United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

[STICKY] Schedule of Events

Dev — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 21:52:34 -0700

The schedule of events will be updated here and also on the Google Calendar. Some of these events are labeled tentative because I haven't heard back from the venue yet, but as soon as they're confirmed I'll edit them. (Also, I'm still getting used to using Google Calendar, so if you happen to notice a discrepancy between it and this schedule, please let me know.)

KICK OFF

When: Saturday, October 25th 4:15pm - 5:45

Where: 8457 Trinity Rd., Cordova, TN 38018

We'll be kicking off the season with a meet & greet at the Cordova Library. Meet your ML and your fellow WriMos, plus pick up the official (and unofficial) swag.

Hosted by Dev.

Midnight Countdown Write-in

When: Friday, October 31st 11:00 pm - 2:00 am

Where: 2810 Wolfcreek Pkwy, Memphis, TN 38133

Meet us at the Wolfchase IHOP to count down the seconds 'til midnight and then start adding to the word counts. Look for laptops, table tents and a bright yellow ML shirt. ;)

First Day Dash

When: Saturday, November 1st, 1pm – 8pm

Where: McAlister's, 7710 Poplar Ave, Germantown TN 38138

We'll be taking over McCalister's Deli for our first official write-in! Stop by and say hello or stick around all day for the NaNo 5K. Hosted by Dev.

Write-In, Calvary Church

When: Saturday, November 8th, 3pm – 7pm

Where: Calvary Church, 1851 N. Houston Levee Rd, Cordova, TN 38016

Once again the lovely Jackie Gamber has arranged for use of a room at the Calvary Library. This room is perfect for write-ins: plenty of space and outlets and no one to bother us (or be bothered by us.) Join us for fun and word wars (with prizes!)

When you come inside head to the right until you hit the stairs or the elevator. Head up to the second floor and go left until you hear the clacking of keyboards. :) Food and drink is allowed and extra power cords are always welcome.

Write-In, G'town Library

When: Saturday, November 15th, 2pm – 4pm

Where: Germantown Community Library, 1925 Exeter Rd, Germantown, TN

Join us for a write-in from 2 - 4 at the Germantown Public Library. Meeting room to the right and down the hall. Those who are interested can stay for the Word Catchers meeting (local writers' group.) Hosted by Word Catchers

Write-In, Calvary Church

When: Saturday, November 22th, 3pm – 7pm

Where: Calvary Church, 1851 N. Houston Levee Rd, Cordova, TN 38016

Join us for fun and word wars (with prizes!)

Write-In, Calvary Church

When: Saturday, November 29th, 3pm – 7pm

Where: Calvary Church, 1851 N. Houston Levee Rd, Cordova, TN 38016

Join us for fun and word wars (with prizes!)

TGIO

When: Saturday, December 6th, 3pm – 7pm

Where: Calvary Church, 1851 N. Housten Levee Rd, Cordova TN 38106

Thank Goodness It's Over! The TGIO will be held at Calvary Church, but instead of writing we'll be celebrating a month of frantic noveling. More details TBA.

Scheduling your own write-ins

Most of the write-ins I've scheduled are in Cordova because of the awesome (and free!) space we have there. They're also on weekends because my work schedule makes it hard to guarantee I can make it out during the week. But the good news is, you don't have to be an ML to schedule a write-in. Everyone is allowed and encouraged to schedule their own write-ins. The only thing I ask is that if there is already a write-in scheduled, please don't schedule one at the same time and general location. (It's cool if you wanna have one downtown while I'm in Germantown, just don't schedule one at the Cordova Barnes & Noble when there's already a write-in going on right down the street.)

If you want to host a write-in, lemme know the details and I'll post it on the calendar and in the event schedule post.
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Unofficial Write-In

kitkatt — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 21:25:31 -0800

Okay, I tried to post this earlier but the site was just like *FLAIL* and... it didn't work. So. Here we go again! (Take 2!)

Because of Dev's mentioning of us needing to meet outside of her planned meetings, I decided I am going to try to be as unofficially official as possible. I have Thursady off this week and I am planning on hanging out at the Bookstar on Poplar near Highland from 1-6 or so. I might cut out a little early depending on who all shows or does not. But yes, I will be there and people will be able to hang out with me. If I talk, be surprised. Unless I know you. Then you can wish I'll shut up ;D But yes, I will be with my laptop and have something that identifies me as that crazy NaNo girl. (Hey, Dev, can I borrow a NaNo shirt? ;-) )

Hope to see you guys there!
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United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

An inspiring challenge

Dev — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:33:22 -0800

Some of you might have heard that Jerry, (NewBestseller) was in a motorcycle accident just before NaNo started and broke his clavicle.

Do you think this is stopping him from writing his novel? Heck no!

NewBestseller wrote:

I thought I write and issue a challenge to anyone who needs one. I still intend to finish this month, despite my handicap. Only the doctors can prevent it from happening, and then only if they wrap me like a mummy, thus prohibiting access to a keyboard. I have posted my current word count. (It took me almost four days to get it that high.) I realize it's no where near what it should be for the month, but I'm building my stamina. Let anyone who needs encouragement know that if a banged-up, pain ridden, motorcycle accident victim can type during NaNoWriMo, then they can post higher word counts than him. Hopefully, I'll be giving them something to chase.

So next time you're struggling with your word count, consider that you've been challenged by a man with a broken collarbone. If he can do it, so can you!

Also send Jerry and his novel some good get-well thoughts. They can use them. :)
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Check out the Commercial Appeal for an article on NaNo!

Dev — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:21:44 -0800

Most of you know that one of our local WriMos is a reporter for the CA and was writing an article about NaNo. She interviewed some people in our group and the article should be in the paper tomorrow. If not then, it will be Friday or Saturday. I'm very nervous (mostly about the picture) but also really excited! So check the 'M' section the next couple of days for some familiar faces!

Edited to add: Here's the article! http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/nov/13/writers-bloc-h/
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul

Dev — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:29:26 -0800

There used to be a forum called "I Hate Myself And Want To Die" which was for complaining about the things not going right in your noveling. Now it's called "NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul." I guess the former was too emo. ;)

Anyway, this thread is for whining, because I need to whine now.

My novel sucks.

I don't mean in the usual NaNo way of sucking where it's ridiculous and goofy and full of padding. I mean it sucks and I'm not having fun with it. Having a character and a vague plot has worked for me in the past, but it turns out that being a scientist/stripper is the only interesting thing about my main character. He's so boring! I keep creating new characters with their own storylines just so I don't have to write about him! I have about seven side characters now and they just keep piling up, making for a bunch of random story arcs that will have to come together in a really convoluted way in order to make them part of one story.

Right now I'm writing about an escaped lab rat named Nicodemus #54. He just met two cockroaches called Lenny and Bob and I'm trying to come up with a fun (10,000 word) adventure for him to have before he chews on a wire and shuts off the power to the lab at just the right time for my human characters to sneak in. But even that isn't inspiring me as much as I'd like. Hopefully it's just the Week Two Blues.

So... what's going horribly wrong in your novel?
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

It had to happen sooner or later...

Dev — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:01:44 -0800

Last night I had a dream about NaNo.

My dreams tend to be very much affected by what's going on in my life. It's not the first NaNo dream I've had, but it's the first one I've had this year.

I won't bore you with the details, suffice it to say in my dream I had the ultimate Eureka! moment. Suddenly I knew exactly how to fix the big plot hole that had been plaguing my novel. Unfortunately it required wishing a blue whale into a public aquarium. Can an aquarium even be big enough to hold a blue whale? Is that possible?

Not that it matters because blue whales would make even less sense in my novel than Mr. P does. I woke up with the lingering feeling of accomplishment and was really disappointed when I remembered that it was all a dream...

At least I didn't dream about low word counts, which has happened before. ;)

Anyone else thinking about NaNo even when they're sleeping?
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Gadgets and Doodads

kitkatt — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:31:59 -0800

Okay, I really should be in bed but I'm hyper tonight (stupid Pepsi!) and found an awesome little gizmo on LJ's NaNoWriMo community. So I thought, well, I could share this here and people could come and post other little fun doodads that they find to help them write! Sounds cool, yeah? Of course it does. Motivation (yes, these will help us) is the key here.

http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html

You can set this lovely little thing for personal word wars. The only draw back is that the shortest amount of time is 10 minutes. My personal annoyance is the Normal mode with an evil grace period but that's just me. I haven't played with all the settings yet but I will be doing that later.

So post your gadgets and gizmos and helpful devices here! Sharing is caring? Hahaha...
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United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Mr. P, the communal character

Dev — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:21:32 -0700

At the kick off party we offered up a blank slate of a character and everyone in attendance gave him a characteristic. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to write this character (traits intact) into your NaNovel. Bonus points if you post an excerpt here. :)

Here is your character. It...

is a male.
is tall.
likes pie.
is suspicious.
is blind.
has a goatee.
has an eyepatch.
slurs his speech.
likes Skittles.
is OCD.
is divorced.
is a commitmentphobe.
is a crazy cat man.
has size 17 feet (and 1/3 of that is toe.)
drives a tractor.
wants to be an actor.
wears tutus.
is an Aikido master.
is allergic to goats.

And his name (first or last) starts with a 'P'. Easy right? Have fun!
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Just started

sparrowluvr2 — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:00:14 -0800

Hey guys! My name is Laura and I'm just getting started. Any advice for starting late in the game?
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United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Add me as a buddy! Wooo Memphis Nanos!

Telika — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:59:14 -0800

HI
I moved back to Memphis about 9 months ago so when I started nano this month I forgot to change my region! But I thought about this time. I am orginally from Illinois but when to school in Memphis cuz I fell in love with the city. After I had a couple of kids I moved back home wiht family but now I am back! Anyway add me as a buddy and I will add you I am eager to know who all in Memphis are doing nanowrimo! Also please check out my excerpt and let me know what you think! I'm having fun with it! I'll make sure to do the same for you!
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"Be content where you are on the way to where you are going" Joyce Meyer

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

What's your novel about?

Dev — Tue, 7 Oct 2008 19:18:41 -0700

This is my seventh year doing NaNo. The first year I wrote a murder mystery. It was terrible and I didn't finish. Since then I've written about genies, cannibal jungle women, zombies, carnies and dinosaurs. This year I'm bringing it full circle: another murder mystery. It's a genre I don't read and don't know how to write. I'm hoping the awesome word padding and plot mangling skills I've picked up over the last few Novembers will help.

Last year there was a reality show that was terrible, even by reality show standards, except for the first guy who was "voted off." He was cute and kinda buff and the occupation that popped up on the screen under his name was amazing: Scientist/Exotic Dancer. I looked up his bio on the site and sure enough, "A scientist by day, he is a lead Chippendale Dancer at night." The first words out of my mouth were, "He is TOTALLY going in a NaNo novel!"

So now he's the main character. One of his clients at the dance club will be murdered and he will have to use his awesome scientist skills to prove his innocence. I'll probably have a lot of CSI/Law & Order-esque pseudo-science in it. Maybe a sub-plot involving nefarious Science Company dealings. There will be a sidekick who tends to get in the way but ultimately proves his mettle. There will be lots of love interests and even more science-related double-entendres.

I don't have a title which really bugs me, but I'm sure something will strike before November.

What're you writing about?
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Grammar reference

dm8 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:37:23 -0700

I haven't found a good, not too boring reference book for grammar yet. Suggestions?

-dana
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United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Welcome!

Dev — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:45:34 -0700

Welcome one and all to the Memphis Regional Forum!

I'm Jenny, one of your Municipal Liaisons. This will be my seventh year participating in NaNoWriMo and my third year serving as ML.

If you haven't already, please affiliate with the Memphis region and make it your Home region (this way your word count will count towards our region's total word count.) To do this go to My NaNaNoWriMo > My Regions and find Memphis in the list. Click Join. Then go to the Home Region tab and select Memphis as your home region. Click Set Home Region and viola! you're a Memphis Wrimo!

Pretty soon we'll have a thread letting you know about all the stuff and events planned for the month, but in the meantime, use this thread to introduce yourself. Who are you? How long have you been doing NaNo? If you're a newbie, how'd you hear about it? Do you know what your novel will be about this year? And all those other burning questions you've been dying to answer. :)

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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

North Memphis/ SoTip

Rayna — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 07:19:10 -0800

The write ins sound like a lot of fun, and I'm going to try to make it to one or two.

However, I was wondering if there were any other participants who, like myself, are rather far from the scheduled write ins. I'm in South Tipton county, and was thinking that a write in in this area would be fun, too.

Millington, Arlington, South Tipton, Covington

Let me know!

Rayna
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wordcount widgets

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Anyone for a write-in in the Jackson area on 11-8-08?

RebeccaCage — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 21:58:21 -0800

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in doing a write in tomorrow (11/8/08) in Jackson from like 8:00PM until we get too tired to write anymore. I was thinking that we could meet at the Perkins restaurant in The Crossings as they have plenty of room and offer free wi-fi so that we can update those word counts. I will only host one if I can find people who are interested. If you want to have a write in tomorrow, please e-mail me at rebeccacage_learningtolive@hotmail.com. I hope to hear from you guys!

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United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Not so official pep talk from an unML

amethyst skies — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 18:21:35 -0800

Ok, just so you know, I miss you guys! ::sniffle:: Anyway for those of you who didn’t already know I decided (and it was not an easy one to make) to take this year off from NaNo and ML-ing to produce my senior project (read: Giant Research Paper of Doom) for my bachelor degree at the University of Memphis.

But that’s not why I’m writing you this evening. I’m writing to remind you to give your inner editor a little prozac, and to march those fingers onward. To produce the highest word count possible! I KNOW you can do it! Word war with yourself if necessary!
And if all else fails, insert a dream sequence, or three.

Or, if you need a competitive edge to get you going, the Giant Research Paper of Doom is currently 25 pages, and 5,699 words. (hint: your word count should be higher than mine!)

Good luck and happy NaNo-ing!

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Kara
Co-ML, Memphis TN
~*~
"However, if anything is missing from above the knee level, there's only one person who knows about it, and is hiding the details because he's too afraid to tell his wife." - Laurie Notaro, Autobiography of a Fat Bride

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Unofficial write-in Midtown

dm8 — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 09:21:19 -0800

i know this is late notice, but i'll be at republic coffee (corner of walnut grove & tillman...i think it's tillman) tonight from 7-9 if anyone cares to join! i'll be the girl in the back wearing a grey sweater and a blue scarf, staring at my laptop, waiting for inspiration.

-dana
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United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Theme Songs

Fuffydud — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:27:33 -0700

Music has been the topic of nano-conversation before, like inspiring songs, what we listen to while writing, and last year I saw a conversation going on about songs that describe our characters. A while ago I had a song stuck in my head, and I realized that it would be a great "theme song" for my MC, and I got really excited and got cool plot ideas and stuff. So if anyone else has a song that suits their novel, you can chat about it here.

Maybe even bring the CD to a write-in so we can hear it?
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United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Olive Branch

saucygirl — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 06:37:36 -0700

Hey guys (and gals!).

I live in Olive Branch, so Wolfchase is just a weee bit too far for me to trek for a write in.

I'm going to be at the McAlisters in Olive Branch on Monday (the third). Probably at about 6:30 ish, if anyone wants to join me. I'll be the crazy one with the purple MacBook.

Sarah
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United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Midnight Write-in? [COSTUME CLAUSE ADDENDUM]

Dev — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:29:04 -0700

Hey everyone! The schedule of events for this year is still in the works and should be posted in the next week, but in the meantime I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions for a place for a midnight write-in.

I always start writing at midnight, usually with a few fellow WriMos in the AIM window, starting right along with me. But I wanted to take advantage of NaNo starting on a Saturday this year and have WriMos sitting right next to me when it's time to start writing!

The trouble is, I can't come up with a good place to host this. There would have to be room for a dozen people or so, preferably have Wi-fi and food and definitely be open 'til at least 2:00 am. I suppose we could take over an IHOP or Perkins, but I'd rather have a place where we're not very spread out.

Any ideas? Would anyone even be interested in a midnight write-in?
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Quick note: regional forums are All Ages

Dev — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:24:53 -0700

We've never had a problem in this forum, but I wanted to mention it anyway. In the main forum there are little sun icons that designate the sub-forums as All Ages. A bug prevents the sun from showing up on regional forums, but all regional forums are considered All Ages. From Cybele's Guide to the Forums.

Quote:

There are two different kinds of forums on the site. Some are noted as All Ages, so content there should be on topic and not contain any strong language or sexual themes. All other forums not marked as all ages have fewer restrictions: though you may use strong language we do not allow material that is abusive, pornographic, graphically violent, hateful, or threatening.

That's all. :)
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Reporter and photographer to be at NaNo events

Dev — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:54:54 -0700

Just a heads up for anyone attending the Kick Off or the First Day Dash at McAlisters. A reporter from the Commercial Appeal (!!!) will be at the Kick Off (and McAlisters also, I believe) talking to participants for an article she's writing about NaNoWriMo. A photographer will be at McAlisters, stalking wild writers in their natural habitat. ;) If you own a NaNo shirt, that would be a good day to show it off!
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Help keep NaNo alive! (or, Donating, even when you're broke!)

Dev — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:37:13 -0700

Every year the Wrimo count rises and so do the costs of running this extraordinary event. Here are some ways you can help out.

Donate directly

You can donate directly to NaNo through this page. Just ten dollars gets you a shiny halo above your username and incredible novelling karma.

Donate indirectly

Merchandise sales help out NaNo, too, so head to the store and get yourself some swag!

AND

Meet Wreee-mo the fundraising pig!

He'll be at events, begging for love and change. If you can't give through the site but have a spare coin or bill, he'll be happy to take it. To keep the money safe and sound, his little plug has been glued shut, meaning when he's full we'll have to get the money back the old fashioned way (yep, with a hammer!) The money will then be sent to NaNoWriMo under the name of the Memphis Region and any resulting swag will be prizes at the TGIO.

Getting other people to donate for you

For every search you do at GoodSearch, Yahoo! will donate a penny to your chosen charity. (Be sure to lock in The Office of Letters and Light before you start searching.)

If you're on Live Journal you can go to the this post at the lj_nanowrimo community. Leave a comment with your nanowrimo username and/or number and for every commenter who passes the 50,000 mark, they will donate a dollar to the Young Writer's Program! That's good stuff there.

More ideas for donating when broke can be found here.

Thanks for reading and happy novelling!
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Jenny, co-ML for Memphis, TN

United States :: Tennessee :: Memphis

Kick Off

mostdays — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:26:11 -0700

Just wanted to say thanks to our hard working MLs for arranging that get-together. It was great meeting all of you. Hope to see everybody on the 31st.
~ruby

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