Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

- STICKY - Regional word war with Toronto?

highnez — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:51:50 -0700

Updated November 21, 2008
I've removed one participant that has not updated a word count since the first week, and I've substituted in another person.

See the updated list below.
end update
Updated November 4, 2008
(thanks to Xore for providing the link so I didn't have to go get it myself. :-) )
Errol from toronto has put up a website with stats from nanowrimo.org

Toronto Word War page

Word War details are in this message. Scroll down.

End Update

Toronto is looking for someone to compete with in Word Wars. Other regions look for competition. For those competitive people, this is a great way to motivate you to increase your word count and finish your story.

Would Vancouver be interested in having a word war with Toronto? I'm not sure of the details yet, but if people are interested, I - or MysteriousAges - can look into it some more. I believe we would have a widget in the Vancouver region that shows totals for Vancouver and the other region.

Edited October 22, 2008

The basic guidelines are as follows (this will be officially updated after November 1st and we've come to an agreement on number of participants and where to post stats):
1. Equal number of participants from each region. If you want to compete for Vancouver, but are part of BC:Elsewhere or some other region, you are welcome to sign up as part of this region. (Not sure if you need to set your home region to Vancouver or not; I'll have to find out) However, if you live in Vancouver and want to compete for Toronto.... I might have to send Calvynne after you. :-) (Go read some other threads to find out why that would be a bad thing.)

2. If life gets in the way and you want to drop-out, hopefully someone can step in and take your place. Maybe we'll have a "waiting list" of participants that couldn't get in at first, or maybe someone who didn't want to compete initially will change their mind.

3. If you participate you MUST update your word count online at least once a week. We'll be sending out explanations of how you update word counts when we get closer to November. (Although it looks like it's pretty easy this year, right at the top of the web page.)

Here is the list of names that I have so far. Some people did say "I'm in" and others did not, but you all responded to the thread.

If you don't think you can commit to this, let me know and I'll remove your name.

If you aren't on here, and you want to be included, let me know that too. We are going to choose 30 participants from each region, but if there is more interest on both sides, we can add more names.
list updated November 21, 2008

1. onelittlepiece
2. pwinkle
3. littlevampiregirl
4. Westcoastcdngrl
5. witchling
6. Calvynne
7. Linette
8. Tanessa
9. Bluesander
10. twisting vine
11. RadioFree
12. xXMercurialXx
13. Jennerosity
14. Aibi
15. Quetzal_Snake
16. highnez
17. Sue__B
18. RadioCure
19. ariesrising
20. SheaKoshan
21. Xore
22. carlyld
23. Lady Kabe
24. falln_angel
25. helmax
26. krichter
27. ReikoOhashi
28. Tweetyiscool29
29. William.T.Stanley
30. rilwyn
31. Iman Jordan
32. Inuki
33. rasr
34. techno_writer
35. sjessa786
36. TygerShore
37. Jeyn

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inez
co-ML for Vancouver, BC

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

[sticky] Encouragement Thread

Jennerosity — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 22:19:35 -0800

We've all been typing away furiously for a few days now and word counts are starting to get into double digits for many. For others, they haven't been quite so lucky, so if you're in need of a bit of encouragement, post in this thread and we can see what we can do to cheer one another on. If you're feeling stuck or blue, let us know and we'll do our best to cheer you up and help you bust through whatever is holding you back.
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

[sticky] Please donate!

Calvynne — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:45:25 -0800

Please see if you can find a way to scrape together $10.00 dollars for a donation to the site to keep it running for another year.

I know that for some, $10.00 dollars near the holidays isn't as easy to come by as it is for others, however the site really does need our continued support.

This year's server troubles weren't as bad as last years because of our donations last year, and if you like you can get some pretty cool stuff with your donations as well!

Those of you who cannot do a donation, for whatever reason, take note: I'll be posting a word count contest towards the end of the week, and I'll make a donation for a forum halo in the Winner's name.

For those who are donating this year, make sure that you enter your forum name in the right field. I was used to last year where it filled it in automatically. ._.

Keep on writing.
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

[STICKY] Nano Vancouver IRC server!

MysteriousAges — Tue, 7 Oct 2008 19:52:58 -0700

I've finally come through on my promise, and set up an IRC server for people to talk on/have word wars, etc without having to worry about being booted every 2 minutes for inactivity. Any old IRC client ought to be able to connect to it, and I have the basic services that IRC servers ought to have (If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry - it's not dreadfully important. (: ) Any topic is fair game in #nanovancouver, though nano-oriented discussion would be nice.

The server info is as follows:

Server: irc.vaultofages.net
Port: 6667
Main Channel: #nanovancouver

For those without an IRC client on their computers, or those who are at computers which do not belong to them, have no fear! You may still access the chat at the following url: http://www.vaultofages.net/nanovancouver.html, so there's no excuse not to come in and join! :P

If you experience any problems with this service, please feel free to buzz me however is convenient for you... like, say if you get booted for being idle for 2 minutes. (Because that's not supposed to happen. >_<; )
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Sunday November 23rd - Downtown Meet Up

Jennerosity — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:32:55 -0800

Ok, last week was a small, but very nice get together. Just wondering who's coming this week. I'm planning on coming out again this week, though I may need to do less talking a little bit of writing to catch up.
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

New West write-ins

Xore — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:14:51 -0800

Since we seem to have hijacked the tri-cities thread, I thought I'd move the New West wrimos into it's own thread. So far it looks like the following:

> Starbucks at 6 and Columbia ( Tuesday, Thursday, noon-3)

> Blenz on 6th&6th, (Saturday, noon-3)

Tweety was also mentioning renting a room at Douglas College (8th & Royal). Personally i'd rather avoid paying for writing areas and just use public spaces, but that's open for debate. or whatever.

Chime in if you're otherwise in new west or willing to write there, or if i've missed anything
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

EDIT: Downtown Vancouver Write-ins - wednesday 6:30-9pm

highnez — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:05:28 -0700

Edited October 27, 2008
A calendar entry has been created, but here are the details:

The Vancouver write-in will be in a meeting room in Vancity (a credit union/bank) at 183 Terminal Ave.

This is near the Main Street Skytrain station. Get off the skytrain at Main Street/Science World, go down the stairs and turn right. You will see the Vancity building there.

The booking is from 6:30pm until 9pm on Wednesday evenings. Perry will be at the door until 6:45pm to let people in. After that, you can try to get the security guard's attention or call Perry or myself. If you think you might arrive late, send me a nanomail and I will give you a couple phone numbers. I don't want to post them publicly.

I will not be there on November 19th, but hopefully other people will show up that day.
end edit

pwinkle has graciously offered to donate boardroom space for weeknight write-ins near the Main Street skytrain station. However, before we set anything up, we need to know who will show up.

We are currently planning on meeting Monday and Wednesday evening from 6:30 to 9pm (approximately). It may only be one evening a week.

You will note that one of our write-ins clashes with the one in Langley, but I have a feeling that isn't a big problem. :-) Instead, it will be nice to know that someone else in the region is writing at the same time.

There are plenty of seats and tables, and power outlets in the boardrooms, but no internet connection. Personally, I think this is a good thing, because you will be forced to write! However, some people need their internet.

Please post here if you can say that you would show up one or both of those evenings (and which evening). Based on the amount of interest, we'll sort out the details and set the dates.

I'm still planning on a Friday evening write-in/meetup, as requested by witchling, but I don't know where or when that will be.

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inez
co-ML for Vancouver, BC

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

DISASTERS

KibBen — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:14:31 -0700

Post here your disasters, as they happen, so that we can sympathise and be glad it's not off. I'll begin.

MY LAPTOP IS DEAD.

Completely dead. Irving has, for the moment, kicked the bucket. He will not turn on. I'm hoping it's a simple problem. I think I know what it is. I hope that that is all that it is. That would be KILLER if that is all that it is. But oh my god, if it's not......

Thank god it's not a hard drive problem. I know that already. It's a power problem. So, at the least, I can recover my outline, which I haven't backed up yet. My own stupid fault. Back up your work, people.

Let me say that again.

BACK UP YOUR WORK.

Anyway. I have to wait until Monday before Staples can do anything about it, as they need the case number, but the people that HAVE the case number are only open until 5pm EST on Saturdays. So I must wait until Monday. Oh god.
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

ATTN: Students of WJ Mouat

Dragonfire50337 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:27:51 -0800

If any of you happen to read this then post here! It would be nice to know if I'm not the only way at school doing this, so if anybody else from WJ Mouat is doing NaNoWriMo then post here and let other Mouat NaNo's know that they aren't alone.
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows/Mission

True North — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:06:53 -0700

Are there any NaNo-ers in Maple Ridge, Mission or Pitt Meadows who would like to get together for writing?
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True North AKA Lisa

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Tri-Cities & Surrounding

Tweetyiscool29 — Sat, 4 Oct 2008 14:16:08 -0700

I know I'm early in startin this one, and that the Vancouver group as a whole is still working out details for meetups, but I'd love it if we could get some more local meetings going this year for the Tri-city and surrounding area (AKA Port Moody/Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam/Burnaby kinda areas, though anyone else would be welcome :P)

But lets not get *too* carried away in the details just yet. Instead I thought for now we could get a general idea of how many people there are in this area who may be interested in such a thing, and maybe even what times/days would be good, and suggestions for places to meet up. Then, once the Vancouver dates are set, we can work from there and pick something if there's interest ;D

I'll start it off with a more specific intro about myself.

I'm Tweety aka Carmen aka Sira/Sirahal (if you're also in SL and really wish to call me that) from Port Moody. I'm really right between Lougheed Mall and Coquitlam Centre (by Glenayre Elementary for those of you who know the area), so pretty well anything in the area (as long as it's transit accessible) works for me. Generally Fridays and weekends are best as well, though I can be flexible on weekdays, so long as it's in the evening.
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"Was here any more wretched existance than the life of a writer who had run out of words?"
-Cornelia Funke, Inkdeath

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

What are your goals?

deborah___ — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:50:37 -0800

I was just wondering what the overall goals are for people?

I would love to hit 50K but I'm aiming for 25.
Just because my online course is evil.
And so is school.
And work.
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Excellent NaNo Music

jonathan.w.bean — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:39:20 -0800

Personally, I've been loving the Tool (10,000 days), the Paul Oakenfold (Swordfish Soundtrack), the Akira Soundtrack and random one-hit wonders like Mark Morrison or Bran Van 3000.

A dash of King Missile, a sprinkling of Johnny Cash, some Nine Inch Nails and some Massive attack...

Tool and Perfect Circle have really been doing it for me, but I want to branch out. What kind of amazing NaNoWriMo Music have you all been feeding your creativity with?
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

bailing......

colleencoplick — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 02:12:39 -0800

Hey all... i hate to say this, but I'm out. Ive got 7500 words, (ish) but I just got a *huge* contract, worth about 12K, between now and Feb 1. I need to concentrate on that in order to pull it off. My novel will still happen, but in November? It ain't gonna happen.

That said, good luck to all of you who are forging ahead. I'm jealous, but i know I'll get this book finished. I''ve already got agent and publisher interest, based soley on my outline and first 5 pages, so it WILL happen. Just not as soon as I'd thought.

In the meantime, I'll be working on strategy and tactics centered around online (really f/n cool) applications

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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Any young writers?

sjessa786 — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:44:09 -0800

Hi!

I'm a newbie, and I was wondering if there are any young NaNo'ers - middle school- aged, about.

Happy Writing!
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Happy Writing!
S.J.

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

The Grind

KibBen — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 14:50:04 -0800

Since there are a couple of us that do come to The Grind and Gallery on Main street and King Edward Avenue, I figured I'd start a thread you can use to let people know you're here, so if they happen to be near by they can come and join you!

I'm here right now. In the back, wearing a purple t-shirt and liking chair-dancing to house music while writing. There are advantages to having a novel that is set largely in a dance club.
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

The Newspaper?

TygerShore — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:32:10 -0800

Hey, I don't know if it was only for the Tri-Cities, but there is a write-up about NaNo in my newspaper...anyone else find it?
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Cookies.....mmmm.........

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

UBC Write-ins!

littlevampiregirl — Sun, 5 Oct 2008 21:36:00 -0700

So I'm on campus Mondays to Fridays and I have an absurd amount of breaks between classes/labs and the such and was wondering if anyone else would be interested in doing write-ins during November. I know the campus is huge though, so perhaps having word wars and encouraging each other over msn might be a little bit more feasible than all meeting up in the same place.

The times that I'm free:
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - 10-11, 12-1
Tuesdays and Thursdays - 12-1, 2:30-3:30
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-------------------------

2005: Avaren - Winner
2006: Indundria - Winner
2007: Marionette - Winner
2008: Russian Roulette - Planning

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

To our wonderful MLs

Tweetyiscool29 — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 19:45:23 -0800

As it is ML Appreciation Day, i thought it'd be nice if we could all say a few kind words/thank yous to our MLs so if they're ever feeling down/frusterated/annoyed, they can pop in here and be reminded of how much we love them and appreciate what they do :D

so i'll start with....

Thank you, Highnez, for having done this for as long as I can remember, and ALWAYS making the experience a memorable one with fun activities and super awesomeness :D

and...

Thank you, Myst, for joining the ML team this year and getting so many things set up for us! You too have made each year of NaNo (well, each year I've known you :P) a memorable one, full of loads of laughs and motivation :D

Thank you BOTH for being the absolutely wonderful people and soing so much for us!
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"Was here any more wretched existance than the life of a writer who had run out of words?"
-Cornelia Funke, Inkdeath

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

EDIT: Marpole write-in, STARBUCKS!! Thursdays 6:30pm to 9pm

highnez — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:09:40 -0700

EDITED November 03, 2008
A calendar entry has been created. We will meet at the Marpole Starbucks on Thursday evenings from 6:30 until 9. My laptop has a bookshelf skin on it, so if I'm there, you'll notice me.

Sadly, Bean around the World closes at 7pm, or I would go there.

End edit

I know that a couple of you said that you live in Marpole. Would you come to an evening write-in - or Saturday afternoon? - in Marpole? And if so, when and where works best for you?

As you see in another thread, I'm trying to organize write-ins near Science World, but I can do a write-in in Marpole at a different time. I just don't know where to go, since most places in the area close early. There is a Starbucks, and I suppose we could go there. Although, I think the Tea house has a sign that says "free internet". (Or was that the noodle house?)

Please let me know if you would like a write-in in Marpole. It would have to start about 7pm on a weeknight.

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inez
co-ML for Vancouver, BC

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Kickoff party followup

highnez — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 21:17:59 -0800

Vancouver kickoff

Thank you to everyone that was able to make it to the Vancouver kickoff party. It was great to see so many new participants and to reconnect with some veteran writers. I hope that everyone found it to be a happy event.

Special thanks to Colleen for providing the venue and to Sharon for organizing the Inner Editor spa retreat. Sharon has also agreed to pay for the retreat out of her own pocket! Thanks, Sharon. :-)

Also, thanks to my co-ML, MysteriousAges, for putting together the soundtrack for this year and burning all those CDs.

There was a total of $35 in donations and I put that money towards the Write-a-thon on behalf of the Vancouver kickoff party.

I will continue to bring the Donation Book with me to meetups and write-ins, and I encourage people to throw in pocket change or a few dollars if you can afford it. When there is $50 in donations, I will make a $50 donation to NaNowriMo in the name of the Vancouver region, and leave the rest to accumulate for another $50. After the TGIO party, I will make one final donation for the total amount in the Donation book. (note: the donations are in US funds, but I'm willing to pay the exchange rate and make a $50 US donation if people are willing to donate.)

Good luck with your novels, everyone. I'll see some of you at the Sunday meetups and others at some weekly write-ins.

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inez
co-ML for Vancouver, BC

Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Need a stats-tracking worksheet to keep you motivated?

adventurat — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 17:06:51 -0800

Hey all,

I can't remember where I got this from originally (though I did NOT make it up myself), but it's really rather awesome, and I thought I'd share it with y'all. It's an Excel spreadsheet that some clever head has programmed to tell you how many words you write per hour (if you care), and how your daily word goal is going, and how you need to adjust it to meet your goal of finishing by November 30th

It's in my Dropbox: if you have any difficulty retrieving it, let me know!

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/299145/Writing%20Challenge%20Worksheet.xls

Enjoy! Oh, and get back to writing! (that's where I'm going now)

Cheers,
Wendy

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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Sunshine Coasters?

ladytess — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 20:56:06 -0800

Anyone here actually up on the Coast?
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Sunday November 9 Social/Write-in

Jennerosity — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 11:56:36 -0800

Hey people, this Sunday is the second social meet-up at the Blenz downtown. I didn't go out to last week but I'm definitely coming tomorrow. For those fortunate enough to have laptops, I guess you could do some writing as well. I don't plan on doing large sections of my NaNo by hand this year, so I'll just be socializing a bit.

Who else is going to be there?

For those who need a reminder about location and time . . .

2PM @ Blenz downtown - across from Pacific Centre at Granville skytrain.

For those coming out from the Surrey direction of things, I'm taking skytrain and will plan on being at Scott Road Station at 1:00 PM. Send me a message if you want to commute down together.
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Canada :: British Columbia :: Vancouver

Anyone up for some late night write-ins?

falln_angel — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:46:00 -0700

I work in a theatre, and I have several shifts this month where I'm finishing work between 11pm and midnight. I tend to do most of my writing in the evening anyway, and The Grind is on my way home so I'm probably going to end up stopping there for a few hours to get some words in without have to deal with at-home distractions like the TV and my boyfriend. I also know myself well enough to know that I'm way more likely to bail on my plans if I'm the only one doing them, so I thought I'd see if anyone else is interested in some late night/early morning writing. I recall reading in the Introduction thread that one person works in a night club, and I'm guessing there's a good chance that there's someone out there who works night shifts.

I'm suggesting The Grind only because I know where it is and I know that it's open all night, but I'm not against the idea of meeting somewhere else as long as it's close to a good bus route. (One of the ones that runs late-night.) If anyone's interested we can hash out dates and times here. Otherwise I'll just list the days I plan on being there and people can come join me if they feel so inclined.
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Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me alone!