Europe :: England :: Newcastle

This is the most writing I have ever done consistently

chillyweb — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:46:38 -0800

I once did an 80,000 word first draft which was approx twohrids of the novel but i have never wirten consistently like this. whether i make y 50k by 30th or not this has got to be A GOOD THING.
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Wednesday afternoons, Durham

FaeNixx — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:38:05 -0800

Random, but is anyone free this month on Wednesday afternoons, and be interested in meeting in Durham? Or Newcastle, at a pinch?

Drop me a line if you're interested in a write-in/meet-up/whatever some point this month ^^ Hope all your novels are going well!
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Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at.

Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Friday 21st

littlegingerallie — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 16:16:15 -0800

Anyone free for a meet up during the day?
A while away yet, but I'll not be back in the northeast 'til then, so thought I'd stick feelers out!
Sunderland/Newcastle/Durham/wherever :)

Allison
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Planning meet-ups!

ShadowSaine — Sat, 4 Oct 2008 13:21:00 -0700

Okay, folks -- here are my thoughts so far. I'm trying to organise both Newcastle and Durham, and so far it's a fairly clean split.

Weekend meets will be in Newcastle -- Saturday or Sunday or both. Last year we met in the Café Nero near The Gate, but the feeling of the meeting seems to be that that wasn't ideal, so we're taking other suggestions. The front room of Wetherspoon's near Central Station has been suggested, so I'm looking into that. Other ideas? Throw 'em at me.

Evening meets will be in Durham, purely because I work there and it will be dead easy for me to get in. I'm off work the first week in November, though, but we can still organise something. Ideas on places to meet are more than welcome.

I should add, which I didn't in the LJ post (http://community.livejournal.com/nano_northeast if you've missed it!), that Durham weekend meets are not out of the question for me, but Newcastle evening ones probably are. However, depending on the feeling of the meeting, I'll see what I can do!

One of our old-timers also suggested having a wander around town together, which sounds good to me. If the weather's decent, I was also thinking an outdoor meet could be fun sometime.

I'd like to stress that you're more than welcome (nay, encouraged!) to arrange meetings without lauren_write and I -- we're here to help you, not stifle you. And remember, you don't have to come to all the meets, but we'd love to see you at least at some of them. They really are a great experience.

One last thing. What would everyone think of a meal out somewhere? If we all put in say a tenner, or £15, we could manage a really decent night out. I would need to know numbers in advance to figure out (with your input, of course) a venue and book a table, so let me know what you think. Perhaps a celebration for our last meet? November 30th is the Friday, so maybe we could do it Saturday evening. I'll be out of town most of Saturday (going to York with the not-quite-missus!), but I'll be sure to be back for the evening.

There's also the option of a house. lauren_write and I are housemates and we'd be glad to open our door to fellow NaNo writers -- sleepovers are not out of the question. Just please don't be allergic to cats or dogs, as we have one of each. Oh, and a lot of plants, but none of them are likely to pounce, claw, or eat you.

Give me your thoughts! I'm looking forward to input from the whole community.
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Heeeeelp! What have I done?

chillyweb — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 09:00:41 -0800

It seems that I work best under pressure and yet, I feel miles behind. Still apart from a writing course last year, this is the most writing I've done in ages and it's a good thing being almost forced to 'produce' but it's hard when you work full time and have a demanding household. I've been really under the weather this week as well with a lousy cough and cold but I'm quite proud that I'mable to produce anything at all!

Chillyweb
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Welcome to 2008, Newcastle NaNo-ers!

ShadowSaine — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:37:48 -0700

Hello from your regional co-ML! My name is Zof; some of you may remember me from last year. Our other ML is lauren_write, and Lindsey assures me she'll have her halo and status tag soon enough.

We're already gearing up for November, and planning some great things for you throughout the month. Last year, meet-ups in Café Nero seemed to work well, so we're thinking of going with that again, but I also want to arrange some other venues. I'm especially keen to get a Durham chapter (forgive the bad pun!) set up, as the two cities are fairly close (fifteen minutes on the train, folks, and that's fifteen minutes of writing time), and since I work in Durham, I end up spending a lot of time there. If anyone's interested, or knows anyone who would be, please let me know.

That said... welcome to all of our local novelists, old and new alike! (To newbies: we promise we don't bite hard, even if my userpic is my pet vampire character. (He, to his great disgust, is not in my NaNo this year either -- he was disgruntled enough I wouldn't write about him last time).

Do you have plans for this year? Any idea of a plot yet? How about characters?

Mine, I must admit, are already threshed out fairly fully. My story this year is based (rather loosely) on true events, so theeeeoretically it should be fairly easy (we've heard that before, haven't we?!), and I have most of my characters already wandering around in my head. How about you?

When do you plan to write? At work, in your lunch break, at home, in the breaktime at some club you attend? Me, I've got the first week of November off work and I have a personal challenge to get 20,000 words down in the first week alone (that's a bit under double what you should be aiming for if you do the minimum 1,667 a day -- god help me). Outside of that, I'm considering taking the bus to work so I get an hour's extra writing time every day!

How about meet-ups? I'm taking any and all suggestions for times, places and what to do when we're there. Old-timers -- what worked well last year, and what didn't? Newcomers: what would you like to see at a NaNoWriMo meet up? What would work for you personally? Let me know and I'll do my best to get it organised!

You can contact me either through the forums, or by email at nano.northeast@live.co.uk, a special address I set up for all your NaNo-related queries and difficulties. Feel free to drop me a line any time, and I'll do my best to help out, or point you in the right direction if I don't know the answer myself.

Last and perhaps more importantly, good luck with all of your novels!

With best regards all round,
Zof
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Word meter Thread

lauren_write — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 10:44:01 -0800

I love this word meter http://www.zokutou.co.uk/wordmeter/ it is in colour and it it gives percentages.

Does anyone else have any word counts they are using to add to this thread for everyone to use?
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'Dean Winchester: You know what, there's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams, and that they shoot rainbows out of their ass!
Sam Winchester: Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns? '

Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Need a name? Here's a character name generator

adammaxwell — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 15:18:52 -0800

Hi folks,

I have to admit to being well behind schedule but having a blast in the process of writing nevertheless. I just thought you might be interested in a little something I threw together on my website a bit ago, it's a character name generator.

You can access it by going to
: http://www.adammaxwell.com/writing/extras/character-name-generator.html

and it willl generate a random name for your characters should you need one. Now with 4000 female names, 2000 male names and nearly 10000 surnames you will have to make sure you don't procrastinate too much over it but if you need it, it is there and (of course) free to use.

good luck and keep writing

adam
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Check out my website http://www.adammaxwell.com

Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Friday 7th November, anyone?

ShadowSaine — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 06:01:16 -0800

Hi all,

Last weekend's meet-up went really well, I thought -- I was pleased to see quite a few folks show up, including some old-timers from last year and plenty of new faces.

This weekend we're probably having another meet in Newcastle (I may not be there myself due to a sudden death in the family, but Lauren and I will try to arrange something for you all!), but before that, I'm thinking about a meet-up in Durham on Friday. It's the Enlightenment festival, and I don't know how good it will be, but I'd like to take a look.

I was thinking we could meet mid-afternoon, say 2:30pm, and write for a couple of hours before it starts to get dark and those who are interested can wander off to see what's going on. We might end up in a bar or two before the night's out -- we shall see!

Your thoughts are welcomed. I know Durham's a bit out of the way for some folks, but I'd love to see as many of you as possible there (it's one little train from Newcastle, remember!).

Take care, and best of luck in your writing for the rest of the week!
Zof
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Day 5 How is everyone feeling?

lauren_write — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 18:22:01 -0800

It's 2.20 in the morning, and I am feeling positive. My characters are talking to me, some in very loud voices.

How are your characters treating you?
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'Dean Winchester: You know what, there's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams, and that they shoot rainbows out of their ass!
Sam Winchester: Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns? '

Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Story story story

Mr Tortoise — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:41:31 -0700

Well peeps, we've a little under 2 weeks to go till the great off. How's everyone's story ideas coming along? Who are the people with each chapter planned in meticulous detail and a full back story for each character, and who are the people with a vague idea for a title and possibly a hero's name?

Essentially, I'm asking how much planning everyone has done and how prepared we're all feeling. For my part, I have a vague idea of the overarching plot, but with almost no specific details about events or characters worked out. I should probably change that.
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Meet-up on the 1st, a note on Friday, and future plans

ShadowSaine — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:59:20 -0700

Hello all!

So, we seem to be about set for Friday night -- though it's not too late to tell us you're coming, if you want to. We've also made plans for Saturday the first...

COME ALONG AND MEET THE GANG
2pm in Wetherspoon's near Central Station in Newcastle. Learn it, love it, come along and get some words down! We've got a room to ourselves, so ask at the bar for the writing group and you should be pointed in the right direction.

FRIDAY NIGHT:
One quick note to Friday night people: We have (assuming I haven't messed up with usernames on the forums matching up to email addresses from folks) eleven definites and a good few more maybes, so it should be a good night. If you're coming, please do bring £10 to put into the kitty for pizza (excess will be safely stashed away to put towards a meal out at the end, so it's a good investment!) and don't forget bus fare to get back to wherever in the world you arrived from. We have tons of floor space for those staying over, but please don't forget your sleeping bag!

A word on buses, if I may be so bold: I understand there are several coming in from Newcastle, one or two from Durham and at least one from Sunderland. It might be an idea to shout up as to where you're coming in from, and meet up with fellow Wrimos at the far end so you can all get the bus together. Lauren or I (or both) will meet you at Consett bus station, but it would be nice to have company along the way, no?

FUTURE PLANS:
I am off the first week of November, so if anyone wants to organise a weekday meet-up, please do shout up! It goes without saying that you're all more than welcome to arrange your own write-ins without Lauren and I, but if you do get something organised, let me know -- I'd love to come along. Alternatively, if you want me to organise something centralised, just let me know and I'll do my best.

I hope to see as many of you as possible on Friday night, and if not, at some future write-in or meeting!

Take care,
Zof
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Welcome and something of interest for any Livejournal Users (and anyone else!)

lauren_write — Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:01:04 -0700

Hello I'm Lauren you're other ML. Welcome back to all those returning and hello to all the newbies. I got my powers conferred on me just before the server crashed which I really hope doesn't make me cursed.

Shadowsaine and I both have lj journals - shadowsaine and pinikir over there! And we're set up a livejournal community for nano in the North East - http://community.livejournal.com/nano_northeast/profile

Especially with the unforunate crashes on the server it is a good place novel exerts, ideas, chat!

Look forward to seeing you here and over there

Lauren
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'Dean Winchester: You know what, there's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams, and that they shoot rainbows out of their ass!
Sam Winchester: Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns? '

Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Twittering NaNo's

Alexbettylou — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:05:16 -0700

Hello! I'm completely new to this NaNoWriMo but very excited about it all!

Does anybody use Twitter?! It's a social networking website based around short and sharp messages (140 characters only) - also known as 'Tweets'. It can be found at http://www.twitter.com

It'd be a great way of keeping people up to date on your novel progress, and for keeping in touch with other NaNos. My Twitter feed can be found at http://www.twitter.com/alexbettylou

Please have a look to see what it's all about, and add me if you are a Twitterer already!

Alex
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Europe :: England :: Newcastle

Nano Kick Off!

lauren_write — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:42:29 -0700

‘Twas the night before NaNo, and all through the house...

Greetings all and welcome to NaNoWriMo 2008!

We’re Lauren (lauren_write) and Zof (shadowsaine) and we’re your co-MLs for the region. And we’re determined to make this year the biggest and best yet for NaNo in the area.

Which is why we’re planning one hell of a kickoff. October 31st, to our great joy, is a Friday, and also just happens to be Hallowe’en. And since we’re all creative types, we’re sure you like Hallowe’en as much as we do...

On Friday October 31st, we’re opening our doors (it’s convenient being housemates sometimes!) to NaNo participants in the area for a kickoff party with a twist. Come by any time from eight, and stay until well after midnight – because at 12:01 on November 1st, we start writing (of course!). Bring a sleeping bag and stay the night!

The plan for the evening, so far, goes as follows: Food will be provided courtesy of the nearest takeout, if everyone’s willing to pitch in say £5-£10 to share the cost of getting pizza in. There’s plenty of floor space, chair space and power points for plugging in laptops and settling down to write, and we have enough board games to keep a small army occupied (what – never played deathmatch Monopoly?).

Since it’s Hallowe’en, fancy dress is optional but encouraged – come as one of your characters, maybe. We’ll be organising ‘getting to know you’ games for the first part of the night, so you might as well go ahead and lose your inhibitions right now and get it over with.

Speaking of inhibitions, we’d welcome your thoughts on alcohol. We’re not sure how many of our participants are under 18 and, fair warning, we are absolutely -not- allowing underage drinking in this house. Your thoughts on whether we should bother at all are strongly encouraged. We’ll send another note next week based on the feedback we get, to confirm that and the takeout idea – and anything else we come up with between us (that’s all of us!).

If you feel a little nervous about landing on a stranger’s house on your own on the night of Hallowe’en (insert scary music here), feel free to bring a friend along, even if they’re not doing NaNo (so long as they understand the necessity of us all becoming antisocial writers at 12:01, of course).

The house is a two-bed terrace but, as estate agents say, deceptively spacious, so there’s plenty room for anyone who wants to stay over. We’re in Consett, which is one easy bus away from Newcastle and the surrounding area, and easy enough to find – let us know if you’re interested and we’ll send you a handy-dandy “how to get here”.

Do be warned we’ve got a cat and a dog, so if you’re allergic, you’ll want to bear that in mind. We can shut them out of the way in the kitchen but the hair gets everywhere.

Feel free to email if you’d like any further information, and we hope to see you on the 31st!

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'Dean Winchester: You know what, there's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams, and that they shoot rainbows out of their ass!
Sam Winchester: Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns? '