tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67656890738450796262024-03-13T15:42:21.542-04:00Guelph WrimosCindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-10484834396972125992011-01-31T22:37:00.002-05:002011-01-31T22:55:56.117-05:00NaNoWrimo is over - now what?<a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> is behind us. The holidays are over. Now what happens? NaNo is a great kick starter to get you writing every day. It helps create a habit of being in the story every day and getting a lot of words on the page. But now that the madness is over is that an excuse to stop writing? No. If writing is just a hobby for you and <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> was just for fun then sure, you don't need to keep writing. If you're like me though, someone who wants to write professionally, <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> just helped reinforce the importance of writing every day.<br /><br /><br />It's a new year. A great time to keep up that every day writing habit. If you need help I highly recommend joining a goals loop, a challenge loop, a writing loop. Find a place with like minded people you can talk to about the struggles to keep writing when your muse has gone on strike. <br /><br /><br />I have three groups set up to help writers keep writing.<br /><br /><br />The <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/100WordsChallenge" target="_blank">100 words challenge loop</a> and the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nanowrimoit" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo challenge loop</a> are Yahoo groups open to any writer who wants to challenge themselves. <a href="http://www.guelphwritenow.com" target="_blank">Guelph Write Now</a> is a local group where we get together to talk writing.<br /><br /><br />I'll be back every so often to check in with writing progress.<br /><br /><br />Happy writing!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cindycarroll.com">Cindy</a>Cindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-9835784237271412532010-11-17T07:57:00.003-05:002010-11-17T08:07:14.147-05:00Calling all UoG students and anyone else looking for a write-in!<div>Have you ever thought, "I wish I could go straight from this class to a write-in?" Or, "I wish I could find other students to write with!" since we all know that there are plenty of students participating.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>If so, (or even if not) you're in luck! We will be holding a write-in on campus this Thursday, November 18th 2010! It will begin at 6:00pm in MacKinnon 237, and who knows when it will end?</div></div><div><br /></div><div>If you need to kick-start your word-count, if you need a break from studying and writing papers, or if you're just looking for a quiet place to get some words done, come on out and write with us!</div><div><br /></div><div>Hope to see you there,</div><div><br /></div><div>Elizabeth (aka litchick89)</div>litchick89http://www.blogger.com/profile/17736604227436891471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-39100605209376498272010-11-15T11:20:00.004-05:002010-11-15T11:32:29.206-05:00Half way point pep talkPlease welcome guest blogger <a href="http://faeriesdragonsspaceships.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Marie Andreas</a>! <br /><br />Hello you mad, wild, and crazy NaNo’ers- happy halfway point! <br /><br />My name is Marie and while I have won NaNo the two years I did it ( the last two ;)), I’m not doing it this year. I had to do my own “NaNo” in Sept where, through my own screw up, I had to crank out about 20,000 words in one week. So, I’m out this year- but will be back next! However- I’m here to cheer you on and remind you just WHY you’ve spent the last 15 days counting and hoarding every word, refusing to delete anything, and becoming obsessed with your writing. <br /><br />First of all- you all need to pat yourselves on the back. Regardless of your current word count, you’ve been writing far outside your normal comfort zone for over two weeks now. Heck, just by being writers we’re going above and beyond “normal” folks. Ask any five people on the street if they’ve ever wanted to write and I’ll bet four will say yes. But they don’t do it. Just by writing you’ve taken that step to follow your dreams. <br /><br />And many writers don’t do NaNo. For a myriad of reasons, probably as many as you all have for being here, they chose not to face the gauntlet of word madness. I think they’re missing out on something magical. <br /><br />Why do we do this to ourselves? Because it’s a challenge. NaNo is like Mt. Kilimanjaro for writers. And it’s a great learning tool. Most writers, even we seat of the pants type folks- have some inner censor going on when we write. Some little voice that makes us stop and question ourselves mid-chapter.<br /><br />You can’t do that during NaNo (and if you have managed to do so the last 15 days- STOP NOW! You’ll end up spraining your brain or some other vital organ ;)). In pure self-defence you have to take that little voice, stick a gag in his mouth and ship him off to Siberia. When you’re cranking out 50,000 words (page count of 170-200 pages depending on the writer) in one month- you are writing CRAP. Lots, and lots, of crap. And you don’t care! Your only goal is to fill up those pages. You can’t listen to any inner voice no matter how loud- because you simply don’t have time. <br /><br />Right now you should all be hip deep in it. It’s not supposed to be pretty. It’s supposed to be hard. Even if you are looking at your word count in despair- don’t give up! Yes, 50,000 words are needed for the win, but even crossing that finish line- saying that you gave it your all for 30 days will do wonders for who you are as a writer. <br /><br />And that’s really what this whole thing is about, expanding who we are as writers. Each time you run through NaNo you learn something new about yourself and your writing. Right now you all are halfway through one of the most difficult and wonderful things a writer can do. <br /><br />Take a moment out to pat yourself on the back one more time, then crank up the writing music and dive back into the fray. No matter how many NaNo’s you’ve done this one will be special. <br /><br />I know you’ll make it! Best of luck and most important of all- HAVE FUN!!<br /><br />Cindy here - I want to thank Marie for being with us today. There was some great, motivating stuff in there. Check out her blog about <a href="http://faeriesdragonsspaceships.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">writers, writing, and the oddness of the written word</a>. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.cindycarroll.com" target+"_blank">Cindy</a>Cindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-71005462990224257442010-11-10T09:29:00.003-05:002010-11-10T09:47:57.039-05:00NaNoWriMo - You CAN do do itThanks to Cindy for inviting me to join you all here today. It’s a pleasure, particularly as we’re discussing one of my favourite events – <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a>!<br /><br />This is my fourth time doing NaNo this year. Every year I have won the challenge. More than that, I have improved my own writing performance. Last year in the month of November, I actually wrote a complete first draft of a single title Romantic Suspense book, writing a total of 93,600 words in 30 days.<br /><br />I was amazed at how the book went down on paper. I was an all out pantzer with that book with only the characters’ names and occupations and a two sentence blurb in my head as to who and what was going to happen. I’m hoping for a repeat performance this year. I’m writing another RS and hope to finish around 90,000 words again. There are several differences from this year to last year’s though.<br /><br />First off, this year, I have a slight more understanding of the plot of the book, in that I knew roughly what the first hook and the first major turning point were before I started. True enough, I only figured those out on the day before NaNo, but hey, they were there when I needed them. The other change is actually due to last year’s NaNo experience. After NaNo ended, I worked hard on maintaining a steady stream of writing throughout the year, building up a routine. This year’s NaNo wasn’t a chance to sit down and get a book on paper, it was another opportunity to continue my wicked word counts and do a<br />little more. See this last year, three to four months in a row, I wrote over 65,000 words EVERY month.<br /><br />NaNo helped me to build up to and establish a pace of writing that was comfortable for me – and way beyond what I’d been doing before. It helped me to create a writing routine, a positive mindset, and made it possible to write on days that I wouldn’t have considered making the attempt previously.<br /><br />Writing is a daily event during the month of November – not just Monday to Friday, but every day. Sure there are the odd days that life blows up, or the powder snow on the mountain is just too inviting to ignore and I put down my writing to go and live life. But even then, I will often write when I get home, or after the kids go to bed and I can relax.<br /><br />That’s another difference now with my writing after years of NaNo. I write any time and any place. I don’t have to have peace and quiet. I no longer need an office or even a desk that’s mine. I often sit in the living room with my laptop, a movie on for one child, another doing homework beside me in case he needs help, and the other two could be with us or off in their rooms. I don’t race at the beginning of the month and run out of steam. I work on a slow and steady basis. 3,000 words a day is my goal. If I get it great, if I don’t, I try to make it up on a day when I can. I’m quite capable of writing 6,000 to 7,000 words a day for a full week if need be – but I’m usually worn out when I’m done. I work full time, I’m a single mom of four, but my writing is important to me, so it’s up there in my priorities.<br /><br />All of that can’t be credited to NaNo, true, but much of it can in that it was one more step in my journey to becoming a productive writer. Learning, establishing and then following good writing habits is something anyone can be taught – even you! And Nano is a great teacher.<br /><br />Cindy here – I want to thank <a href="http://www.dalemayer.com" target="_blank">Dale</a> for being our guest today. She’s one of the people who inspired me to do NaNo this year. She did so well last year with a ton of stuff going on in her life. I don’t have kids, or pets. I have a boyfriend and a day job. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to win NaNo.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dalemayer.com" target="_blank">Dale</a> made it to the next round of the <a href="http://www.rtbookreviews.com/content/writing-stars-vote-best-hero-and-heroine" target="_blank">Brava Writing With the Stars </a>contest. Please take a minute to go over, read the entries, and vote for the one you like best. I voted for <a href="http://www.dalemayer.com" target="_blank">Dale</a>!<br /><br />Happy writing everyone!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cindycarroll.com" target="_blank">Cindy</a>Cindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-5139899799647933602010-11-08T16:26:00.003-05:002010-11-08T16:33:56.768-05:00A week down and a write in!The first week of <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> is over. How did everyone do? I know the Kitchener/Cambridge/Waterloo region had a weekend of catching up. How far away from the target 11,669 words for Sunday were you? Did you meet that target? Were you already at the target by Sunday with no need to catch up?<br /><br />I am so happy to say that I have written more in the first week of <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> this year than I did for all of last year’s NaNo. One thing keeping me motivated is the desire to have an official Guelph region next year. To apply to be an ML (Municipal Liaison) you need to have won at least one <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> challenge. I have another motivator too. I’ll tell you all about that if it happens. <br /><br />I am a little behind where I want to be even though I am ahead technically. One thing last week has taught me is that my days of 100 words a day are over. My weeks of squeaking out maybe 1,000 words are history. I wrote 15,882 words last week. I’m not saying I’ll be able to do that all the time. But there’s no reason I can’t do that the majority of the time. I can write 2,000 words a day. When NaNo is over that will be my ongoing goal.<br /><br />Also wanted to give a heads up to any Guelph Wrimos out there. We’re having a write in at the William’s Coffee Pub on Stone Road tomorrow, November 9 at 7:00 PM. I’m holding it with my usual <a href="http://www.guelphwritenow.com" target="_blank">Guelph Write Now</a> write-in and we’d love to see some new faces! We usually sit at the front and I have a sign on the table.<br /><br />Oh and be sure to come back on Wednesday when we'll have guest blogger <a href="http://www.dalemayer.com" target="_blank">Dale Mayer</a> talking about how she wrote 93,000 words last November.<br /><br />Happy writing everyone!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cindycarroll.com" target="_blank">Cindy</a>Cindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-61963353867898644472010-11-05T23:14:00.000-04:002010-11-05T23:14:49.443-04:00Getting into the thick of thingsSo, we are now 5 days into NaNoWriMo for this year. Actually, by the time I get this posted, we will be really close to the start of the 6th day, but that's just a technicality, and for now I'm just going to pretend we're on day 5 still. Because if it's day 5, I'm still ahead of schedule.<br />
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Last night, we had our first write-in in Guelph. It was rather small, but we got work done. I'm not sure how many words were actually written among us, but I'm pretty sure I wrote close to 1500 words myself. But I have to say, the best part of it was simply getting out and writing somewhere different, and being able to talk, face to face, with people doing the same thing, trying to write this many words in just 30 days.<br />
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But to do this, to keep with your novel and writing every day, you need to enjoy it. Either that, or a very strong stubborn streak that keeps you writing even when you hate what you're writing about. Me and another NaNo'er who was out last night, who goes by phlegm on the boards, was taking about this last night. She had actually restarted her NaNo yesterday because her first plan wasn't working out. I'm not sure how many words she has on it at this point, because she made sure to tell me that her word count on the site is far from accurate. How many others out there are having trouble getting on the site to update your word counts? I know that there are many times during the day and evening when the site is very slow.<br />
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But, my big accomplishment yesterday was that I wrote over 4600 words. How, you might ask? It was a combination of not having to work (and so I spent most of the day, when not being distracted) writing, going to the write in, and then participating in word wars when I got home. Lots of writing, which would not have happened if I hadn't had an outline to work from.<br />
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But, with Saturday's goal (the number of words you should have to be on track to finish by the 30th) being 10,002 words, we all need to get back to writing this weekend. K-W/Cambridge are having a write in tomorrow at 1pm and another Monday at 6pm, for anyone interested in going. So, whether you are writing on your own, going to a write in, or participating in a word war or NaNo Sprint, let's get some words out this weekend! Even if you're ahead of schedule, keep writing and save those words for a rainy day. Or, more likely, a sunny day, so you can go out and enjoy the weather without worrying about meeting your word count that day.<br />
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And just remember, 50,000 words isn't a stopping point, it's a goal. If you can manage more, go for it! Even if those extra words are after November is finished.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497103718906818827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-1138764862164521922010-11-05T17:26:00.003-04:002010-11-05T17:33:32.283-04:00The NaNoWriMo ExperiencePlease welcome guest blogger Sharon Clare!<br /><br />Last year, for the first time, I successfully completed the NaNoWriMo challenge having spewed out 50,178 words during the month of November. And spewed out pretty much sums it up. <br /><br />To share some of last year’s statistics on NaNo, 167,150 people participated. Of those writers, 32,173 writers completed the challenge successfully meaning a 19.2% win rate. A little less than I expected, but none too shabby either.<br /><br />To get ready for the competition, I outlined my novel using Karen Weisner’s First Draft in 30 Days. With this method, I described each scene in a few sentences, so when it came time to write, I didn’t waste time pondering what to put on the page. To keep up the pace, as a daily goal, I tried to write 1,700 words. For the most part I was able to keep to this, but missing one day meant writing 3,400 the next day, so after a couple of those days, I really focused on writing each day.<br /><br />With the launch of NaNo 2010, I reflected back on last year’s experience to tally up the benefits of this all-out write-a-thon. Well, one major benefit, I wrote 50,178 words. Admittedly, it’s an incredibly rough manuscript that I’d never share with a human soul, but it’s also a spring board to what I hope will be a good story—with major revisions. That said, I now realize a year has passed and I’ve not gone back to that manuscript yet. Not yet, but I will. <br /><br />Benefit number two. Even though the competition ended at midnight on November 30th, we were not been abandoned by the NaNo organization. On the NaNo website, authors gave advice on how to rewrite those 50,000 odd words into a sellable manuscript. Chris Baty is the founder of NaNoWriMo and author of No Plot? No Problem! His advice struck a chord with me: "Do not spend a single second making your prose readable until you're absolutely, positively sure that you have your story locked down.”<br /><br />This has been a major hurdle for me. I’ve never been able to resist tightening each sentence from the previous day’s work before I could continue writing. And my rewriting obsession didn’t end there. I then polished each chapter in linear sequence. The main reason for this was to present a decent read to my critique group. In my defense, I’m not alone in this. Many of us in the group write that way, presenting our polished but first drafts to each other, looking for feedback one scene at a time. And while this is helpful on one level, I’m not sure it best serves the story because once I’ve polished a scene I’m reluctant to part with it. From NaNo, I have a different perspective. Writing the story from start to finish without editing means truly feeling no attachment to any sentence. <br /><br />I thought I had a fairly good outline to work from with conflict in every scene, yet as I wrote some scenes fell short. Kate Moses, author of Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath, advises: "Pay attention to your instincts and deep little voices, including the ones that say, "It's wrong!" <br /><br />Again, I had no time to consider changing those particular scenes. I had to keep writing. Now, I wonder if I’d not had the NaNo time pressure, would I have been stalled by those scenes, unable to resist the urge to fix them. Instead I moved past them and now I have a much broader perspective. There may be no fixing those scenes. They may need to go, and again since I’d not invested much time in them, the cut won’t be painful.<br /><br />There’s also no denying that I work better with a deadline, and I’m highly motivated once I’ve made a goal public knowledge. I had great support from other NaNo writers, my family and friends. Because of my virtual writing world connections, I was able to connect with writers world wild and it was great fun to spur each other on. Overall, I do reflect positively on NaNo. Writing may be a solitary occupation, but it doesn’t mean we need to go it all alone. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.sharonclare.com/" target="_blank">Sharon</a>Cindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-91726382804399404372010-11-04T08:51:00.000-04:002010-11-04T08:51:19.838-04:00Write-in heads upJust a quick heads up to everyone out there in case you haven't seen in on the NaNo forums (which is quite possible since they have been very slow since November 1st. Tonight, starting around 7pm, some of us are going to be meeting at William's Coffee Pub for a write-in. At the moment, I'm hoping to be there until they close, getting as many words in as I possibly can, but we'll see how the night goes.<br />
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Also, anyone who was planning on donating books to the NaNoWriMo book drive, feel free to bring them along for me to grab as the Bookdriver-In-Chief. I'll have my car there, with an empty trunk, and I know that I can fit at least 5 file boxes in there, so there's plenty of room.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497103718906818827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-14356642065484938052010-11-03T09:40:00.001-04:002010-11-03T09:53:20.828-04:00We have progress!It’s only been two days so I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up the pace I’ve set so far but I’m thrilled that I’ve written more than 2,000 words each day. Last year for the whole month I only wrote 14,000 words. If I keep up this year’s pace I’ll beat that total by the end of the first week.<br /><br />Tonight it might be a little harder getting my 2,000 words in. I’m stopping after work at my sister’s place to visit my niece. It’s my weekly visit and there’s no way anything is interfering with that. I won’t get home until after seven. With any luck I’ll unwind quickly and be able to dive in. This year I started a very loose outline so I’ll at least have a starting point when I sit down in front of the computer.<br /><br />Last night I got to know my serial killer a little better. Still not quite sure what makes him tick or what set him off but I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually. Tonight I’ll finish the scene with him and then go into the protagonist’s point of view again. Her best friend is going to be playing a bigger role in the book than I thought with a subplot of her own.<br /><br />So how is everyone else doing? Any surprises yet? Have you met your daily targets?<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cindycarroll.com" target="_blank">Cindy</a>Cindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-61891189720991782402010-11-01T11:48:00.001-04:002010-11-03T10:21:53.799-04:00Go!The official start of NaNoWriMo has finally arrived! I know some of you stayed up until midnight to start writing at 00:01. I wish I could have done that. Sadly, with work in the morning I needed to get to bed well before midnight. I will be typing away tonight when I get home from work. My random number generator/Nano word tracker will tell me how many words I need to write. It will be at least 1667 but could be up as high as 2000. If I’m dong well after the first week I might change the upper limit to something higher.<br /><br />I’ve got the first twelve or thirteen scenes plotted out so I should be able to keep a steady pace for a while. I will have to plot out some more scenes this week so I can keep whatever momentum I have going. <br /><br />If there are any other Guelph Wrimos out there who want to have their status bars included in the sidebar please send me an email through the contact form on my website. The URL is imbedded in my name below. I’ve already received one request and I know there are more of you out there.<br /><br />So did you stay up to midnight to start writing? If not when will you start writing?<br /><br />Happy writing!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cindycarroll.com" target="_blank">Cindy</a>Cindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-56586444783971831172010-10-29T16:14:00.004-04:002010-10-29T20:49:45.542-04:00The countdown is on!It’s two days, seven hours and 41 minutes (as of this post) before the official start of NaNoWriMo. The Guelph Wrimos blog has two new admins and we’re raring to go! Guelph doesn’t have its own region (still) on the <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> site (I’m hoping that will change next year) so Guelph events will be posted here. You can also join the <a href="http://www.meetup.com" target="_blank">Meetup</a> group specifically for Guelph Wrimos – <a href="http://www.meetup.com/Guelph-NaNoWriters/" target="_blank">Guelph-NaNoWriters </a>– where we have write ins the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. We also have online sprints every Monday night. <br /><br />For any Guelph Wrimos who aren’t aware, you can affiliate yourself with the closest region. This year it’s the <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3004948" target="_blank">Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge </a> region. Next year, if all goes as planned, Guelph will have its own region.<br /><br />If you check the KWC boards you’ll see that the kick off party is at the Fox and Fiddle in Waterloo Sunday, October 31 starting at 1:00 PM. I hope to see some of you there!<br /><br />Get those keyboards ready and those fingers nimble.<br /><br />We’ll have an official kick off post November 1.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cindycarroll.com/blog" target="_blank">Cindy</a>Cindy Carrollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889820954231980057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-89938370615937987452009-10-05T11:40:00.001-04:002009-10-05T11:43:45.354-04:00Looking for a New Blog AdminHi folks.<br /><br />It's October, and you know what that means: Time to get ourselves organized and all of our ducks in order so that we're ready for another fabulous NaNo in November.<br /><br />I'm participating in NaNoWriMo again this year, although I no longer live in Guelph -- so I'm looking for someone to take over administration of the blog. If you're familiar with administering Blogger blogs (or would like to learn how) and are interested in taking this one on, please let me know.<br /><br />LauraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-22859943557024131932008-12-17T09:28:00.004-05:002009-02-02T19:28:59.816-05:00It's Been a Little Crazy But...Hey everyone who's still checking the forum, pining, like me, for NaNo (and thanks for the countdown to NaNo 09!!)<br /><br />I am looking for volunteers to be on the Carousel Magazine fiction selection committee. Carousel is a literary journal, publishing short fiction and poetry that is submitted by writers across Canada and sometimes from other exotic places (this semester we have one from Ireland, one form the UAE and a translation from Poland!!). This is where the committee comes in. I am looking for interested parties to read through these mountains of submissions with me and select five or six out of the sixty or so that we read each semester to pass on to our Editor-in-Chief so that he can make the final decision on which ones to publish. We meet once a week from 5:30pm to 7:00pm on Tuesdays, this semester.<br /><br />Carousel comes out once a semester, so semi-annually, and is quite a polished magazine. For submission guidelines (if you're interested in submitting) you can look at the Carousel website: http://www.carouselmagazine.ca/<br /><br />We used to meet in the Carousel office on campus in the University Centre, room number 274 (we share the room with T@GSA, and their markings on the door are more prominant) but this semester our meetings clashed so we, the fiction committee, will be meeting in Mackinnon room 232 instead. Feel free to drop by during the meetings, no warning is necessary, and I'd love to see some people out there.<br /><br />I hope to see some beloved WriMo's out there next semester!<br /><br />Elizabeth (eshearly@uoguelph.ca -- feel free to drop me a line!)litchick89http://www.blogger.com/profile/17736604227436891471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-10289847019995486232008-12-05T11:11:00.002-05:002008-12-05T11:13:40.762-05:00Thank Goodness It's Over PartyIt's time to wrap things up for NaNoWriMo 2008 with our "Thank Goodness It's Over" party:<br /><br /><center>Sunday, December 7th<br />2:00 p.m.<br />Rainbow Dragon's Lair<br />(i.e.: my house)</center><br />Come and join us as we celebrate challenges taken & victories won and make plans for next year's conquest.<br /><br />Drinks and munchies will be served.<br /><br />R.S.V.P. via NaNo mail so I know how many people to expect.<br />(And so I can send you directions!)<br /><br />Hope to see you on Sunday!<br /><br />LauraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-36964369536659726642008-12-02T17:00:00.003-05:002008-12-02T17:16:42.820-05:00The Results Are InCongratulations to avermeer, EternalDaisy, Leanne-Rose and shantii who all crossed the finish line in the final hours of NaNoWriMo to bring the total number of finishers in Guelph to 14. That puts us at a 41.2% win rate folks - over twice the world-wide win rate for 2008 of 18.2%! Guelph Wrimos rock!<br /><br />Congratulations to everyone who took part this year! We had a phenomenally strong showing here in Guelph, not only amongst the "official winners" but throughout the whole team, many of whom were first-time Wrimos and logged more words this past month than they have ever before done on a single project. Way to go!<br /><br />All Guelph Wrimos are invited to our "Thank Goodness It's Over" party to celebrate our accomplishments this past month and December's return to "normalcy" (whatever that is!). See the <a href="http://guelphwrimos.blogspot.com/2008/11/party-planning.html">Party Planning</a> thread below and leave your thoughts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-65520544982156328942008-11-30T10:49:00.003-05:002008-11-30T11:01:04.426-05:00Final CountdownCongratulations to bevantor who crossed the finish line yesterday!<br /><br />To those of you writing down to the wire tonight, please check to make sure that the NaNo site has you registered under the correct time zone. Their system will NOT have updated you automatically to account for our fall back to standard time, and it will not allow you to update your word count once it thinks you've passed midnight.<br /><br />Also: the NaNo site will likely be busy tonight. Hopefully not server-crashingly busy, but busy enough to noticeably slow server response times. Don't wait until 11:59 to try to validate.<br /><br />Good luck everyone!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-17263366072562331572008-11-29T00:46:00.001-05:002008-11-29T00:47:21.903-05:00More Royal Colour for the Royal CityCongratulations to bundtcake, JCScott, Lee44 and lynnreist who all topped 50K on Friday!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-38172591224134406352008-11-28T10:58:00.002-05:002008-11-28T11:16:20.328-05:00Party PlanningAs the clock slowly but inevitably counts down to the final days of November, and Wrimo status bars the world over start to turn purple, it's time to start thinking about what we want to do for a TGIO party here in Guelph.<br /><br />Some questions to consider:<br /><br />1. When do we want to have the party?<br /><br />Saturday afternoons have been working well for our write-ins, but not everyone is able to come out at that time. Plus, the first Saturday in December is the 6th this year, which is perhaps a day on which many of us are not in a partying mood. Week nights are out for me next week except for Wednesday (December 3rd). How about Sunday, December 7th? Afternoon or evening?<br /><br />2. Where do we want to have the party?<br /><br />Back at our old standby, Williams, or someplace that serves alcohol and/or a full menu? Or do we want to party in a private venue? (That would give us a little more space and perhaps be more conducive to mingling.) I am happy to host, assuming the party is at a time when I'm available to do so.<br /><br />3. Do we want to have a theme for the party?<br /><br />(Other than generally being thankful that November is over, that is.)<br />Do we want to read excerpts from our stories? Play group-writing games? Do something totally non-writing related? Dress like Vikings? Wear purple? Anything else?<br /><br />Weigh in here with your thoughts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-75854738620424617742008-11-28T00:36:00.002-05:002008-11-28T00:39:50.117-05:00Guelph's Going PurpleCongratulations to DeeSarrachi, litchick89, Ruth Cooke and Terry (tdm) who all crossed the finish line yesterday!<br /><br />We're getting close to the wire, with a good number of Guelph Wrimos getting close enough to taste that sweet victory. Write on folks!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-49334583123149555142008-11-26T18:06:00.000-05:002008-11-26T18:07:11.079-05:00Thursday Evening Write-In is a GoWe have an extra write-in this week to help everyone speed along to the finish line:<br /><br /><center>Thursday, November 27th<br />8:30 p.m. @ Williams Coffee Pub<br />Edinburgh Marketplace</center><br />I will be late as I have a night class at UofG.<br /><br />Please look for the rest of the group at the tables along the long wall with windows.<br />(There are two large tables immediately to the left of the dish cart -- we'll try to get those.)<br /><br />If you plan on coming (and haven't already said so) please let me know so I can give Williams an idea of how many people to expect.<br /><br />Hope to see you Thursday night.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-84633897745026805412008-11-25T12:19:00.001-05:002008-11-25T12:19:38.854-05:00Possible Write-In Thursday EveningHi folks,<br /><br />I've had a couple of requests for a write-in Thursday evening.<br />I have class that night until 9:30, so would obviously be late, but some others are available for an 8 - 8:30 start. Please let me know if you want in, and I'll try to sort out a way for everyone to meet up and get started without me.<br /><br />Williams is open until 11 p.m. -- so our usual haunt is one possibility.<br />Alternately, we have a number of Wrimos at UofG who may be able to suggest a good on-campus venue for Thursday evening. (Parking on campus is free in the evenings, for those of you who'd be driving in.)<br /><br />Let me know what you want to do.<br /><br />LauraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-17952466662980717522008-11-24T15:59:00.006-05:002008-11-24T16:04:31.777-05:00Update for the MercuryHi Folks,<br /><br />As some of you know, I'm writing my NaNo novel as part of a feature I wrote for the Guelph Mercury (it appeared Nov. 1). I'm also blogging about it at <a href="http://guelphmercury.blogs.com/writersblog">Writer's Blog</a>. As I did in the first two weeks, I'd like to provide an update on how Guelphites are handling the process. Most of you are far ahead of me, but this last week is going to be a struggle for most of us, I'm guessing.<br /><br />Drop me a line at khopwood@guelphmercury.com and I'll post some of your comments.<br /><br />See you Saturday!Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02655729639850048579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-27139641322974021292008-11-24T13:31:00.003-05:002008-11-24T13:44:11.015-05:00Write-In Saturday, November 29Once again we will be meeting at Williams next weekend. Come on out and join your fellow Guelph Wrimos in that frenzied final push to the finish line:<br /><br /><center>Saturday, November 29th<br />2:00 p.m. @ Williams Coffee Pub<br />Edinburgh Marketplace</center><br />If you plan on joining us, please give a shout out with a comment to this post, so I'll know how many seats to reserve.<br /><br />P.S.: If you haven't made it out to a meeting yet and aren't sure what we look like, look for a red head scarf with a white dragon print on it. I'll be there wearing such a scarf.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-5559582978612297682008-11-23T19:24:00.000-05:002008-11-23T19:26:04.705-05:00Stay the CourseOkay folks, we're heading into the final frenzied week of NaNoWriMo 2008. We've got a good chunk of Guelph Wrimos sitting right on the cusp of where they need to be for a steady finish, a few who are ahead of the game, and some who are a bit behind standard pace, but still within sight of the goal if they push through this week. Some of you may have modified the goal to one that's more attainable for you this year -- and that's great too. What matters now is staying strong and staying the course. To that end:<br /><br />1. I've linked everyone's mini-graphs on the sidebar of our blog to your NaNo Progress Reports. If you're working towards a 50,000 word goal by November 30th, the progress report will let you know how many words you need to write each day between now and then to get there. (FYI: The data in the progress report is not "live". It does not update immediately when you update your wordcount, but does grab new word count data regularly. Therefore, if you've just updated your word count, you may need to wait 15 minutes or so for the graphs and progress reports to reflect that.)<br /><br />2. We'll be meeting at Williams again next Saturday. Come on out and get a final push towards that finish line with your fellow Guelph Wrimos. Please watch our blog for the official meeting post and leave a comment if you intend to join us, so I'll know how many seats to reserve.<br /><br />3. If you'd like any additional meetings this week, please let us know your preferred times so we can try to set something up. I've received one vote so far for a daytime meetup or a Monday or Thursday evening.<br /><br />4. If there's anything different you'd like to do for this week -- or anything I can do -- to help you reach your goal, please let me know.<br /><br />Good writing everyone!<br /><br />LauraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765689073845079626.post-15703860005757768652008-11-20T09:49:00.001-05:002008-11-20T09:50:22.356-05:00I'm OutWell, I haven't written a word in several days, I'm way behind, and nothing that I've written is any good at all. I've gotten bogged down in the stupid stuff and have nowhere to go.<br /><br />So once again I am throwing in the towel. Good luck to those of you with staying power and good ideas!Sandra Reginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14587869571350252520noreply@blogger.com4