Troy! A new region!

Hey Stephanie,
I'm in the Dothan area, so I'm following what you are doing up there in T-town. Good Luck!

Kwelte57, Glad to see someone else here from the Dothan area. I must apologize since I've posted all over this section trying to find some support from others locally. Looks like I might find it here.

Stephanie, Mind if I join the parade as well? Troy is as close as anywhere for me. I'm in Daleville near Enterprise and Ozark.

Yes! Please do join us! (Or me. I have this fear I'm going to be the only one showing up to anything. LOL) In a week or so I'll be posting dates and places for our kick-off party and some tentative write-ins. Hope to see you there!

Thank you for your kind words of introduction, kwelte57 and StephanieGayle. I was beginning to think that I was going to be the only geezer amongst thousands of eighteen year-old whipper-snappers. I am relieved to know that, in this region, I am the pup in the pack-the young jedi among wise masters.

So how does this work? Can I ask you both, welte57 and StephanieGayle to be my writing buddies? this is my first NaNoWriMo and I must admit, I'm a little scared. I'm going to begin a story this year I have never done before. I normally enjoy writing Science Fiction, Action/Adventure, you know, typical man-stuff. I've recently took a stab at romance and enjoyed it. Just don't tell any of my work associates as they will laugh at me. My wife absolutely loves Mystery and in a dry spell (no books left to read) I began reading many of her novels. So, in admiration of my wife, I am writing a kind of mystery/romance/suspense hybrid. It's mostly in my head right now. As soon as I started putting ideas on paper (you know, plot sketch, characters) I started finding holes and now I'm scared.

I have so many questions.

I've written quite a bit but have never been published. I've had a poem published but that's the extent of my writing career. Of course, I do hope that one day my writing hobby will take the place of my current career and I will live out the rest of my life in total luxury on a south pacific island where I soak up the sun, sip umbrella drinks and dictate my thoughts to a small army of minions that turn them directly into best sellers.What? It doesn't work that way? Ok, I'd settle for just being able to write for the fun of it and actually having my work rewarded with making more money than I spend on the task.

Sorry I took up so much space. I tend to ramble. I love story-telling although my wife often calls it "lying."

My name is James, and I'm a wordaholic.

Glad to hear there is another that distantly remembers school, not just waiting for the teacher in-service day for a chance to go to the beach! You can count me in as a writing buddy, I'm just a little bit ahead of you, just having started here last year, but it is easy to get going and very infectious as well.

My reading is in the same vein as yours, and last year I just started writing on November 1st and ended up with a murder mystery by the end of the month. I'm not entirely sure what this years will be, I have a couple of plot ideas that I'm working on this month, including an eco-terrorism one and another murder mystery. Hopefully I can get a rough plot outline together by the end of the month so I can get a running start this year.

Kurt

So, is it ok that I have already been working on plot details and trying to get an idea for a rough storyline? I posted my ideas on my bio but have not seen many others. I started thinking that maybe I had broken some rule by trying to work out an outline before writing.

In the past, I'd written some Science Fiction but have recently become enamored with the mystery slant (thanks to my wife) and would like to write something along these lines. The only thing is that I can already tell that my story may not follow the conventions of a mystery novel. It seems to go beyond just one genre and this is disturbing to me because I am not sure I have the chops to pull it off as I see it in my mind.

James

It is okay to work out Plot outlines and build your character assessments in advance, just not to write your actual story before 11/1 From what I've gathered from others, Some build all their characters in advance and a full plot outline from start to finish, and others just wing it. Last year I went with the wing it method and made it with half a day to spare. Some people said they did the outline and then come starting day tossed it out and went another direction altogether.

For this year I think I will end up with a half and half approach, I'm sketching out characters and ideas, but will let some of the store unfold as I go. It was fun doing it that way last year.

Kurt

I don't worry about following conventions, I just write what I see in my mind, so go for it the way you see it, you will not be the only one, and I figure there are probably a thousand others that are doing the same thing!

Kurt

Hello all, I am going to give it a shot this year. Wife says she will back me. I am from the Dothan area. I mostly write satirical stories in the style of The Onion. http://notconcerned.blogspot.com/ check out March archives.

Yes, anyone who wants to can add me as their buddy. Let me know you did so I can add you, too.

When I have a bit more time (next week), I'll be sending out a better intro and some details on what I am planning for November. In the meantime, I've got several of the forum threads set up to get sent to me, so I'm at least reading you all's chatter. As I do, I'm getting excited about this year. All the other years I've done NaNo, I've been on my own. It will be great if we can get together, online and off, to encourage each other.

Happy writing!

Hi Stephanie! I'm wondering where people are meeting in Troy to talk about their writing? And I wonder if you or a group of people might like to meet at Village coffee? Just an idea!

Hi Amy,

I'm planning our meetings now. I'm thinking we will meet at The Lodge at Troy for our Kick-off party. It's a Saturday and Village Coffee has live music there on the weekends. I'm going tol schedule some write-ins throughout the month and plan to have some at the Lodge and some at Village Coffee.

Which evenings are best for everyone? Anyone want to do afternoon write-ins?

Did anyone want to meet before November, as a get-to-know-you time? Let me know if you do and I'll try to arrange that.

I'll be sending out more info in about a week or two.