Europe :: England :: Nottingham

[STICKY] Word War Signups - CLOSED

Kachi — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:34:40 -0700

I'm going to cull some of the data from the other Word War thread - if you don't want to take part, just let me know and I'll remove you from the list again. :)

And the same goes for if you want to join - we have until the 1st November to accumulate participants! Drop me a PM or comment in this thread and I'll add you to the list. Remember, every little helps and it can be a good way to help propel yourself across the finish line. :)

Participants

LeighBarlow
Kitty Taylor
Kynthera
smile_clarenet
cooler
~~Ramrider~~
DNaB
~~Gabriel_Wynter~~
raeble
Kachi
MachTwain
Rhexis
Nixtress
aladair
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ML :: Notts, UK
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[STICKY] Introductions

Kachi — Tue, 7 Oct 2008 11:44:44 -0700

I think it's about the time of the month to start this kind of post. :) So tell us about yourself - whether you're new or not. ;)

My name's Hannah (or Kachi, depending on your mood), and I will be your ML for this flight. I'm 25, live in Derbyshire (ish) and this year I'll be writing sci fi - and plotless sci fi, at this rate. I'm easy to spot at meets, so long as no one is sitting or standing in front of me, and I should be at all of them bar one in the middle of the month.

Despite everything, I'm looking forwards to this November!
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[STICKY] Chat

Ramrider — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:43:26 -0700

We were chatting at the meet today about a mini-chatroom just for us Notts guys. Well, I've just quickly set one up to see how it goes. You don't need to download anything or register; just click the link below, pick a username (just type "/nick" and then the name you want to use - all the handy commands are listed at the bottom of the chat screen) and start typing...

http://www.freejavachat.com/chat.php?chan=NottsNaNo

Edited with permission from Ramrider by Kachi:

If you primarily use IRC clients, you can connect via irc.ircstorm.net port 6667.
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

[STICKY] NaNoWriMo Meet-Ups

Kachi — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:36:18 -0700

During NaNoWriMo we customarily hold meet-ups each Saturday for the duration of the month, with special meet-ups both the Saturday before November and directly following it in December.

These meet-ups are held at The Malt Cross, 16 St. James's Street, Nottingham, NG1 6FG (which can be located either via Google Maps or, if you know a little about Nottingham, is located on the road between the Lloyds TSB and Scarborough Building Society just off Beast Market Hill, just up from the Town Square).

Once inside, if you go up the stairs we're quite hard to miss - we sit by the upstairs bar and if you can't see us you can probably hear us; if you're a bit lost, some of the staff are familiar with us and asking where "the writers" or "the mad people" are will usually get you pointed to us.

Our Google Calendar can be found both here and at the top of the page and has every meet-up listed. If you are more Facebook-orientated, we have a Notts Nanoers group which also contains meeting dates.

The meets are usually more social than writing-orientated, although you can certainly try writing during them if you like - some attempt it with more success than others. ;) The Malt Cross has a couple of plug sockets available should they be needed.

Everyone is welcome to the meets, and we look forward to seeing you there!
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ML :: Notts, UK
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

[STICKY] Word War Rules

Kachi — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 01:37:01 -0800

Eligibility

You must live within the UK or Ireland, and be relatively close to the city or region you
wish to represent.

Sign-ups

Your ML will provide a "Word War Sign Up” thread on your local forum to track word
count. Participants will post ONCE in the Word War Sign Up thread by 8pm on 10th
November stating that they wish to participate.

The Regional Word War

You must update your word count every two days, on the even numbered days of the
month, by 8pm. If you are unable to update your count, contact your ML.

During the last partial week (26th –– 29th Nov), you must update your word count daily, by 8pm. If this isn't possible, contact your ML immediately.

If you do not update your word count on four consecutive occasions it will be assumed that you have given up and you will be removed from the war (unless you already have more than 50k) If you know that you’re going to be away and won’t be able to update, let your ML know so that we can prevent this.

You must input your final (verified) word count by midnight on 30th November. After
midnight, you will no longer be able to update your count.

Scoring

You may drop out of the Regional Word War at any time up to 8pm on 20th November without affecting your region's count. If you do not drop out by messaging either myself or your ML, you will be in for the remainder of the competition, NO MATTER WHAT!
During the Regional Word War there will be a regularly updated leader board on an external web site. I'll post a link to this board to each competing region as soon as I've confirmed it myself!

Only the official word count from the "Word War Sign Up" threads on the NaNoWriMo web site will be considered when computing the final score.
After midnight on 30th November, I will ask the other MLs from competing regions (or their designated representatives) to verify the figures before declaring a winner.

Results

There will be two prizes:
The city/region with the highest average word count.
The city/region with the highest proportion of winners from the starting participants.
The MLs will compare results, and when all regions agree, the results will be posted on the NaNo boards.

Banter

Participants are encouraged to engage in good natured banter with participants from other regions in the various Word War Banter threads. Banter should remain good natured and within the bounds of good sportsmanship. The use of 'smileys' in messages is actively encouraged.

Our God-like powers

MLs decide what "good sportsmanship" means.
We reserve the right to remove folks from the competition for any violation of the rules and guidelines listed above.

MLs are the final authority in any dispute or question about the rules.

Trophies

To be determined...

Good luck one and all.
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Procrastinaton Posts

closet blonde — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 05:23:03 -0800

We don't seem to have one of these yet this year, so I thought I'd kick off:

For those who know and love They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uE-1RPDqJAY&feature=related), I came across these these the other day:

TTtHtI Chipmunked:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu3euM82JgU&feature=related

TTtHtI Backwards (less intereting, but i get a kick out of the way Legolas suddenly sounds Westcountryish):
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jAU_w9CF2Bo&feature=related

ps how come you have write-ins now? You never used to!
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

MOUNT EVEREST ...

Teddykins — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:05:42 -0800

This is my first NaNoWriMo attempt and I am treating it like something akin to a mountain climbing attempt.

I have started off up the Mount Everest of my writing career and have just reached Base Camp. It was hard going but my ever -increasing cast of characters have kept me company and I can only hope now that they stick with me and don't try to leg it back down the mountain when my back is turned. Food supplies could be a little more regular and a hot drink, every hour on the hour, would be nice, courtesy of one of the sherpas. However, the kitchen area isn't too far from the Base Camp Writing Room and, as I also need to exercise my legs to stop them seizing up, due to the cold, fetching them myself has its advantages. I remembered to bring warm clothing with me and my hot water bottle is definitely going a long way to preventing frostbite in my toes. I have 'phone access, which is nice, and the occasional calls from outsiders, way down the mountain, are a welcome distraction from this very arduous task.

Shortly I will be venturing out to the next level. I realise that I will be entering new territory and hope that I am well prepared. 'The Plot' as it has been christened, is a very foreboding place to visit. Many have gone before me and succeeded, but many have also fallen along the way. I will, however, attempt to reach the next level and will check in again when I am there.

My hands are stiffening up a little as I type this, so I must now go and search out my fur-lined yak mittens. Failing that I have some woolly ones.

The weather is closing in now and I must light the lanterns.

Over and out ...... Teddykins x
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Regional Word War Leader Table Update

Loriba — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 04:46:40 -0800

Hi,

Thought I'd start a new thread for posting when updates have taken place as it's easier to just cross-post across all the participating forums.

The results from the 4th November have been calculated and can be found here:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3095947#comment-3239799

If anyone sees any mistakes (and there were several in the last one) please PM me to let me know. :)
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*Hugs*
Lottie
ML for Europe::England:: Cambridge
http://www.nanowrimo.org/mlcontact
2005: Dreaming of Jack - 83k+; 2006: An Ordinary World - 84k+; 2007: Rising Angels, Falling Apes - 121k; 2008 - White Shadows - ??.

Europe :: Wales

Why does everything go wrong about November?

Nixtress — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 03:51:52 -0800

Is anyone else having this problem?

My life seems to have fallen apart since late October.
I'm still trying to work out if it's a good thing or not.

With all the hospital stuff in my head and my great grandma dieing.,, Plus every thing with Sam being... ass ish... And the whole college being slightly prick ish.. I'm sorta' not handling things how I should be.
How ever I'm loving adrenaline rushes from lack of sleep. =]

So yeah, here's a thread for you to bitch and complain about you're life other than writing right now. =]

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0___o

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Write-in #2 - Tuesday 18th

cooler — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 16:46:47 -0800

So, the write-in was fun...was perhaps less about writing than being generally insane, but it was pretty good, so we're having another one!

Tuesday 18th, 6pm, Fade cafe bar again.

Pasted from first thread:

Here's the map of the place: http://www.multimap.com/s/i0SvX0XY

Possibly the simplest way to do it is to go to the front of the Victoria Centre, face it, and look for a street to the left with a Burger King on the opposite side. This is Milton Street. Walk up there, and just keep going, you'll go past the Cornerhouse and and big Sony shop on the left, and the road will change into Mansfield Road. Keep a-going up the hill and pay close attention to what's on the left side of the road, cos just after another main road joins the one you're on, you will hopefully spot a hanging sign saying Fade and the hard to find cafe.

Go in there, straight through to the back room which says Bistro on it - and will also be the only one with actual light in it, and find a seat.

They do very tasty food, have a good atmosphere, and there is at least 1 available plug socket in the room.

xx
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http://www.angiehulme.com

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Ongoing Updates

LeighBarlow — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:21:48 -0700

It’s quite in here at the moment, how’s everyone getting on in the final few days before kick-off?

Planning going well? Still no idea of your plot or main characters? Excited? Scared?
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Leigh
Writing, blog and stuff @ www.leighbarlow.com
On going NaNo updates @ http://leighbarlow.wordpress.com/

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Come on Notts, let's see those green bars! :D

Kitty Taylor — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 15:33:31 -0800

Okay, okay. I know it's a bit early, but since I appear to be the official overachiever of the group (again?) and insane enough to have already reached the 50,000 mark, I thought I'd set up a thread, nice and ready. :) ((Plus, Kachi wanted me to make a thread. This is MY contribution! :D))

Once you hit the mark, come and boast, cry, throw a party or just SLEEP in here.

x
Kitty.
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05: Pride - 25,000 [Fail]
06: Delicate Temptation - 104,810 [Won!]
07: Balancing Acts - 102, 603 [Won!]
08: The Art of Misdirection - coming in November.

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Nano music

cooler — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:14:28 -0800

We normally have one of these...

What's in your cd player while writing this month?
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http://www.angiehulme.com

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Unicorn Travels

LeighBarlow — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 04:02:33 -0800

Well, the unicorn (does it have a name btw?) didn’t make it into the wedding because it was scared (or maybe that’s something to do with ‘ants-who-can-change-size’ ;) ).

I did, however, let it have a wander around the house this morning, so here are some pictures:

Unicorn with the peppermint plant growing kit.
Unicorn says hello to the cat.
Unicorn meets Hellboy (who sits on top of my screen but who got down to say hi)
Unicorn plays on the arcade machine.
Unicorn goes for a sailing trip.
Unicorn has a read of some comics which are waiting to be sold.
Unicorn hides in the bookcase.
Unicorn rolls a few crit’s.
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Leigh
Writing, blog and stuff @ www.leighbarlow.com
On going NaNo updates @ http://leighbarlow.wordpress.com/

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

My Characters Just Don’t Say Anything To Me

LeighBarlow — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:11:59 -0800

Okay, so apologies for starting another thread, but this is something that has puzzled me for a long time and as everyone here is both a writer, and pretty insightful, I thought I’d finally get it out in the open.

I have never had any of my characters appear to take on personas of their own. For me they are just characters in a story. Most of the time I know what’s going to happen in the story because I thought of the plot and on the occasions when I’ve started a story and then not had an ending (or a middle) I’ve just left it sitting at the back of my head until something good occurs to me. Not once have I thought, oh, that character wants to do that or really fancies getting up to this.

For me, when I read and listen to all of you discussing how your characters are taking on a life of their own or getting up to stuff you didn’t expect, you might as well be talking a foreign language. The only things that do something I don’t expect are the creatures with their own brains – my cat, some other people, the unicorn, Little Ted who sleeps by my bed.

This is in no way saying any of us are not normal (if I’m being honest I feel like the odd one out most of the time), I’m just highlighting something I really have no grasp of. I’d truly like to be able to get to the level some of you get to, but I just never have – not when I wrote in my teens and not now.

I suspect that no one will have an easy way of explaining this to me as I get the impression it’s like belief – you either have it or you don’t – but if anyone wants to have a go, I would very much appreciate it as I’ve never had the nerve to stand up and admit to this with a load of writers before.
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Leigh
Writing, blog and stuff @ www.leighbarlow.com
On going NaNo updates @ http://leighbarlow.wordpress.com/

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Dear Character...

Kachi — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:39:14 -0800

I'm behind where I want to be, but I'm ahead of where I need to be, so I think a little procrastination posting is in order...

Feel free to vent about / to your ~~hated~~beloved main and supporting characters. Anything to relieve the stress heading into week two!

-----

Dear Arkadiy,

I love you dearly, but I'd love you more if you'd stop complaining and advance the plot somewhat. I know you've just gone through a couple of examples of major trauma, but you're supposed to be a cool headed soldier with only a minor tendency to lose it. So please prove that that's who you are. Because you're confusing me. :(

Much love,

Your creator

Dear Paradigm,

Please stop being an angsty little boy all of a sudden. Just what happened to you in the last year? If you're not good, I'll replace you with your sister. She's hot, and she was two eyes so technically she's at an advantage to you. If you want to find Maxim again, behave yourself and don't go all emo and whiny just because someone else doesn't believe AIs like Maxim exist.

No love at all,

Your creator.

Dear Vanya,

Thank you! You're much more like you were intended to be now! Nice veiled hints there; we can only hope he stops being so dense by the end of the exercise...

Eternally relieved (so far),

Your happy creator.
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Regional Dares

Kachi — Sat, 4 Oct 2008 00:30:55 -0700

It's almost that time of year again!

If you've got any suggestions for the dares list, feel free to add them here.

For my part, I'll throw in one I found on a piece of notepaper from last year: Two bottles, two squids: one per bottle.
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Crucifiction of a chip!

Kynthera — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 02:59:26 -0800

Hey all

Wow...my first ever thread! Now that I've started I may just have to take over....MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ahem (looks around hoping no-one noticed)

While at the Write in last night, Cri stole my laptop, and wrote the following dream sequence into my story. Its so hilarious I just had to share it!
Feel free to post your own delightful versions!!

Dream....
And the wind blew with salty bad omens. Jay knew where she was, but didn’t know why. But that wasn’t as important as watching. Watching, ever watching. Across the hill was a crowd, packed so tightly she couldn’t see what they were looking at. She took out her hangglider arms and jumped. The wind caught her so she hovered over the scene. She could make out some people. But they weren’t people… they were all carb based. She questioned the veracity, as they all smelt too perfect to be genuine. She swooped lower and saw the centre. There was a chip. It was the biggest and chunkiest chip she had seen in all her days, or the days of anyone else. The chip muttered in Welsh. Ach a fi! She could only agree. Too late, she realised the chip was going to be crucified. She had to get in the way! She had to stop them! They were already charging their lazors and the pool was closed due to AIDS. There was nothing she could do. She tried to run but hadn’t taken off the hanglider so she was pulled back on a wave of expectation.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” She shouted. “Don’t crucify the chip.”
“KERZING!” said the lazor.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
she couldn’t reach out to the chip. “I loooove you, chipidee!”
It all made sense. Her purpose in life was to save this chip from an untimely and unfair death.
“REMEMBER!” the Elder of the Spuds said with chilling accuracy. She would never forget this chip, and all he symbolised.
They dragged the chip, with only a piece of rocket to cover his modesty. He was pulled up the hill, his crispy coating catching on the jagged rocks. Surely soon his fluffy middle would too be spilled for the sins of the spuds.
“REMEMBER,” the Elder bellowed, for he was quite mad.
The chip was lifted aloft and hung upon a lolly stick, obscuring the joke so only the punchline was visible. Jay knew that if she saw the whole joke, she would understand. Now there was a double imperative to save the chip. If only she could fly…or maybe glide. How handy! She took a run up, but could not run. But up she went, over the crockets of hypocracy.
“I will save you!”
She came closer, so close she could lick the salt from his fevered brow, though in the context it seemed inappropriate. She caught the lolly stick, and they flew away to a hill far, far away. She took him down and fed him tubby custard. He sang
“she was bright yellow, had a thirst for custard, she ate tubby toast outside her cottage that’s where she smiled at me. She told me that her tummy was loaded with a big screen with kids inside it, I said ‘fine’ and then in thirty seconds time she said ‘I want to be a tellytubby, I want to do whatever tellytubbies do, wanna eat with tellytubbies, wanna eat tubby custard with you’ and I said I understand so we smiled and all held hands.’
“I see,” Jay said. Thetellytubbies made it all make sense. If only her waking self didn’t hate them like a sharp and stabbing pain in her general moink region. But… “that’s not Welsh!”
“I am all language.”

By Cri, aged 6 (+ 20)

Once you all pick yourselves back up off the floor, hurry up and type up your own version! (Not that I can talk, as I haven't written one, and didn't intend on having one in my story...but its there now!)

See ya on Saturday
Jen
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---
With a pen in your hand, your spirit can soar to the stars!

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Write-In - Thursday 6th

cooler — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 10:34:03 -0700

OK, so we're gonna have a go at a write-in - fair warning that this might turn into a social rather than a writing evening, but it's worth a go :-) I've tried to find a place which does dirnks anf dood at night, and is out of the town centre so should be quieter, hopefully it'll work.

We'll be meeting on Thursday the 6th, at 6pm, in Fade aka the Hard to Find cafe, which is on Mansfield road.

Here's the map of the place: http://www.multimap.com/s/i0SvX0XY

And if anyone can give better directions than those, which are crap, please do :-)

xx
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http://www.angiehulme.com

Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Don't loose speed now you hear.

geekling — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 03:22:03 -0800

geekling checking in. No longer in Notts, not even in the UK. So won't be seeing you lot this November, which is a bummer, 'cause how can you not love the meets. And you there lazy sods who's not shown your face at the maltcross. Get yer thumb out and pop down to say hi. They don't bite. Well... mostly not, and certainly not unless you look tasty.

Kick ass in the wordwars. Whooop those cheating scum of Oxfrod into submission!
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Word War Banter

Kachi — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 01:44:04 -0800

As the topic title may imply, this is the thread for people to chat with other Word War competitors. ;)

Just a reminder that whilst (obviously) good natured competitiveness and light hearted jibes are all pretty much to be expected, you should still be sure to follow the main rules of the site with regards to general etiquette. :) (Not that I'd expect anything less from you guys. :P )

Good luck~!
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ML :: Notts, UK
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Ideas

jasper_the_cat — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:57:48 -0700

So anyone got any ideas yet? I have one forming but still a way to go yet :).
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Word War?

Kachi — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:10:47 -0700

Would anyone be interested in taking part in a Word War this year?

In short, a Word War is a kind of competition between regions where interested participants sign up before the 1st November and then try to write as much as possible over the 30 days. At the end, the winner is the region with the highest wordcount per head.

If you don't sign up, then your wordcount isn't taken into consideration, and there's no pressure at all to sign up - I'm more interested right now in seeing whether people would be interested?

What do you guys think?
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ML :: Notts, UK
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

Adopt-A-Title

Kachi — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:09:42 -0700

As one of the frequently-titleless when it comes to NaNo, I thought this might be a nifty topic to dump those random titles that you think of that might mean nothing to you, but could set the tone of another NaNoer's book...

Of course, the only one I have so far as Dusting The Aspidistra, which might be a family saga title, or a porn title so low-budget they couldn't even afford decent innuendo...

Any other errant titles? :o
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ML :: Notts, UK
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Europe :: England :: Nottingham

1st November 2008 Meet - Attendance List

Kachi — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:56:10 -0700

No, I won't be checking people off on a register at the meet. :P It's more for pre-planning purposes.

Who is planning to be at the November 1st meet?

Details for the Malt Cross in Nottingham where we meet can be found in the NaNoWriMo Meet-Ups Thread. :)
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