Europe :: England :: Manchester

Word War Info - Updated 21 Nov.

Loriba — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:22:52 +0000

Hi all,

This thread is primarily for me to post info about the Word War to all competitors, so it's being cross-posted to all the regions taking part. If you want to make any comments, however, feel free. :-)

ETA: Here's the link to the leader board: http://www.annelyle.com/projects/scoreboard.html

The regions currently signed up are:

Birmingham
Brighton
Cambridge
Darlington
Devon & Cornwall
Essex
Gloustershire
Lancaster & Cumbria
Leicester
London
Manchester
Newcastle
Norfolk
Oxfordshire
York & Leeds
Dublin
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Eng: Elsewhere
Scot: Elsewhere
Wales

Only one region has given a definite No, so we may get a lot more before the 10th. Here's hoping. :-)

All those regions that are signed up should have a Banter thread, so feel free to go over and give them hell (but in a nice way). :-)

There may be a slight delay in the War starting up, as we're reliant on the site API working and the site is notoriously slow during the first few days of Nano, plus we're running it in a slightly different way this year and I'm not sure what problems will crop up because of that. In addition, one of Anne's cats is very seriously ill at the moment, so she may not have time to work on it. I'll be in touch with her and will let all the relevant MLs know if we have to make other arrangements at all. I'll also be in touch when I know the URL of the leader board. :-)

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Lottie
I'll sleep when I'm dead.

Europe :: England :: Birmingham-West Midlands

50k yet?

Aytheria — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:04:12 +0000

Well, finally reached my half-way point and banged out about 50,000 words now. 3 days and about 10k behind, but...at least I've won NaNo, right?

So, anyone else cross the mark yet?? I've seen some pretty insane numbers out there (175k being the most unbelievable...I mean, really, when do these people find the TIME???) but I'm pretty proud of my 50k so far.

Gotta get my ass in gear though, if I ever hope to make 100k!

Really curious about everyone else's progress though, so drop a quick post?

In any case, good luck all around :]

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*~*NaNo2008*~* - 100,956words
*~*NaNo2009*~* - good luck!

Europe :: England :: Manchester

Half Way There!!!

NutmegAngel — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:07:04 +0000

Well, I've just hit 25k now, and I'm so happy! This is the fastest I've ever been doing nano, and apart from a bit in January last year when I didn't have college, I'm pretty sure this is the fastest I've ever been writing a story!!! The only trouble is, in my book, I've just started the second day. Now, 25k to describe one and a bit days is maybe a little excessive, but it's also quite exciting. And I still have plenty of story floating around in my head. And another new character (alongside the tiger cub who randomly turned up) who I may or may not have to kill off or just send away. Hmm, yeh. Anyway, I just thought I'd say yay :D (and I'll try not to do it twice this time...)
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NutmegAngel
Inspired by chocolate.
Fuelled by tea.

Europe :: England :: Manchester

OFFICIAL TIME/PLACE OF WEEKLY WRITE INS

n3mzay — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:07:44 +0000

The weekly write ins will be every wednesday at 6 at KRO Piccadilly. Once again you find it on the map, but it's fairly easy to find if you can get to the bus station.

I'm going to reserve us a table for each week (hopefully in the same spot) and will have all sorts of nano stuff visible (inc. my new nano hoody! oh yeah!!) so you can see me.

I've got some cool prizes (don't get excited though - they're not THAT cool) so we can have a couple of word wars per meet and stuff. It should be good. Plus, will help us to get some words on paper (or laptop).

Once again, let me know if you can make it.

Cheers :)
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

The curse of NaNo strikes again

BlockBreaker — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:19:19 +0000

Four years of attempting NaNo, four disasters.

2006, caught flu.
2007, picked the wrong subject and tailed away. (At least that one was my fault.)
2008, husband's stepfather died.

Now my husband's mother has just died. So it's all hands on deck and out to Australia to settle whatever needs to be settled. And of course the writing project, like other non-priority activities, will have to be sacrificed under pressure of time.

So once again I have to say good luck to all the rest of you, and I'll see you again next year.
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"And who am I? I'm just a guy,
I've got a story like everyone."
-- REM, Electron Blue

Europe :: England :: Manchester

Easy way to win NaNo

Milk_man — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:20:49 +0000

OK everyone chant with me:

Twenty K by the end of today! Twenty K by the end of today! Twenty K by the end of today!

I've think that if I can make 20k today, then maybe I can make 25k by Sunday night, and if I can do that then I'm half done and the rest is downhill from there right?
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Plot ninjas are ninjas that you randomly throw into your story because its slowing down. They interact with your characters and make stuff happen. When December rolls around, you edit them out but leave in the effects that they had - usually awesome effec

Europe :: England :: Manchester

Who's struggling?

n3mzay — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:45:47 +0000

Let's commiserate together! (and give moral support too!)

I haven't written anything for two days - I'm letting other things get in the way. I've got an article due in monday so hopefully, i can concentrate more on my novel then.

x we can do it!!!
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Timelines

Nikki Egerton — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:36:33 +0000

Ok, picking up from NutmegAngel's 25k shout out post I was wondering how much time people have covered in their novels so far?

In mine we met MC on friday night and it is now monday evening. I have started so many stories over the years and never finished them so this is already the longest thing I have ever written. Therefore although I love writing and have done it for as long as I can remember the one thing I have no experience with is pacing.

Just curious I guess

Good luck everyone xxxxx
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Where am I?

slainangel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:47:08 +0000

Hi-hi folks.

I'm moving around a lot this year, visiting my gf at university, and my parents. So although my home region is staying in Lancaster, I'm trying to get along to at least one write-in each week wherever I happen to be (as well as expecting to get a fair bit done on the trains now my phone is working).

Right now, I'm in Stoke-on-Trent, and I'm not quite sure which region is local - I'm guessing either Manchester or Birmingham. Can anyone enlighten me, or maybe even point me in the direction of some other writers around here?

Thanks
Andrew
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Desperately seeking other folks to help me stay motivated

Europe :: England :: Manchester

OFFICIAL TIME/PLACE OF KICK OFF PARTY

n3mzay — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:32:28 +0000

Okay, the Kick Off Party will be happening on Saturday 31st October 3-5 at Buffet Metro. (This is all on google calendar as well as a map)

For those of you who don't know where buffet metro is it's by piccadilly gardens (fairly close to KRO) It's on the same row as Somerfield and Bella Italia, just keep walking to the right. It's only got a small sign but I think it's next to a photo shop? There's stairs leading down to it so you'll know it's the right one. There's a map on the calendar though so check it out.

I'll be there from about 2:45 and there'll be a big nano sign and balloons so you know where to find me! I'll also be briefing the staff there but cannot promise that they'll be helpful! I've got the official 09 stickers for you all as well as some other fun things and goodies!

Please try and make it if you can, it will be good fun!
Can you leave a note here if you are planning on coming (just so I know numbers ish!)

And also, if anyone wants my number for directions or if you want to meet me somewhere, private message me!

Cheers,

Emily x

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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Introductions!

n3mzay — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:04:21 +0000

Hi all. I'm Emily and I'm your Municipal Liason for this year. It's my first year MLing so please bear with me!

So, let's all get to know each other. =D

I'm Emily, I'm 21. I did nano last year and won (YAY) Last year I was super organised and planned loads in advance. This year, I don't have a clue what to write so who knows what may find its way out of my mind and onto the paper? I read a lot of mainstream fiction, chick lit and fantasy so It'll probably be in one of those genres. I'm really excited for November and meeting all of you.

I'm at Manchester Met Uni studying English. I've always loved reading and writing so it was the obvious course for me. I read loads because of my course so hopefully that's going to inspire me somehow. I also work at a bowling alley which is good fun. And that's about all I can think about right now!
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

UK and Ireland regional word war SIGN UP

n3mzay — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:27:22 +0000

As you've guessed from the title of this thread, a UK and Ireland regional word war has been organised. So basically, I've nominated for our region to go into competition with lots of other UK and Irish regions.

The regional word war is a competition designed to get as many people to 50k as possible, it gives them another reason to keep writing and not drop out, as they'd be letting the team down rather than just themselves. It's all based on an average word count system so the size of the region has minimal effect on the outcome, it depends more on the dedication of the team's members. Every year the competition gets bigger and every year we get a lot of positive feedback from people who really enjoy the element of competition and manage to win due to the extra incentive, so please do consider taking part.

It sounds like a lot of fun. If you want to take part then you can sign up on this thread. The only thing is, because of the scale of the competition, we need at least 5 members signed up to be eligible for this. It doesn't hurt to sign up but only do so if you intend on completing nano (or doing your absolute hardest). I don't think we competed in this last year so it would be good for us to do well!!

There is another thread whoch contains the rules for this comp so check it out. Also, there is a word war banter thread for us and other regions' participants to ... well ... banter!
So sign up here if you are interested! :)

(please only post ONCE - and you need to do so before 8pm on nov 10th!!)
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Where do you find the time?!

galibo2009 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:37:25 +0000

You guys are seriously commited. Looks like i'm going to have to pull my finger out :(

I managed 1813 words on the first day!! . . and then nothing on the second. Just didnt have the time :S

Buuuut day off 2day so serious writing/catching up will be done- Bring on the 5000 mark!!!

Gud luck everyone
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

random inclusions week 2!

n3mzay — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:39:06 +0000

ok i remember reading somewhere on the ML forum (cant remember where so this is hazy) that one region always includes a character called Tom. they're trying to make it global, so i think we should all introduce Tom to our nano novels :)
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

10K Shout Out!!!

NutmegAngel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:46:12 +0000

Yay! I'm dead excited, I've just hit ten thousand (well, I did before I had to go for my clarinet lesson, and now I'm back to tell you all about it :D). So yeh, one fifth of the way through. I'm wondering whether to spend the rest of the night reading to celebrate, but I kinda want to keep writing... There are some unexpected robots which need dealing with. And my main character got shot too, which could prove interesting. Anyway, I just thought I'd say I've hit the first mile stone :D. And I'm quite excited about it...
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NutmegAngel
Inspired by chocolate.
Fuelled by tea.

Europe :: England :: Manchester

What will you be juggling this year?

n3mzay — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:14:55 +0000

What will you be juggling this year and how do you plan to fit it all in?

Me, I'll be juggling Nano with Uni, Work, Amateur Dramatics and writing for the uni magazine. Last year, I only had uni out of all those so looking back, I think I had it pretty easy!
But my plan to tackle it is simple: I'm going to wake up earlier. As a lazy student, I normally sleep in til at least 11 so there's at least 2 hours extra writing time I can find myself there!

What about you?
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Half way point - Sunday 15th November

n3mzay — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:14:55 +0000

The powers that be suggest that it's a good idea for wrimos to celebrate nano's half way point by having a meet up to celebrate making it so far as well as taking a little time off from the writing. This year it falls on a Sunday which is also good.

They recommend doing something fun and writing related without actually writing such as going to the cinema and watching a writing related film.

I think this is a quite nice idea (although not so sure of writing films out atm)
Just wondering what you guys thought. If enough people are interested we can organise something?
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Chapters? Length of them, names etc?

louise215 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:05:38 +0000

If you're using a size 12 font, how long (roughly) would you say each chapter is, so far?
I only have a prologue and three chapters written. Prologue is a third of a page, chap 1 is 3 pages, chap 2 is about three pages also and chap 3 (which I've nearly finished) is just over 2 pages. I was just wondering it this was too long per chapter?

Was also wondering if anyone else has named their chapters? If so, have you done 'chapter 1, chapter 2' etc or have you used words?
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Let's play a game!

n3mzay — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:57:10 +0000

let's have some fun trivial stuff on our forum! On this thread we'll write a story together using three words at a time and see what comes out? They have this game on the games forum (I haven't checked but I'm assuming they do!) but we can have our own too! So, three words each...

Charlie never thought
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

What are you looking forward to writing?

soldiering — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:37:03 +0000

So we're four days in, and hopefully everyone's got some kind of plot bubbling in their heads! And if you're like me, you've probably got some idea that's struck you that is going into your story somewhere, eventually, but it's not going to be in it for quite a while. So you have to wait it out with this idea bubbling below the surface and waiting to pounce, but it's something you're really looking forward to. So my question to you is, what are you looking forward to writing?

For me, it will be a point for my character when in a parallel world she ended up dating her best friend, so as that world crosses over with ours, he kisses her. My mind keeps on buzzing over how to write this most effectively and what to actually put to begin with, so hopefully when it comes it will actually sound half decent instead of the mad rush of words I've written so far! XD
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Word War with Birmingham.

n3mzay — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:36:29 +0000

Okay they claim they're the second city but who can write the most words collectively in a month?

We had a word war with Birmingham last year and guess who won? Oh right, it was us! (by about a million words apparently!) So let's do it again!

So what you need to do:
1. If you haven't already done so, set your home region to Manchester (otherwise your word count won't go towards our tally!)
2. Write like the wind!
3. Have fun (it goes without saying!)

We're already at an advantage as we have more people in our region so come on, let's do this. Let's make it 2 years in a row!
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

Day 3 Hows it going ?

badgerrrs — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:12:13 +0000

Well I have just done my writing for today, got an early start at work tommorrow ! I found this day much harder than day 1 and 2. At times I was flagging and wondering where the hell my story is going but I guess I'm feeling more positive now. I am just learning to stop thinking about editing and to stop overthinking it all too much. Just letting the story write itself as it goes along, if you like I'm writing by the seat of my pants.

How is everyone else faring today ?

Paul
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Europe :: England :: Manchester

10K Shout Out!!!

NutmegAngel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:43:07 +0000

Europe :: England :: Manchester

More random inclusions

iris_3610 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:16:18 +0000

Whilst drinking last night, Simon brought up the fine idea of including bees in everyone's nano novel.

Why bees? As you fine mancunians should know bees are the universal symbol of industry AND Manchester. I was delighted to dicover by fabulous serendipity that Jacqui is somewhat of a bee expert too. What better way to research a topic than just scour the brain of a fellow nano genius?

NB Wasps or gnats won't cut the mustard. It needs to be a bee.

So can I plea for a bee or bee references to appear in people's fabulous work of fiction, so we have a metaphorical hive of them out there? (I am thinking space bees would be rather cool, zombie bees cooler.)

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Europe :: England :: Manchester

First day...how did it go?

pangalactic — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:53:52 +0000

So there's only 3 hours left of day one. How did everyone do? Get your 1667 words in?

I'm sitting on 2412 at the moment, but I need to get to at least 3334 as I'm aiming for 100k this year. I wanted to do a 10k day today but I ended up sleeping the morning and most of the afternoon away and then procrastinating for the rest of the day. Oh well!

And I still don't have a plot. Meh.

How's everyone doing?
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