely out of control, completely in control, and proud. Is this normal?

Anyway, I hope everyone is making progress!! Keep up the good work, you can do it!

Heidi
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

What do you do when...?

sahara_runner — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:27:54 -0800

Well, its my first year doing this and I'm having fun. I'm at nearly 23,000 words and have realized it's going to be a much longer story than I anticipated. There's so much going on, so I thought I'd ask a couple of what do you do when's both to get some opinions, as well as to give those of us who feel the need to take a break (or procrastinate) that much-needed two seconds.

What do you do when...you're not sure you'll finish the novel before the deadline, but you know you'll get to 50,000?

What do you do when...a scene happens that you weren't expecting?
(I'm just getting to a part of the novel that I knew about at the beginning, but its taken me until chapter nine-short chapters-to get to it when I thought it would be in chapter 4. It was the strangest thing.)

What do you do when...your familiy thinks your premise or plot is particularly strange?
(I'm trying not to take it as an insult.)

and finally...

What do you do when...you've got no excuse not to be writing, but want to find one anyways?
(I like to do Sudokus or clean or play around on the internet, kind of like what I'm doing now...;)

Okay, so I'm mostly serious with the questions, but I had to have a little fun.
Thanks for the future advice.

Sara
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

password?

dragon-author — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 18:19:11 -0800

can some one send me the virtual password please, I cant find my packet right now.
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

"Let it suck!"

Jayce_Grae — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 13:47:35 -0800

A song of inspiration for those who need it.
Click here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3101963#comment-3244627

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

Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison (2007-2008)

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Procrastionation Activity.

RandomGemini — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:58:27 -0800

I often find myself looking for ways to avoid writing, especially when I'm really bored and the words just aren't flowing out of me. So I turn to my friends on twitter and one of them posted this this morning. I have seen it before, but I thought that you guys would find it hilarious. The badness of it cannot be expressed in words...

I will preface it by saying that if you've seen it, I'm sorry for putting you through this again. If you haven't... don't look at it with your children in the room because they will wonder why you're giggling so ridiculously.

Without further ado, I present to you, swedish dance bands of the 70s.

http://pics.yemii.com/swedish-dance-bands.html
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Challenges

sadiqah — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:24:09 -0700

Are we formally "challenging" anyone this year??

If I remember correctly, last year we challenged Seattle, the state of Alaska, some hermit writing type guy in the middle of nowhere, the entire country of Wales.... I want to know who we're challenging :)

And if it hasn't been discussed yet... I want to offer up Seattle and Toronto... I'll be at their Kick-Off party October 30th, and can formally issue a challenge in person, if everybody's in. Please, please, don't make me take on the city of Toronto by myself!! (Though I will if I have to!)
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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

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

HAppy ML Appreciation day to our MLs, Samantha and Dana

GoosesGirl93 — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 02:49:57 -0800

Thanks so much for all you've done for our little group. We appreciate the goodies and the write ins and the encouragement. You guys are awesome!

Heidi
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Post your playlist

sunlit x tides — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 13:05:48 -0800

Here you can show off the playlist that inspires your writing, music you like or any other way it relates to your writing.

Heres mine:

1 Undeniable — Mat Kearney
2 Another Word For Desperate — Straylight Run
3 Better In Time — Leona Lewis
4 Mixed Tape — Jacks Mannequin
5 Disturbia — Rihanna
6 October Skies — Waking Ashland
7 Julian — Waking Ashland
8 I Am For You — Waking
9 Unwell — matchbox twenty
10 Look Me In The Eyes — The Jonas Brothers
11 Linkin Park - Faint — Linkin Park
12 Come On Get Higher — Matt Nathanson
13 Blurry — Puddle of Mudd
14 Tongue Tied — October Fall
15 Untouched — The Veronicas
16 Can You Feel The Love Tonight — Disney
17 Shattered — O.A.R.
18 Memories — Eisley
19 Should've Said No — Taylor Swift
20 Moondance — Nightwish
21 Holler Back — The Lost Trailers
22 Better Life — Keith Urban
23 Tonight I Wanna Cry — Keith Urban
24 Drowning — Backstreet Boys
25 You'll Think of Me — Keith Urban
26 Days Go By — Keith Urban
27 Picture To Burn — Taylor Swift
28 Linkin Park - Numb — Linkin Park
29 Trying To Stop You Leaving — Dierks Bently
30 Viva La Vida — Coldplay
31 Here It Goes Again — OK Go
32 A Thousand Miles — Vanessa Carlton
33 One Song Glory — RENT
34 My Darkest Hour — Scary Kids Scaring Kids
35 Slide — Goo Goo Dolls
36 Crush — David Archuleta
37 Light On — David Cook
38 Mercy — Duffy
39 Facedown — Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
40 False Pretense — Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
41 Your Guardian Angel — Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
42 Cat and Mouse — Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
43 Cinderella — Britney Spears
44 Everything You Want — Vertical Horizon
45 Black Balloon — Goo Goo Dolls
46 Overprotected — Britney Spears
47 I'll Be — Edwin Mccain
48 Pretty Girl — Sugarcult
49 Someday — Nickelback
50 Iris — Goo Goo Dolls
51 Insatiable — Darren Hayes
52 Seventeen Forever — Metro Station
53 Into the night — Santana
54 Lollipop (Candyman) — Aqua

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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Desktop Calendar

GoosesGirl93 — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 02:28:17 -0800

I have this NaNoWriMo calendar on my laptop's desktop. It is cool looking, and it has the word count for each day along with pithy ideas to help you make progress or least to make you laugh. Samantha asked me to post the link, so here it is:

http://kiriska.deviantart.com/art/NaNoWriMo-Calendar-2008-101851781

There are also a bunch of desktop calendars in the "Reaching 50,000" forum you can browse through if you are looking for important work to do instead of writing your novel. :)

Keep it up...we've been working for almost a week!!
Heidi

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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

THANK YOU!!!!!!

GoosesGirl93 — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 00:19:56 -0800

I can't remember exactly who it was tonight at the write-in that suggested beginning sections with journal entries, but THANK YOU! It was either Dana, Samantha or Steve, or maybe it was all of you, but I have to tell you, it was exactly what my novel needed. It is allowing me to fill in the gaps of my main character's backstory and inspiring me to tell more about her at almost every age. I can set up and explain some of the issues she is having by posting a piece of her journal. It is brilliant, and I am so inspired. I have written over three thousand words today! And given yesterday's brain freeze, I am thrilled. When I hit 50K I am pretty sure I will owe you all big time! Coffee will be on me!

Heidi
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Sign In-- Introductions

Dichotomy6958 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:53:29 -0700

Whether you're a new participant, a returning Spokane author or a visitor form afar, please take a moment and introduce yourself here.

Share as much or as little as you like: How many times have you done NaNo? How many wins do you have under your belt? Do you know what you'll be writing yet, or are you like me and tend to wing-it once November starts? What genre are you attempting this year? If you're visiting, what brings you to the Spokane lounge? If you're local, what part of town (or zipcode) do you live/work in? The biggest hurdle you must overcome to complete NaNo? Your proudest NaNo accomplishment? How did you discover NaNoWriMo?

I'll start: I'm Samantha, one of your friendly Municipal Liaisons. I've participated in NaNoWriMo and won every year since 2003. This will be both my 6th NaNo and my 6th year as a Spokane ML (and I'm hoping my 6th win). Each year I've increased my word count from barely over 50,000 my first year to over 72,000 words last year. I credit all those extra words last year to the 5+ write-ins per week I attended last year. I live in Browne's Addition and work on the South Hill, but you'll find me all around town during November, attending write-ins all over the area.

I had the opportunity to be a beta-tester on the NaNo website this past month. In order to test all the features, I had to fill in all the areas in the Author profile -- on a whim I picked the Satire/Humor/Parody genre and came up with a suitably silly-sounding title. Since I have no better ideas I think I'll stick with that for now. But don't be surprised if mid-November I switch to Horror or Erotic Fiction.

For the first time in years, I have nothing except NaNoWriMo scheduled for November, but I'm not getting too complacent about it. In the past, I've attended non-novelling retreats; travelled to Missoula for focus groups; organized and attended my son's wedding in Salem, OR; and took a freelance assignment in Everett in mid-November. It's still too early to tell what this November will bring.

Who's next?

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

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Just wondering

sunlit x tides — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:45:16 -0700

What kind of things help you get "in the zone" to write or does it just come naturally?

What week do you think is the hardest?

Am I the only one who if I use an outline my story goes down the drain but if I just "wing it", the story comes out better? This is my first nanowrimo but I've written other stories and thats the way it usually goes.
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Your Yearly Friendly Reminder to Back Up Your Work

SaraSH — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 21:02:06 -0800

Back up your book as often as you think to do so. Save to a flash drive, an external hard drive, email it to yourself, or save it in google docs, just do something. You don't want to get 10k in (or worse!) and have it vanish into thin air.

I'm not speaking from personal experience, but things can always go wrong.

Just a friendly reminder.
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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Plots, Plots Everywhere, But Not a One for Me.

SpokaneSunshine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:08:59 -0700

So am I the only one without a plot?

I've been building a world for a couple of years now, but I wonder if I'm too attached to it to write 50,000 words in a month.

I've got a few ideas brewing, but no developed characters, etc.

Do a lot of people wing it?

See you at the midnight write-in tonight. I've paid all my bills so I have no excuses for my mind to wander.

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United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Chat Room or Virtual Write-Ins

Jayce_Grae — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:37:25 -0700

Hi again! Dana here. A while ago I sent out an email asking if there was any interest in a weekly or monthly writing group. The response I got back was encouraging, but most of you said you'd prefer an online group. So, after a bit of procrastination mixed with a small bit of work I've created a virtual chat room.

The website is here: http://www.chatzy.com/590149067958

If you'd like to join us please send a NanoMail to myself or Samantha (Dichotomey6958). We'll verify you are homed to Spokane and we'll respond with the password. This way we don't get those sneaky folks from Bellingham crashing our party. lol. If you have any problems please, please send me a PM.

I am open to suggestions at this point as far as when we should hold virtual write-ins. During NaNo one or both of us MLs will be online during each scheduled write-in and the overnight. However, we thought it would be nice to have a strictly online write-in as well. We'll have things like word wars, timed writings and general Q&A.

Please post a response if you are interested with the days & times you would want to be on. We're here to help but we can't operate in a vacuum. =)

See you there!

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

Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison (2007-2008)

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

Nov 1st Midnight Write-In

Jayce_Grae — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:54:36 -0700

Are you anxiously awaiting the starting bell? Will you still be wide awake from munching on Halloween candy? We have just the thing! A Midnight Write-in on October 31st/November 1st. Come join us for a few hours and get the jump on your novel!

We'll be at the Broadway Truck Stop, 6606 E. Broadway Ave, in the Spokane Valley, from midnight to 3am.

If you missed the Kick-Off Party, this is a good time to hear about our new theme, see the new logo and pick up a few goodies to boot! If you didn't miss the Kick-Off here is another chance to add to your jewel collection!

Samantha and I look forward to seeing you there. =) Costumes optional.

PS. If you need a ride in and live in Cheney or on the way, send me a PM. I have room for 3 more, 4 if you are friendly. If my wagon isn't full I'd be happy to give rides home as well.
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Dana
"This is a lot more fun when they're not shooting back!"

Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison (2007-2008)

United States :: Washington :: Spokane

It has begun

weaglem2002 — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 00:55:54 -0700

After surfing through the forums for 30 min then installing word on my PC it is now just short of 1am and i am about to step out the door and head to work. but i have begun my first journey in the land that id NanoWrimo and it feels good . i am now 267 words in ...i know doesn't sound like much but the first words are down and now its time to get to know my main character......god i don't even know his name yet! lol anyway i hope others like myself have gotten started and we can finish this journey together!!!! see you all later in the morning when i get off.
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