United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Let Us Plan our Write-Ins Here!

Intention — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:21:21 -0700

Now that the kickoff party is officially over (and thank you to everyone who attended and provided an excellent, enjoyable time for all of us) I think it's time we plan our write-ins.

For those of you who are new to NaNoWriMo:
What is a write-in? A write-in is when participating members of National Novel Writing Month convene in a designated area (via physical or online locations) and do what we do best--write. This is a great opportunity to get to know the NaNo-ers in your community, as well as have the opportunity to get a ton of words written in a very short amount of time. Word wars and giveaways are common elements of a write-in, which allows the participant to engage in a competitive but fun atmosphere, while fulfilling our daily word counts in the process.

What is a word war? A word war is best described as a race. The goal of a word war is to type (or write) as many words as possible in an alotted time period, such as ten minutes. Once the time is up, the participants count up their words (and we all adore the computer for digital word counters) and whoever has written the most in that time is the winner. Prizes may be awarded to winners.

Sounds like fun, right? We plan on having write-ins once weekly, and perhaps more through online group chat sessions. With that in mind, which days work best for all of you? I know there is a log of responses regarding availability in the "Kickoff/Outlining Party" thread, which Poofiemus and I will be reverting to to make our decisions for write-ins. Due to schedules, these parties are typically held in the evening hours (from about 5-9 PM), so please consider that when posting your available days/hours.

Thank you and I hope to see you all there at every single write-in :)
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NaNo '08
Genre: Fantasy Western
Title: Boot Hill
Art | Blog

United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

NAU Writing Group

alittlesandy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:05:48 -0800

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the potluck! Let's use this topic as a place to keep in touch and enourage each other. Anyone is welcome to join in! We will be having another write-in (write to the death!) on Monday, November 24 (time and place to be announced). I am HOPELESSLY behind, but hope to get caught up this weekend.

Remember...YES WE CAN!!!
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Between Lightning: A Writer's Blog
http:\\blog.sandyraymond.com

United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Write in at NAU Tomorrow (Thurs)!

Arianwyn — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:54:13 -0800

There is a NaNoWriMo potluck tomorrow (Thurs.) sponsored by NAU English. It's basically a write-in, but bring a snack. It's a great way to meet other English majors AND get your word count in! (of course you don't have to be an English major to come). It starts at 4:00 in room 110 in the English building 18. I hope you all can make it!

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United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Tools & Techniques you've found for writing?

Cory5412 — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:10:17 -0800

Hey everyone! I was just wondering what types of methods everyone out here in Flagstaff was using for their novels.

I work a long overnight shift and it's really easy to get distracted, so my girlfriend, our official regional cheerleader, sent this to me: Write Or Die. It's an entertaining little web applet that counts how many words you've got, and how long you've been writing. It's like a word war against yourself, except there's also annoying little things that pop up.

I did it on "easy" and set myself a fairly low goal. Like 200 words in 10 minutes, and about 5 minutes in I was already at 300. It's great if you have a lot of time on your own, like right now at 1 a.m.
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United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Music Swap

Poofiemus Unique — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:18:56 -0700

One of the most sage bits of NaNoWriMo advice I've ever heard is that music is fuel for us mad authors. So, who's up for doing a music swap at the kickoff party? You could bring a laptop, memory stick, and/or CDs you've burned ahead of time to the party, and swap with someone else who has stuff you're interested in for putting you into the right mood for your novel.

Personally, I have:
Tons of J-Pop
A constantly growing collection of Vocaloid songs
Soundtracks
Some classical, especially early 20th century Russian composers

I would like to have:
Jazz, especially jazz piano trio and swing.
Electronica
Maybe some techno.

So, who's up for it?
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2006: Emryana, 58K, 48% completion
2007: Sayonara, Sanity! (working title): 24K-ish. Epic fail.
2008: Hatsune Miku: Voice of the Voiceless

United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

The AIM Screen Name List

Poofiemus Unique — Sat, 4 Oct 2008 11:31:32 -0700

I know a lot of you won't be able to physically make it to write-ins, being several hours away, so I wanted a way that we could still include you guys. Granted, it's not the same as actually being there, but it's definitely LOADS better than nothing!

There's also a chance we could have a virtual write-in with Japan sometime in the middle of November, and naturally we'd like something at least close to real time for that.

So, let's compile a list of AIM screen names for Flagstaff NaNoers! For those of you who aren't quite as internet savvy, AIM (Or AOL Instant Messenger) is a real-time chat system, and it's free. Windows users can download the program here, and Mac users can just reconfigure iChat to use the AIM server.

Also, if you're one of those people who uses multiple IM clients, there's a couple programs that will tap into multiple IM databases--Adium for Mac and Pidgin for Windows and Linux. (Thanks for these, Cory!)

My screenname is Poofiemus Unique, just like my NaNo username. I'm super-lame and use either Poofiemus or Poofiemus Unique for pretty much every service I sign up for. XD

Also, an archival list of everyone's SNs, with NaNo names on the left and AIM names on the right:

Poofiemus Unique: Poofiemus Unique
Cory5412: Cory5412
Hazelnut Witch: Hazelnut Witch
Intention: Flyaway Cuckoo
Renour: Uinn Renour
Eaglet: CBHelgaGvZ
jmg283: AzSoCalGuy283
collegiate: omfgvache
Arianwyn: Galatia3
Dolentrean: Dolentrean

Updated Nov 7. Also slightly reformatted for better readability.
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2006: Emryana, 58K, 48% completion
2007: Sayonara, Sanity! (working title): 24K-ish. Epic fail.
2008: Hatsune Miku: Voice of the Voiceless

United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

What genre are you writing this year?

Intention — Tue, 7 Oct 2008 11:04:25 -0700

I've always been interested in seeing what others will be writing this year, especially within our own region.

Please post your genre and subgenre, if you have one!

Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genre: Western

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NaNo '08
Genre: Fantasy Western
Title: Boot Hill
Art | Blog

United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Doing the business...

dano416 — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 23:44:19 -0800

Dunno any of you who are doing the business here in Flagstaff this year, but my name is Dan, and I will be out there with my laptop, doing the business, tomorrow evening at Uptown Billiards (availing myself of their yummy beer and their free internetz) from about 6pm on. Possibly a little bit earlier, but certain after 6. So join me, if you want...I'll be the guy in the back, with the table of his own and the laptop on the table (and, of course, the beer).

See you if I see you. If not, best of luck. I'm pulling for all of us this month.

Cheers,
Dan
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United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Kickoff/Outlining Party

Poofiemus Unique — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:06:55 -0700

OMFG, the forums are up already! They must have injected the web designers with that superjuice Mohinder invented in Heroes to make them into super-ninja web designers. Or something.

Anyway, we need to start talking about the Kickoff Party! This year I'd like to try something a little bit different. I know quite a few of you have gaping, black-hole-like plotholes right now, so I thought it might be a good idea to declare it an outlining party as well. We can bounce ideas off each other, because sometimes the perspective of being directly involved in your plot can keep you from seeing the huge bottomless plothole in front of you.

I'm thinking of holding the party sometime between October 11 and 18. That gives us plenty of time to coordinate it and gives a nice buffer for the arrival of this year's positively adorable stickers.

So, when are you guys available that week? If there's blocks of time when you're pretty much always available during any given week as well, please state that too. We'll use the data to set up the write-in schedule as well.
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2006: Emryana, 58K, 48% completion
2007: Sayonara, Sanity! (working title): 24K-ish. Epic fail.
2008: Hatsune Miku: Voice of the Voiceless

United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Let's Brainstorm

Intention — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:27:31 -0700

While our outlining party is still a ways off, I thought we could start here, in the regional forum, for those without plots or characters or both. Or, if you have a plot already, but are lacking the 'meat' of the novel. This is the place to bounce ideas off each other. :)

For those lacking a plot/main character: First, it might be beneficial to state what genre you're planning to write in this year, so those of us who plan to help you out can get a basic idea as to what we're working with. Fantasy? Modern? Western? Romance? If you have no idea, is there some kind of mood or theme you want to portray? What kind of elements do you want to incorporate? Political intrigue? Naval battles? Cities made of gears?

For those lacking meat: What's your story about? What do you want your characters to go through? What are their goals, and how are those goals impeded?

Go, go, go! My plot is starting to fall into place, so I'll wait out a couple of rounds, for you guys who need more help to post and gather more information from me and the others. :)
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NaNo '08
Genre: Fantasy Western
Title: Boot Hill
Art | Blog

United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Calendar and Google Map Goodness

Poofiemus Unique — Tue, 7 Oct 2008 18:11:09 -0700

So, in the interest of making everything all clear and bright and easy to understand, this year every region is supposed to have its own Google Calendar. I think my embed request got killed in the crash, but I can also just link it the old-school way:
OMG CALENDAR
This link isn't all pretty and interactive, but it'll do until I can get the site mods to do their super-ninja thing and embed it. (Turns out these boards don't like the code Google provides.)

Also, the Campus Coffee Bean said it's totally cool if we hold write-ins there, so long as we clean up, so here's a Google Map to the Campus Coffee Bean, because my directions are invariably made of fail.
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2006: Emryana, 58K, 48% completion
2007: Sayonara, Sanity! (working title): 24K-ish. Epic fail.
2008: Hatsune Miku: Voice of the Voiceless

United States :: Arizona :: Flagstaff

Konichiwa!

Wraithsshdw — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:01:34 -0700

Greetings from Japan from your former ML!

How is everybody doing? I see you're already making plans for a kick-off party. I'm sad I won't be able to come, but I have a whole country to plan NaNo for this year. XD haha. I'm excited. I do miss all my former writing buddies though. How goes the plotting? Tell all.
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Steph -- ML -- Asia::Japan