[STICKY] ML Announcements and weekly emails

Greetings everyone!

It's October and we're back planning things for the kick-off party and write-ins for NaNoWriMo in Singapore! For those who have signed up and have no idea who I am, helloooo. I'm SarahColdheart on the forums and I will be your Municipal Liaison (ML) along with Raven Silvers.

Say hello on the Singapore bit of the Nano forums here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/148

Guess what! If you haven't heard/read, our kick-off party will be part of the programme in the Singapore Writers Festival at The Arts House and supported by the National Arts Council! Please RVSP on our thread for that as it'll be fun and we DO have a programme lined up for our slot that day. Details are on that thread too but here's the main stuff you need to know:

Location: Earshot Cafe (The Arts House, it's at the first level and the closest MRT is City Hall)
Date: 31st October, Saturday
Time: 2pm- 4pm
Dress code: Under Cover

Yes, you read that right. The SUGGESTED dress code is under cover which is the theme of this year's SWF. Heh, heh, heh. What's under cover? Well, imagine a character from a book/manga/comic/cartoon/anime/movie or any story that you know who's goes undercover or well, what would THEY wear if they were going under cover? More details on the thread on the forums so please check there! (Oh yeah, we've got the stickers from the HQ and they're oh so lovely.)

Also, say hello if you're reading this and coming back to do it again this year! I know it's just early October but it has been rather quiet compared to last year. Just so you know, YES, the forums are up as you can tell by this email. They're fixing things up in preparation for the November lag on the forums due to the influx of people.

Meanwhile, for our kick-off we have a bonus book launch featuring some of our NaNoWriMo writers of last year. It's an anthology of sci-fi stories and well... Heh, we have a preview of something else too that SHOULD appear at our TGIO but hey, TGIO's still far away so let's just concentrate on the kick-off first!

Yes, compared to other emails from me this one is 'normalish' but you'll get the funner storybased ones when November comes. As for now, get your friends to join Nanowrimo!

And check out http://www.singaporewritersfestival.com since we're all writers in NaNoWriMo Land and the festival is gonna be awesome for inspiration when we start our writing on the first of November.

That or it'll make you go "AAGH, I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS NOW, ARRRGH".

From,
Sarah Coldheart
Co-ML for Singapore

Co-ML for Singapore

Hullo everyone! I'm Raven, your other ML and I just have a quickie announcement. Glad to see the forums more active since our last regional email!

It's always to good to see old names and new ones. Some of you might have not received Sarah's previous regional email because you just signed up (in which case, hello and welcome!) or you don't have Singapore set as your location.

So, in order to receive the regional emails -- which contain important information and scintillating stories -- you need to put Singapore somewhere in your location and/or as your Home Region.

As a location
You can set your location to anything as long as there's Singapore in it, so we can find you! You can put just plain vanilla 'Singapore' or be a bit more creative. Take a look at my location; I'm set to 'Singapore, Earth Alternate-56' which is fine because there's the word 'Singapore' in it.

To change your location, go to My Nanowrimo > Edit Author Info.

As a Home Region
In order to get our weekly emails in November, you need to set Singapore as your Home Region! Doing so will also let you access the Asia :: Singapore forum from the main Forums page. You can also set several places as Home Regions.

To set Singapore as your Home Region, go to My Nanowrimo > My Regions > Regions tab > search for Asia :: Singapore > click 'Join'. And you're set!

Co-ML for Singapore

Hello!

To those who just signed up, I'm one of the MLs here for Singapore. Just a quick message! Check out the Singapore section in the forums at http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/148

You can RSVP for the kick-off party in the thread there.

Location: Earshot Cafe, The Arts House
Date: 31st Oct 2009
Time: 2pm-4pm
Dresscode: Under Cover

And for those attending, you can print out your name tag set here:

http://www.singapore-novelists.com/downloads/nametagset09.pdf (7.7mb file)

PLEASE print it out so we can identify you as a Nanowrimo-er there at the party.

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu26/sarahcoldheart/nanowrimo/nametag... <---- A picture how it looks like when you cut it out and fold. Okay, the wrist band might be kinda tight but that's just a bonus.

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu26/sarahcoldheart/nanowrimo/nametag... <---- Fill in your name tag, you can use a pin or even one of those plastic card holders with a lanyard to wear it.

It'll be fun and for those who are free and are in Singapore... Wondering whether you should or should not come... COME. There's goodie bags and stickers to help you through the month. Plus, you'll get to know other people who're willing to get themselves through this. It'll be seriously fun.

For those who are young and need parental permission, well, it's pretty educational and stuff too but yes, if your parents are wary, they are MORE than welcomed to come along! We've had parents (and children of parents who are nanowrimo-ers, heh) coming to the kick-off party so it's all good. It's an ALL ages event anyway.

Besides the kick-off party, we're having a book launch so if you have any friends interested in science-fiction short stories or books in general, bring them along too!

More details on kick-off at the thread in our forums so check it there!

From,
Sarah Coldheart

Ps. Really, rsvp us soon!
Pps. Make sure your timezone/location DOES state Singapore before November because your account will then take that timezone and the verification counter will end exactly on 30th November in whatever location you're stated at.

Co-ML for Singapore

Hello!

It's the last week before the kick-off and the start of November. Firstly, check in your "My NaNoWriMo" accounts page, go to Author info and make sure you have your LOCATION as Singapore in your user settings. At least something Singapore there so that it will be counted into the stats and we'll be able to see how we fare at the end of the month! Also make sure you're in the correct timezone, this is very important.

Secondly, back ups first! As we all know, it gets pretty laggy and sometimes the main website might go down so here's OUR backup forums and announcements page if we can't post anything in NaNoWriMoland.

Backup forums: http://forum1.aimoo.com/singaporenovelists
Our website (includes our name tag downloads etc): http://www.singapore-novelists.com

There, so don't panic or anything if the website is down for the first week or so of November. We'll mostly use the official Nano forums but just in case... Yes, there you go. Also, you can note the location and timing of our write-ins at the google calendar ( http://tinyurl.com/sgcalnano )

Now on to the kick-off! It's at the Earshot Cafe at The Arts House ( http://www.theartshouse.com.sg ), if you don't know how to get there, you can check their website but basically you drop off at City Hall MRT and walk straight down, past the courts and Funan and turn leftf to see the buildings there. (You can actually do the other way round where you're from the Padang side and past Victoria theatre, turn RIGHT instead)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17882102@N07/sets/72157622672754828/

You can check the pictures in the above link to see the building, if you see an elephant, you're in the correct place! (If you're curious on past kick-offs and TGIO parties including write-ins, you can check the photo set here anyway http://www.flickr.com/photos/17882102@N07/ ).

And there you go. Thanks to those who emailed RSVPs telling that they can't come and for those who have just seen this, you still can RSVP on the forums and download your name tag set ( http://singapore-novelists.com/downloads/nametagset09.pdf )!

Kick-off aside, I hope all of you are anxious to begin your novels in November! It's just a few more days... Heh, heh, heh, heh...

From,
Sarah Coldheart
Co-ML for Singapore

Co-ML for Singapore

[Contents]

1.1 Welcome to Nano
1.2 The Kick-Off Party Recap
1.3 Write-Ins
1.4 And Onwards with the Random

[End of Contents]

1.1 Welcome to Nano

And helloooooooooo everyone! Yes, it's November once more and it's time to write on...and on and on. Remember it's quantity over quality. You can edit AFTER November since you need SOMETHING to edit. So chiiiiill. My own first few pages are rubbish. Literary rubbish because I wanted to just write, well, they have some vague plot things in there but it's still rubbish at the moment. So you know, no one really cares how well it is at the moment. Kill your inner editor and ramble on. It takes quite a bit of time to get into the groove, I know.

Which will also be one reason why weekly emails will tend to be longer and longer since I might get into the nano-mood to just elaborate.

Anyway, we've grown a LOT for our region of Singapore that we can't do individual welcome PMs any more and your municipal liaisons are after all just TWO people. So here's a little shout out from the members who joined from 20th October according to the stats that we have received (previous ones had shout outs on the forums itself):

bookworm1858
Dpak
danhsin
renate-dark
MuFiBo
chipro
Esky
gringottsbank
petrolandpeach
Makanator
kailath
minrl
zephyr-sky
spacechiggeredh...
TimeDragon888
tmeiyii
Ebola_Zaire
medusah
LHupp
yoli
happenstances
Sanatoria
Sanatorium
jenxi

Welcome guys! Hope you all will meet your targets for having this as your first year!

1.2 The Kick-Off Party Recap

We have a flickr album here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17882102@N07/sets/72157622714520246/ That you can see. This year's kick-off cake was a ship and we FINISHED it.

40 something people RSVPED, 56 signed in (not including some of us who were rushing to give out goodie bags or latecomers) and dozens more who came for the book launch part of it. In total there were at LEAST more than 70 people in Earshot Cafe. There was a lack of standing room even but it was all cool! For those wondering what were in the goodie bags, you can see the picture in the album on what the people got. But here are the meanings of each of the items.

NANO GOODIE BAG:

1) Cookies and candy, includes white rabbit sweets - Plot bunnies and sweet stuff to keep you awake when writing, there's a sour candy there too

2) Surgical mask - To prevent yourself from catching colds and other stuff from the surrounding people

3) Clocking in work time card - An excuse to say you're actually working on things

4) Notebook and pen - Emergency writing items

5) CDR - To burn backups

6) Artistic License - Literally, you can paste your picture and write your name on it and laminate to show you have artistic license

7) Key - To unlock creativity

8) Paperclip - To pick the lock of creativity if the freaking key doesn't work

9) Sock - To pull up your socks

10) Toy block - You're a writer, this is your block, thus this is a writer's block. Hide it, deal with it, smash it, whatever, DO something to it.

11) Colour pencil - To write colourful descriptions. To elaborate and pad up your words.

12) Fake eyes glasses - To hide eyebags and it's pretty funny and cool to wear since it's also gets you in disguise according to the Under Cover theme of the Singapore Writers Festival

13) Invoice to Mr Sandman - Invoices usually charge after maximum of 30 days and this is for your sleep debt

14) Nano handbooklet - You can actually download it here: http://www.silveragebooks.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mag/ns/ns_2007.htm

And I think that's it really. You can tell there was much fun to be had at the kick-off! We'll have the Thank Goodness It's Over party in December.

1.3 Write-Ins

Write-ins will start this weekend (7 and 8 November) at The Arts House from 2pm to 4pm. There's no food available there on Sundays if I remember correctly but the cafe now sells cake and other stuff besides drinks then. You're welcomed to come any time during then and leave any time too. We'll be sitting around and WRITING so feel free to join us even though there will be minimal conversation once we get intensive in our word count for the day. Please check for any further announcements in case the location is changed on the google calendar here:

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=pbsbvsf9k8ep5h0bt7f67jqrq8%40gr...

Check it especially the day before write-in just in case since the APEC people are coming in and we don't know how they're rerouting traffic and such for the month of November. Or heck, if they've closed off some areas.

1.4 And Onwards with the Random

And now onwards with the random! The kick-off was a blast and now we're on starting our own stories. It's just the beginning and you might be wondering "WHYYY, WHY AM I DOING THIS?" or even perhaps, "I SHALL DO THIS... TOMORROW..." or "...After my pizza finishes cooking in Cafe World...and my banana tree has finished growing OOH WHAT'S THIS, A NEW GAME?".

No.

Do it now. Now, now, now. Noooow, meow, now. A little bit goes a long way and that works for saving money too. You're reading this, you have time for a sentence or two, just write it. Also, in the coming weeks (you'll probably get at least 5 emails in total since I do it weekly plus one bonus one before the last day) I'll be cheering you guys on in writing!

Oh yes, just before I forget, please set your TIMEZONES CORRECTLY in your profile and if you're in Singapore, put your location as it somewhere so it'll be counted in the country's wordcount! Alright. That's all for now, until next time...

This is Sarah Coldheart.

Co-ML for Singapore.

Co-ML for Singapore

[Contents]

-Announcements
-Newbie Welcome
-Other Stuff
-2nd week of Whatsits

[ Announcements ]

Hello everyone!

It is I! Your Municipal liaison. One of them anyway, Raven Silvers is the other one who's on the forums and write-ins but I'm the one who mostly sends out the emails. OKAY TRES IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.

PLEASE be PG in your words and postings on the forums. We are an ALL AGES forum which means people 12 years and under can come along and look see and OH WHAT IS THIS? A parent overlooking said under 12 year old person who reads the forums in Singapore and spies a pretty non-PG post? Oh gasp and damnation! Frowns are all about and complains can be had!

No, seriously. Be PG, you can never know who's reading the forums since we ARE stated all ages and I'm more than sure you can READ if you can write (the announcement to keep PG is pretty much on the main page including the universal Sun symbol there stated by Nanowrimo) keep to it. People can always complain and stuff and Singapore is pretty tiny. After all, we don't want silly people of the likes of Stomp going all "Tsk, tsk, this is what Singapore writers are up to?" (if you don't know what is Stomp, don't bother searching for it. It's the hive of villainy and scum - points if you get that reference).

And if you do so post a non-PG post, this is the process that goes through before it disappears, TRUE STORY, so do not let this be you:

1) People inform the MLs if we haven't seen it yet.
2) MLs go "GAAAH, WHY! WHYYYYYYYY!" and press report and encourage others to press report to get rid of the post while hoping said post is not seen by too concerned parents or children of young age.
3) People go "Tsk, tsk etc etc" at write-ins while eating candy and typing their stories but go "Tsk, tsk" nonetheless amusingly with non-PG words because write-ins are pretty much held in a public place and the only sun symbol we have is the one in the sky.
4) Post disappears once report button notifies main US people wake up in their timezone.
5) Everyone goes hurray, the day is saved.

Moral of the story, just DON'T do it since it's not our rules but Nano's forums rules as a whole.

Oh and other announcements, write-ins as usual! Check our calendar at least before the day of it but so far, traffic due to APEC seems okay and no road closures towards The Arts House.

[ Newbie Welcome! ]

With the stats counting from the people who had joined from 26 October 2009, I'd like to say helloooo new people! Welcome to NaNoWriMo! Well, except for baghead since you told us that switched nicks from your previous one but still, it counts since it's in the stats! Remember to check your TIMEZONE and set it to +8 gmt for that is Singapore's. Anyway, let's welcome:

moonwings enigmaya triplealfa autumnsg TransLorentz baghead. no0biekidz Singspike Bryz kshiying davidateyou Kahlua Alexis.Wen soratian Enrico Varella Sultan_of_Westphalia yui lomoroco tanmanc buttons pyrofalcon honx theredbombEibhlaan McGriaggruit jane88horan sniffy Raeny Smilefaced coffeeflavoured Jwly07 enamour

That's quite a bunch of you, say hello to us on the forums! And that whole paragraph of names there makes it look like some odd spam thing.

[Other Stuff]

Remember the round robin thing we did at kick-off? For those who didn't make it or are overseas, you can play it here with your own friends! It's done by nescienx (if you check author search). http://ratal.random-wish.net/roundrobin/offline.html It's available in mac or windows. Basically, it's round robin that can be used on your laptops or netbooks in which you can pass around to your friends to play together when bored, at your own party or in a lecture theatre when the lecturer is late for some reason and everyone's sitting boredly and so you pass around your tiny laptop for others to type in.. You get the idea. Thanks nescienx! Yes, we'll be using this again for the Thank Goodness It's Over party in December too.

[2 week of Whatsits]

I call this the second week of Whatsits because it's past the 7th and most of us have typed something.

Whatever it is.

Whatsits.

For those who have just joined or haven't written anything yet, there is still time to catch up! It's all good, you just have to write as much as you can for each day and every little word COUNTS. First draft of whatever you're writing, it's cool. You can word pad you stuff with lyrics, monologues and blatant descriptions or even get all nonsensical. After all, I did have at least 6 and a half pages filled with just "9" on it (admittedly that counts as just ONE word) because I fell asleep on the computer... Even as I woke up to stare at all the 9s and go, "What... the heck did I just type? And why... OH MEIN GOTT, WHY IS THERE SIX AND A HALF PAGES FILLED WITH NINES?!", I did not delete it!

DO NOT DELETE WHAT YOU HAVE. Just keep on writing, skip scenes if you feel you need to but just keep on writing! Do not look at your grammar mistakes nor typoes or think that what you wrote was rubbish. Because it probably is but hey FIRST DRAFT. Remember this point, fix it later, if you must, use another notepad or something to note where you want to fix it when you're done with it but ONLY when you're done with it. That was rambly but yes, get your inner editor out! Send said inner editor to vacation because we totally don't need them for November.

Thus, let"S dO thhis/

From,
Sarah Coldheart
Co-ML for Singapore

Co-ML for Singapore

Hi ho!

Tis I, Sarah! And we're halfway through the month. Sorta. Firstly, there's no contents menu since this email will be short, I think. Anyway, let's welcome the new nanoers who had joined from 1st Nov till 8 Nov list!

They are:

Brenda Tan, collateral_circulation, FelixEsthapan, iangobardja, iamnotsane, fleaflyflooflum, ozlady, lezah, Jeremy Huang. Lady_Merlin, jbabyroo, piggyboo, ann727704, ofphenwa, Ebelle, OOTZA, indiegirl96, myrdrall, chriswong74 and donnysoh

Hello, hello indeed! Some of you might be tired or going what the heck or WHY the heck am I doing this by now. It shall be clear to you by the end of the November. That's when most of you will at least reach the target or have written more than you have ever done before!

Heck editing or proper use of language or even spelling. Just chug it out with insane descriptions of every tiny thing to get to your 50,000 words. Oh yes, congrats to mandy_raz for the first one (who has at least Singapore listed in the home region or location) to reach 50,000 words! For those who have reached past the minimum word count... PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO VERIFY. I do not think the word counter is up yet but once it is, DO IT, we have had past people going way beyond 50,000 words only to forget to verify and get their purple bars and nifty printable certificate. Do not let it be you!

Also, you should be backing up every so often and ctrl+s or apple+s every few minutes or so when you type (that's the shortcut for save by the way).

Meanwhile, announcements on our write-ins! Use public transport to get to the Arts House, so far, it hasn't been too difficult to get here and those who came have said that write-ins are clearly very good for their word count! So, you still have at least two more weekends to come to if you want to experience one!

Now... I shall go away and wallow in the pain and angst of the torturous feeling of an erupting wisdom tooth, much like the pain of the dark sorrow of a cabbage.

I word padded there you see, if you can't remember a word, just replace it with something else cause hey, you can always come back later to elaborate when you remember what that specific word is!

And in the words of any cop in a story...

Move along people!

From,
Sarah Coldheart
Co-ML for Singapore

Co-ML for Singapore