This is pretty much a reprint of the first big e-mail -- for reference and for folks who signed up after October 1st.
My dear Boston Wrimos!
Welcome! I’m Travis (tkphotog), and Anna (QueenOfTheUniverse) and I are pleased to be your Boston-region Municipal Liaisons (MLs), the folks who try to keep this thing rocking along smoothly. This is the 11th year of National Novel Writing Month, the unique and special writing competition with no prizes save the satisfaction of seeing your own accomplishment. Anna and I are fourth-year MLs, and thus far, every year has been better than the one before. We’re working hard behind the scenes to continue that winning streak.
- What your MLs do and why (FAQs)
- The Meet and Greet
- Write-ins
- The TGIO Party and awards (including the coveted ELMO)
- The NaNoWriMo Forums (all-ages friendly)
- What are Sweet Merciful Cupcakes? And who is Merlene?
- Social Networking: Facebook and Twitter
- The CafePress Store
- Contacting your MLs
1. What we do
As Municipal Liaisons, Anna and I are here to keep things in the region on track. We’re both volunteers, doing this in our spare time, which is scarce in November, especially with “real life,” work, and trying to write 50,000 words ourselves. We act as points of contact for you, our precious wrimos, to answer questions and help take care of problems. If we don’t know the answer to your NaNo-related query, we can find out. We also find locations for the Meet and Greet and TGIO parties, find venues for write-ins, moderate the local forums, and take on other miscellaneous duties as needed.
2. The Meet-and-Greet
Every year, we hold a “Meet-and-Greet” event to let participants meet and get to know one another a little better before the writing madness begins. This year, the Meet and Greet (M&G) is tentatively scheduled to be held at the Subway sandwich shop on Boylston St. near Fenway Park (playoff schedule permitting). There will be more information as the date draws nearer. The M&G is always a lot of fun for our wrimos. We have goody bags with noveling supplies and other small items, there will be a door prize or two, and it’s a wonderful chance to mingle with people who understand why – sort of – you’re choosing to spend your month writing a novel. The M&G also marks the first appearance of the year of Merlene – more on this uniquely Boston-region phenomenon later.
This event is always a lot of fun. We will send out an announcement when the details are set, and request that you RSVP so we know how many goodie bags to make and bring.
3. Write-ins
Write-ins are the events where you get together with your fellow Wrimos to work on your books. Wrimos meet, writing implements (laptops, notebooks and pen, etc.) close at hand, and work on their novels for a couple of hours together. It sounds counterintuitive, but the creative energy generated by getting Wrimos together – even when working on your own projects – must be felt to be believed.
Prominent at write-ins are the Goal Board, where you write your word-count goal for the event. Folks who make this goal get to ring the goal bell – a great excuse to look up from your writing and clap and cheer for their accomplishment. Our regional mascot, Elmo, will be there to cheer us on.
These events are really a lot of fun: the more the merrier, as the cliché goes.
Most write-ins are two hours long. Our first write-in, though, in the finest regional tradition, will be an extended-length event on November 1st (tentatively five hours, subject to change). We’ll be meeting at the Barnes & Noble booksellers in Kenmore Square in a large room on the sixth floor.
This year, we’re following our weekly pattern of hosting one write-in on weekends (Sunday afternoons) and one during the work week (Thursday evenings). We’re working on scheduling these events as I type; they will be posted on the regional calendar as they are set.
One of the great things about this region is how well our wrimos work together. Sometimes, folks can’t make it to the official events, or enjoy the experience so much they decide to take the initiative and sponsor unofficial write-ins of their own. If that sounds like fun, please give it a whirl! All we ask is that you let us know, so we can add it to our Google Calendar (we’ll link to this on the forums before the month begins) and publicize it in our weekly e-mails. Oh, and please don't schedule your events on a Sunday afternoon or Thursday evening, when the official write-ins are scheduled.
4. TGIO and Awards
Every year, at the TGIO (Thank God It's Over) party, we present several awards to exceptional wrimos from our region. Our largest and most coveted award is the Excellence in Literary Monthly Overachievement (ELMO) award, which comes complete with an ELMO doll and a certificate. Other awards are given to wrimos who have done something exceptionally extraordinary over the course of the month -- so, do something amazing and we might reward you for it! Details on the TGIO will be posted during November.
5. The forums
The most active and frequently-visited part of the NaNoWriMo website is the forums. Here’s where you can post items of local interest, ask questions, boast about passing 50k (the Purple Bar club), etc. We do request that posters keep in mind that we have wrimos of all ages on our local forum, so please, keep the topics clean and don’t use profanity. Outside of the local forums, there are a multitude of forums about anything conceivable -- everything from alien sex (tentacle porn) to technology questions (MAC vs. PC) to bragging rights. But be careful: Forums are a marvelous way to waste time and forget what you’re here to do -- WRITE.
6. Sweet Merciful Cupcakes? Merlene?
What is a sweet merciful cupcake?
Two years ago, when confronted with several insurmountable obstacles to effective noveling, Irascible (who is really not) lamented to all who would listen: “Oh sweet merciful cupcakes, this is not going as planned!!!” The phrase caught the fancy of her fellow wrimos, so last year, it became our region’s unofficial motto. It also won her 2007’s coveted Excellence in Monthly Literary Overachievement (ELMO) award.
And then there is Merlene.
I’m a storyteller, and one of the stories that caught the imaginations – and tickled the funny bones – of the wrimos last year was the story of Merlene, the One-Heeled Drag Queen of Waxacatchie County. It’s a ghost story with a twist. It takes gentle persuasion to tease the story out of me, but it’s sort of a staple of Boston region events.
I’m pleased to announce that Merlene will make appearances periodically at the M&G, write-ins, and the TGIO party this year.
7. Social Networking: Twitter and Facebook
We now have a Facebook group and a Twitter account to keep you up-to-date on the day-to-day stuff without your having to go to the forums. I anticipate this will be helpful around the beginning and end of November, when the NaNoWriMo site usually is slowed down by the masses of Wrimos trying to get online simultaneously.
On Twitter, you can find us under the username NaNoBoston09 (http://twitter.com/NaNoBoston09). Twitter will mostly be used for announcements, upcoming events, and sending out daily writing prompts.
You can find our Facebook group at the following URL: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=136998819769 – or search for “NaNoBoston” in groups. Daily announcements might mirror those on Twitter, though the group page has a wall you can post on as well.
8. Our CafePress Store
Last year, we set up the NaNoBoston CafePress store to peddle “Sweet Merciful Cupcake” merchandise. This year, we’ve expanded our store to include both Merlene and NaNoBoston 2009 Logo gear as well. If you’ve ever wanted to buy a travel mug, messenger bag, and T-shirt proclaiming that you’re part of NaNoBoston 2009, here’s the place to get them.
All proceeds from sales go to defray costs associated with putting on events in the Boston region.
9. Contacting your Municipal Liaisons
For anything else, Anna and I are here to help. You can contact us through the NaNoWriMo website contact form or via NaNoMail. We always reply within 24 hours, and often, much sooner. If we don’t know the answer, we can find out, so please feel free to contact us.
Respectfully,
Travis (tkphotog)
Co-ML (with QueenOfTheUniverse)
United States :: Massachusetts :: Boston
Official Photographer and Control Freak
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Travis (tkphotog)
Official Photographer and Control Freak
Municipal Liaison (with Anna/QueenOfTheUniverse)
NaNoWriMo :: Boston / NaNoBoston
