United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Just Touching Base

KaliAngel — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:00:13 -0700

Hi All!

I had to get a new account fir this year's upcomming attempt, and I just wanted to let you all know,

Bonnie
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**Old Nick Name: KaliAngelKat**

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

TGIO update 12-07-07

CaptSwann — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 13:01:51 -0800

The Thank God It's Over party for the Northwest Ohio NaNoWriMos will be

Saturday, December 8, starting at 1pm

At the Claddagh Irish Pub at Westfield Franklin Park

Come when you can, stay as long as you can

(I'm hoping I reserved enough space now!) :-)

The reservation is under the name of "Liz"

See you then!

Please email me at NWOWFcr@yahoo.com if you have any questions.....

A map can be found at www.claddaghirishpubs.com...click on Toledo
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Liz
NaNo 2005: Broken Branches (51K and then some)
NaNo 2006: The Fool (yes...I was....3,500 or thereabouts)
NaNo 2007: Loved Anyway
"I've been to the ends of the earth, and I know what standing still is worth." -- Darden Smith, "Perfect Moment

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Captain's Log - Final/TGIO Party!

CaptSwann — Mon, 3 Dec 2007 07:26:34 -0800

November 29/30 were a hard slog for yours truly....I pulled an all-nighter to finish phase 1 of a paid editing project....I haven't pulled an all nighter since my youngest was a newborn.

So on the 30th, after not having slept for almost 36 hours, I fell dead asleep without uploading my word count, such as it was.

BUT I reiterate to the BEST CREW IN THE WORLD:

CONGRATULATIONS on achieving or surpassing your goals....for getting into the fray and fighting the good fight. You have much to be proud of. :-)

The NaNoWriMo THANK GOD IT"S OVER party will be SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, at 1pm at the CLADDAGH at Franklin Park Mall. I will take a preliminary head count for reservations based on those who have responded already, and then add 5 to that number in the event someone can make it at the last minute.

If there are questions, last minute additions, etc. you can reach me at NWOWFcr@yahoo.com.

Congratulations for surviving another NaNovember!

Capt. Liz
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Liz
NaNo 2005: Broken Branches (51K and then some)
NaNo 2006: The Fool (yes...I was....3,500 or thereabouts)
NaNo 2007: Loved Anyway
"I've been to the ends of the earth, and I know what standing still is worth." -- Darden Smith, "Perfect Moment

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

BRAVO! KUDOS! CONGRATS!

CaptSwann — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:24:58 -0800

A 21-cannon salute to all of the Northwest Ohio NaNoWriters who have achieved the magic 50K mark including Rhetdiva, Garry, Harley Poet, Ritamalone, and Nerrob Kallayanni!

Congratulations on your outstanding achievement!

Additional kudos forthcoming.....

Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing, writing, writing....

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

The Thank God It's Over Party

CaptSwann — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:41:48 -0800

Every year, post NaNo, we have a celebration of our accomplishments known as the Thank God It's Over party.

Last year, or the year before, it was held at The Claddagh at Westfield Franklin Park on a Saturday. It's a lovely place and they gave us our own room, which was probably more to protect the other customers from us than anything else. ;-)

I still think a restaurant is a great idea....My suggestion would be to pick a date early in December before everyone starts wading through holiday plans and parties and shopping and baking and cooking and, and, and....

So....December First, noonish.....December Eighth, noonish.....

Taking suggestions for locations....and we will make a final decision before the end of November.....

CHEERS!

Captain Liz
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Liz
NaNo 2005: Broken Branches (51K and then some)
NaNo 2006: The Fool (yes...I was....3,500 or thereabouts)
NaNo 2007: Loved Anyway
"I've been to the ends of the earth, and I know what standing still is worth." -- Darden Smith, "Perfect Moment

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Captain's Log - Pep Talk #3

CaptSwann — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:35:59 -0800

We're heading into the home stretch! Nine days and counting (as of today).

Some of our crew have already reached and PASSED 50K! I raise my cuppa joe to you all and say congratulations!!

Some of us are reeeeeally, reeeeeally close to 50K. You WILL do this! You WILL reach your 50K!!

Some of us (myself included) are trying to scale a sand dune in terms of word count. DO NOT SURRENDER! Life gets in the way. Computers stop working. You get sick. You "hafta" work and pay those bills and pick up the kids from school. Keep fighting. Keep writing. Even if you think it's bilgewater, KEEP WRITING! Amidst the flotsam and jetsam will be a life saver....or an oyster with a pearl the size of your thumb.

I have added precious few words to my overall count in the last week or so, but I'm not giving up. Last year I just bailed with about ten days to go and I regretted it because I might have been on the verge of breaking through that brick wall but I'll never know.

The very fact that you are even ATTEMPTING National Novel Writing Month speaks volumes about your desire to write and create! Keep striving for 50K. And if you get to 25K or 30K or 15K....that's several thousand more words in your future novel than you had on October 31. And in such a short time too!!

NEXT WEEK: we are planning to get together on November 28. Unless we universally agree on a different location, I am going to stick with the Westfield Franklin Park Barnes and Noble. When we met at the Fallen Timbers location, with the exception of Cynmack it seemed to be the same folks who usually meet at Westfield so we might as well stick with the Westfield location. (And Cyn it was wonderful to finally put a face with the user ID! Thanks for coming!). We had fun, we had java, and I got a reiki treatment from my dear friend Ruth. :-)

START THINKING about some places to have the Thank God It's Over Party in early December. Usually it's in a restaurant setting...we have lunch and celebrate our accomplishments. If we go that route, I'll need to get a head count and reserve tables.

Captain Liz

One of my favorite quotes/pieces of dialogue:
"Anytime you want to use punctuation, that'd be fine." -- Toby Ziegler to Sam Seaborn on "The West Wing"

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Liz
NaNo 2005: Broken Branches (51K and then some)
NaNo 2006: The Fool (yes...I was....3,500 or thereabouts)
NaNo 2007: Loved Anyway
"I've been to the ends of the earth, and I know what standing still is worth." -- Darden Smith, "Perfect Moment

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

So how's it going?

cynmack — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:30:40 -0800

How's everybody coming along so far? I'm getting mightly close to the 30,000 mark and I'm trying to get ahead because I know I'll be pretty busy over Thanksgiving.
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United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Weekly Meeting for Thanksgiving Week

HarleyPoet — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:28:02 -0800

HI,

Are we have a weekly meeting during Thanksgiving Week? If so, where and when?

Hyman
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NaNoWriMo 2007: Your Day Will Come ( 50603 on Nov. 25th - Currently 56070 & Still Writing)

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Hellooooo?

CaptSwann — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:21:30 -0800

Boy, it sure is quiet in here!

I hope this means everyone is writing away, making phenomenal progress on their NaNo Novels!

Don't forget -- Friday, 11/16, we're meeting at Barnes and Noble at Fallen Timbers. Any time after 7pm is good. I'm hoping to be there. It might be closer to 8 if I have another class from 6 to 7:15 like I did last week.

Also, the Northwest Ohio Writers Forum meets this Saturday, 11/17 from 10am to noon at the Washington Branch of the TLCPL. That's the location on Harvest Lane in Toledo.

Happy Halfway Day!!

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Captain's Log - Pep Talk #2

CaptSwann — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 07:56:51 -0800

Ahoy, mates!

The waves are getting high. I smell a storm in the air. Secure the cargo. Be ready to trim sails.

'Tis the storm of doubt. At the center of this storm is Writer's Block.

'Tis a nasty beast with tentacles that come out of nowhere and while it won't pull you under the waves, it will keep you from making progress. Worse than the doldrums because in the doldrum, eventually the wind will return and you will progress. The Writer's Block beast is in no hurry. It bides its time and enjoys your struggles.

(Yes, I know it says "Pep Talk".....I'm getting there!!)

Writer's Block can be defeated with a devil-may-care attitude, books of inspiration, and a few well placed non-sequiturs.

It can be tough, but do not listen to the siren song of "I am never going to get through this." Yes, you will. November 30 will come and you'll be eating your turkey casserole at 11pm saying, "Wow, I did it! I survived NaNoWriMo!"

Don't worry about making it perfect!! Get the gist of it down. Even as you're writing you'll think, "There is no way my main character would use the word 'groovy.'" But just write it that way and fix it later! Change it to splendid, interesting, cool or boffo later. For now, peace out, dude.

In my NaNo project, I am floating between sections. I'm not writing in chronological order, even though it's mapped out that way. I could be working on chapter four but if something relevant to chapter 12 comes up, I'll switch gears and at least make a few notes in chapter 12. (This is why starting NaNo with at least an outline comes in handy)

Keep some books and/or CDs handy that inspire you. Maybe music that speaks to the mood of that particular page or that particular event. I'm writing about my father, and loss and death. Yes, I know, such cheerful topics. But I have been plugging in songs or CDs that remind me of that era of my life. "Never Surrender" by Corey Hart was one of my Dad's favorites. "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics. "Coming Out of the Dark" by Gloria Estefan. They help me remember, and help me focus or tune in, recapturing pieces of time. When I write about my grandparents, especially my maternal grandfather who just passed on in February, there are more recent songs that come to mind, like "A Hundred Years" or "The Riddle" by Five for Fighting. You might put in a Wagner CD for a climactic fight scene (or maybe the soundtrack from Star Wars or Master and Commander). Your main characters might both be into bossa nova or Duke Ellington. You don't have to turn it up loud....just give it a listen. Take a music break.

Handy books -- how about that bestseller by Mr. Webster....The Dictionary? Or the one by Mr. Roget....The Thesaurus? The Pocket Muse. Dojo Wisdom for Writers. Your "Word a Day" calendar. Books of quotable quotes. This brings me to....

Non-sequiturs and random ideas.

Start free associating. Start with one word and then write the first word that pops into your head...then another, then another. Not only will you add words to the page but you will eventually get yourself "unstuck." Your comments and quotes and sentences might not have anything to do with anything....they might rival Seinfeld for being "a show about nothing" but eventually you will be moving forward.

One of your characters finds scraps of paper with words on them. It looks like they've been shredded for a reason. Maybe he or she is sorting through the scraps trying to make a sentence.

Your main character's daughter is on Yahoo Messenger or in a chat room and begins having a conversation with someone whom she initially thinks is a stranger but then she realizes she knows the person. What's that one thing the chat room visitor said that made your MC's daughter think, "Wait...only two people know about that...."

Your main character's brother suddenly stops what he's doing, looks up in a panic and says, "Oh, no..." And he takes off running.

Or maybe your main character learns half way through the chapter that he HAS a brother....

Or maybe he learns that he's adopted....

Or maybe she finds an old letter taped to the bottom of a desk drawer....

And of course, there's always a battle scene. When in doubt, start a fight. :-) It could be a verbal argument between two characters, or an argument that your MC witnesses. Your warrior mage is walking through the woods minding her own business when an arrow plants itself in the tree right next to her head. Panic ensues when your main character realizes her little brother found her journal -- how far out of control will the chase scene get through the house? Will it spill out into the backyard? Will the chase continue down the block to the school yard?

Break something. Injure someone. Take a wrong turn. Slip on the ice (especially interesting if your story is set in summer). Someone in the neighborhood is playing Pearl Jam at indecent levels and you find out it's the pastor across the street. Discover a previously undiagnosed allergy in one of your characters which necessitates a trip to the hospital where your characters meet.......whom?

For the sake of progress and getting yourself "unstuck" you can have your character read an article or op-ed piece in the newspaper......or the passage from a book, diary, or Blog.....in my NaNo 2005 project, my main character was reading notes and papers her grandfather had left behind, including copies of old police reports which he probably acquired through questionable means. She spent a lot of time reading them and asking herself a lot of questions.

Flashbacks are good.

Ninjas dropping out of trees are good.....hey, in a present-day story, it could always be a dream sequence for your MC. :-)

(Can I count this post toward my word count???)

I hope the Pep Talk helps and some of these ideas help avoid the clutches of Writer's Block.

FOOTNOTE: our next "meeting" will be Friday the 16th at the Fallen Timbers Barnes and Noble. I HOPE to be there, but I have a job interview this afternoon for a part time position and how they might schedule me is still up in the air (although I did indicate "days preferred" for my availability). It's the halfway point for NaNoWriMo so your word counts "should be" in the ballpark of 25K by then. I know some of you have already reached or passed it. You have my admiration and utmost respect for achieving that benchmark! Help yourself to the rum!

Steady as she goes!

Your Captain
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Liz
NaNo 2005: Broken Branches (51K and then some)
NaNo 2006: The Fool (yes...I was....3,500 or thereabouts)
NaNo 2007: Loved Anyway
"I've been to the ends of the earth, and I know what standing still is worth." -- Darden Smith, "Perfect Moment

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Our Ports of Call or.....Kickoff Gathering and Weekly Meetings

CaptSwann — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:09:57 -0700

The NWO NaNos have a tradition of getting together sometime prior to November 1 for a "kickoff meeting" that can consist of dinner or just coffee tawk....whatever floats your boat! We also meet weekly to decompress and walk away from our NaNo projects for a couple of hours....so my questions to you are thus:

1) What's a good night for a pre-NaNo get together?

1A) Do you want to plan on dinner or just coffee, or someplace where you could do either?

2) Let's plan NaNo Meetings for the month of November! Which days of the week are best for you?

Traditionally, we have held these meetings on Thursday evenings any time after 6pm at the Barnes and Noble on Monroe Street in Toledo, across from Westfield Franklin Park. We can stick with the same venue but if you have another preference -- cast yer vote!

Thursdays are about to become a bad night for me as I will probably be taking a copy editing position at the Free Press. It's a one night a week job which is....yep, Thursday night.

Now, if Thursdays are still best for everyone else....feel free to meet! We can aim for weeknights or Saturday or Sunday during the day, or even Sunday evenings.

For those who don't know me.....I am a freelance copywriter/editor/proofreader/voiceover person, and I am currently involved with an ongoing editing project (the first phase of which is supposed to be completed by the end of November) as well as taking on other small projects as they come about.....I am also in training to become a karate instructor and my classes are Monday evening from 7 to 8:30; Tuesday from 7 to 8; and Friday from 5 to about 6:30pm...I also have two children, ages 10 and 4, and all the rights, privileges and obligations that go with that. :-) I'd bet a dubloon a lot of us have similar obligations and responsibilities but let's see what we can do to get together.

Give it some thought and RSVP here! :-)

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Captain's Log - supplemental

CaptSwann — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 06:44:47 -0800

Hi, NWO NaNos!

Sorry I missed the get together on Tuesday. I came down with a cold and thought it best not to pass it along to everyone. I hope the evening was fun and inspiring!

Just a reminder that the next NaNo Port of Call is scheduled for Friday the 16th (just past the NaNo half-way point!!!)...any time after 7 at the Barnes and Noble at Fallen Timbers.

I'm making good progress on my NaNo project and just as an FYI, I'm only updating my word count once a week. I HAVE written since that number was plugged in but I won't update my word count again till Sunday. I know there are parts that ramble mercilessly and that this draft is quite unfocused, but I think of it as starting a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. I've opened the box and have dumped all the pieces onto the table....then I will sort them by color...then I will find all the outside pieces to build the framework....then I'll start putting the pieces in place. Sometimes I have to look at the box lid to remember what the big picture is like...what it's supposed to look like at the end. And sometimes my cat comes along and tries to "help" by using some of the pieces as hockey pucks, but I'll deal with that later.

In a nutshell....really REALLY resist the urge to edit as you go. You run the risk of getting stuck in that doldrum known as "perfection," spending so much time on choosing just the right words you wind up falling behind.

Professionally, most of my writing has been for the ear, not the eye, so brevity and selective word choice has been a way of life for me for many years. I still have an internal editor who keeps whispering that a sentence is too long or I've used a $5 word where a 50 cent word will do. But editing and brevity is certainly not what this journey is all about!

A plug for the NorthWest Ohio Writers' Forum: the group is meeting Saturday, November 17 from 10am to Noon at the Washington Branch Library on Harvest Lane in Toledo. More info is available at www.nwowf.com. Members of the Forum will be reading aloud from works-in-progress, but the meeting is open to the public. So stop by if you're seeking additional inspiration! :-)

Steady as she goes, mates!

Your Captain

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Ahoy!

George Bronx — Tue, 2 Oct 2007 03:17:16 -0700

Good luck this year everyone! Here's to hoping this year is even better than last.

Any one have any ideas yet for their novels?
I'm planning a Kill Bill style modern fantasy.
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-----
2006: Below the Rain - Winner

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Face Time! Meeting update 11/4/07

CaptSwann — Sun, 4 Nov 2007 08:54:43 -0800

Just a reminder that on Tuesday the 6th we will be meeting at the Barnes and Noble on Monroe Street across from Westfield Franklin Park any time after 7pm.

These meetings/get togethers usually run until 9 or 10pm so if you have class or tend to work till 8 or so, never fear! Some or all of us will still be there!!

For the following week, we're planning to meet on Friday, November 16 at the Barnes and Noble at Fallen Timbers. I know there are several pirates for whom Friday is the best day and Fallen Timbers the better location. I've never been out there so it's a little adventure! :-)

Locations are TO BE DETERMINED for Thanksgiving Week and the last week of the month and for venues, suggestions are welcome!

There will also be a THANK GOD IT'S OVER party/get together in early December....but we'll cross that strait when we get there.
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Liz
NaNo 2005: Broken Branches (51K and then some)
NaNo 2006: The Fool (yes...I was....3,500 or thereabouts)
NaNo 2007: Loved Anyway
"I've been to the ends of the earth, and I know what standing still is worth." -- Darden Smith, "Perfect Moment

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Captain's Log - Pep Talk #1

CaptSwann — Sun, 4 Nov 2007 08:47:22 -0800

Ahoy, mates!

Hopefully no one is truly in need of a pep talk right now...we're only four days into the journey, just getting our feet wet, as it were.

If you're already feeling a bit stressed, fear not. Just take a deep breath.....okay now let it out.....maybe get up and walk around the block for a few minutes....do the dishes....alphabetize your socks....sort your DVDs by color.....then come back to it.

We're all aiming for that magic 50K mark but that's not the only goal. As I said the other day, it's about freeing your creativity and just letting the words and the plots and the characters do what they want to do. Your hero may do something totally contrary to your original intent, but don't edit him back into your preconceived idea. Let him do what he wants. He may wind up at the place you originally intended but a lot of fun things may happen along the way that you didn't anticipate.

And that's all good. :-)

Your NaNo Novel doesn't have to be agent-ready and picture-perfect at the end of November. But what you will have, whether it's 50,235 words or 22,560 words or 13,876 words, is the framework for a novel.

NaNoWriMo is the starter's gun. After that you're running your own race.

We have participants who are over 10K and others who are around 3K. It's your own race. Don't worry about the pace of the next guy. Run your own race.

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

NaNo Meet-ups and Captain's Notes

CaptSwann — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:03:31 -0700

Hi, everyone! T-minus (about) 37 hours and counting before NaNoWriMo 2007!!

Many thanks to those who were able to make the Kickoff last night. Many thanks to Dave/Zaapiel for keeping the captain caffeinated. :-) (Actually, I had no problem falling asleep it was just a little later than usual, but it gave me some extra QT with the youngest pirate in my house.)

I wish I'd been a little more prepared with a good pep talk last night. There are lots ot tips and tricks for ratcheting up your word count -- like, use contractions as infrequently as possible, don't be afraid of superfluous adverbs (at least not right now), if you need to change POV in the middle of a chapter to get yourself (or your characters) "un-stuck" then do it -- make it pretty LATER! Even if you play fast and loose with most of the conventional novel writing techniques and rules, you will probably STILL have a viable first draft (or something close to it) at the end of 30 days.

But here are two of the most important things to remember:

1) Send your Internal Editor on an extended vacation; give her the pink slip; tell him "don't let the door to my conscience hit you in the arse on the way out!"

To borrow from the movie Bull Durham....."Don't think. Just throw." Or in this case, "Just write." Make it "pretty" LATER!!

2) and secondly.....I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one but WRITE WHAT IS IN YOU TO WRITE! If your mystery morphs into a romance, okay. If you are suddenly producing a work of staggering genius in literary fiction when you meant to write humor....roll with it!

Part of this is about the word count and hitting that magic 50K benchmark. But more importantly, this is about freeing your creativity....don't worry about being grammatically correct, politically correct, formulaic or proper.

Just ask yourself...."What if?" And then answer the question on paper. Even if you don't give yourself a thorough answer, you may revisit that answer on page 35, paragraph 4 sometime in March.....and the answer will be there, in its entirety. And you will edit. And it will be brilliant. :-)

Now......for your planning purposes.......

Here is a tentative schedule of NaNo meetings that evolved last night at the kickoff. If you can't make the "official" ones, feel free to tawk amongst yourselves and get together any time on your own and plot a mutiny. I won't take it personally. ;-)

Tuesday, November 6, 7pm or later

Friday, November 16, 7pm or later

Tuesday, November 20, 7pm or later (this is Thanksgiving week, and I personally didn't want to be anywhere NEAR a mall after about Wednesday!)

Wednesday, November 28, 7pm or later

We can keep the meetings at the B&N on Monroe Street.....or we can choose a new venue for variety. But as of right now, next week's meeting will be Tuesday at 7pm at B&N on Monroe St.

FINAL NOTE: there were originally plans for a NaNo podcast about the NWO NaNo Team. My schedule has changed/deterioriated to the point where I haven't the time to put it together. I will notify Fearless Leader Chris Baty, but if anyone else wants to take a stab at it, be my guest!

HOIST THE COLORS and prepare to sail!!

Capt. Liz

(email me at NWOWFcr@yahoo.com if you have any questions)

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Do you know other novelists?

adagiopicasso — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:28:09 -0700

First off, I'm a poet, and I don't have any other writers (of any genre) in my day-to-day life. I still keep in contact with some friends I went to school with, but no one in my family or work environment write. I notice this even more now that I'm revving up for NaNo. This is my first time at it and I'm excited to talk about it (but not TOO much) but no one writes!

So, just to get another topic rolling here, are you guys lucky enough to have a community of writer friends, or do you find yourself like me, with no other writers in your daily life to talk to?
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Melissa
-----(the poet who would try to write a novel)

United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Format

Carsda — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:56:45 -0700

It just dawned on me that uploading 20 or so chapters for a word count would really suck.

Can it even be done?

Or do you write your novel as ONE LOOOOOONG document so you only have to upload something once?
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United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

Kick off meeting

Garry — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:02:49 -0700

With Capt'n Swann lost in the birthday grog, I've been drafted to let folks know

Monday, 10/29 7 PM or later

Barnes & Nobles

Across from Franklin Park Mall (Westfield Shopping Center for those non traditionalists)

Any other meetings to be determined later.
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United States :: Ohio :: Toledo

The Quill must always have a Captain....

CaptSwann — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:33:44 -0700

Ahoy, me NWO hearties!

Welcome aboard! We're about to set sail into another 30-day adventure that will test our wit, our courage, our creativity and our capacity for caffeine! Nowhere will you find a better crew than aboard the Black Quill.

(I can hear the newcomers raising their eyebrows....so let me explain.....no, that will take too long....let me sum up!)

At my first NaNoWriMo in 2005, the Northwest Ohio NaNos christened themselves The Crew of "The Black Quill"....the pirate theme just kind of stuck. And let's face it...pirates ROCK.

As our fearless leader Capt. Dave has yet to return from Davy Jones' Locker....and the Quill must always have a captain....I will HOIST THE COLORS and take the bridge in the interest of getting things rolling for NaNoWriMo 2007. If he returns, I will gladly return to my previous position as galley wench, but in the meantime.....

BREAK OUT THE RUM and let's get this party started!