Online Write-ins: Nov 25 and Nov 26, 2011

“Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent”.

- James Baldwin “Autobiographical Notes” (1952); republished in Notes of a Native Son (1955)

Over the last 24 days we have assembled, attempted, assigned ourselves to endless, bottomless pits of laughter that we could write our own novels for nanowrimo. 50K words within 30 days! Seemed like a brilliant pursuit of happiness against the friendly tides of time. But now as time approaches fast towards its climax, lets put our minds together, recharge all our batteries and summon all courage to go that last leap of faith that WE CAN and WE WILL complete 50K.

Some of them have actually gone past the mark already and are ready to verify word counts and be called WINNERS. Where do your MLs stand? Well, its not so well, but we will make sure it ENDS WELL, as good ol’ Shakes wanted it to be…!!

Like most of you, both MLs for Wrimo India stand below the nano-average target that should have been done by now. Let bygones be bygones. Let us work together and FINISH it off. If you chase that dream for ultimate glory, we am here to help you… to the last leg of this race.

The last two write-ins for Wrimo 2011 are as follows:

Nov 25 – 8-10PM, Online write-in on Asia: India forum and also on facebook.

Nov 26 – 3-5PM. Online write-in on Asia: India forum and also on facebook.

Please make it, and bring your book along cos its gonna get that last push it deserves to make publishing history in 2011…

Thanks,

Your MLs

20-11-2011: DUAL EFFECTS

Write-in at The Art Loft

13^th November was an epic day as the first ever Indian NaNoWriMo write-in was conducted at The Art Loft (Thank you, Kevin) Bandra. A big thank you to the amazing wrimos that decided to take their novel to a different level on this lazy Sunday which they could have spent watching tv/watching tv/watching tv.

To the accompaniment of tea and biscuits and dares set by the participants themselves, this write-in was part fun part heart-rending adventure. (Thanks for the pics, Ranjan.)

One of the comments that often come in during write-ins, where dares are often used to escalate word counts, is that, my story is going a particular way and this dare/prompt doesn’t fit into it.

IMHO, take the dare and let your MC tackle it. This could be the exciting hook you were looking for, it could be the breakthrough your novel was looking for to resuscitate it. If you are convinced it’s not going to work for you, then especially, do the dare and don’t even try to predict the possibilities possible. Keep your mind open and let the goodies flow in.

20-11-2011: Dual fun

Talking of goodies reminds me that the universe works in strange ways one of which is, the more we give the more we get. Now seeing that 20-11-2011 is a significant date (as kindly pointed out by KN and earlier by Rohin) let’s make it even more so by doing two things on that day (20 =2+0=2).

One is the already announced On-line Write-in (details posted on the forum by KN). The second is a Donation Drive (DD).  If you feel NaNoWriMo has brought value into your life then this is the right time to give back to this initiative. Let us all become angels (all those who donate $10 and more, receive a halo above their profiles) on this Sunday. The best way is through the Credit Card and further nitty -gritty donation details are available when you click the Donations/ Store button.

So, see you on Sunday for dual fun: Pumping up our word counts and also (if possible) making a donation to NaNoWriMo.

Are you with us wrimopeople?

Online Write-In on 6th November: First ever in India

Hi Wrimos,

Are you all geared up and pumped up for the first ever On-line write-in in India ?Are you ready to shoot out your wordcounts right through that hole in the ozone layer?

Some details:

Date:  Sunday 6th November 2011

Time:  3pm – 6pm IST

Venue:  In the Asia::India forums through your word processor in your home/coffeeshop/park

(Address: My NanoWrimo ——-> My Regions———> Asia::India Forums)

What: Superinflating our word counts through word sprints, word wars and marathon writings.

Who can attend:  All Wrimos registered at nanowrimo.org

So, be ready with  your devices charged up and water/coffee/candies/snacks on standby so you don’t waste time going to fetch them.

You may post your confirmation of attendance here or on the Wrimo India facebook page.

To tomorrow then,

Cheers.

SR & KN

The NaNoWriMo Kick-off Meet in Mumbai: Loads of fun and tons of information

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first ever NaNoWriMo event in Mumbai was the Kick-off meet held on Sunday 30^th October at Costa Coffee, Juhu.

With an eclectic crowd consisting of writers from Bhayander to Matunga, this meet, which began at 3pm, was suffused with enormous enthusiasm for completing the requisite 50K words of a novel in the month of November. The meet began with introductions and as each one spoke about their ideas and concepts of their novels, their individual and collective concerns were also addressed satisfactorily.

Most of the participants in the meet were attempting NaNoWriMo for the very first time and the exuberance tinged with apprehension was very apparent, but by the time the meet ended at 5pm, all the participants were convinced that they were now well-equipped with information to enable them to win the competition.

It was also very motivating for the participants to know that two nano novels have been recent No.1 bestsellers: ‘Water for Elephants’ by Sara Gruen (also made into a movie) and ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern.

Some of the common concerns voiced by the participants and their solutions are given below:

Q) Do I have to write my story online and do I have to leave my story online for everyone to read?

A) Absolutely not. Each one will have to write their story on their own device, whether it is a PC, laptop, smartphone (you need really nimble fingers, here) or even a book. You can post the synopsis and an excerpt of your book if you so wish but it is not mandatory.

You can get a lot more details at the FAQs posted at Funstuff →Site Archive→2007→FAQs at the nanowrimo site.

Q) How can I possibly write 50K words in 30 days?

A) Wouldn’t it be lovely if all other life things were taken care of while we wrote our novels?  It would be a good idea to make a schedule with time marked out for writing. If time doesn’t permit you to write at a stretch, write in snatches of 15minutes in between all your other chores and responsibilities.

Q) A blank page is very intimidating. What is the best way to start a novel?

A) To prevent ‘Writer’s Block’ on espying a blank page, start not with the first but the second chapter. You can come back to it later. If this doesn’t sound right, you could actually start writing about how stuck you are and get into the flow. It is inevitable that the right words will emerge. Another way is to never end your day’s writing at the end of a scene. Leave a little bit of it for the next time so that you don’t have a blank mind facing a blank page the next time you sit down to write.

What measures are you taking to ensure you complete your 50K words this  November?

NaNoWriMo kick-off meet at CMS College, Kottayam

Congratulations Santhosh for a successful Nanowrimo kick-off meet at CMS College, Kottayam.

A big-thank you for the pics. Kottayam rocks!!!

Wrimo India Meetups – some Do’s and Don’ts

Fellow Wrimos,

As we brace ourselves for the mania up ahead, a few pointers for the meetups that are going to happen in each city:

- Bring along your laptop/ ipads/ tabs/ paper, pen and also, wallets (nano meets are FREE but if you order food, you need to pay for those!)

- Spread word about wrimoindia and the meetups… bring in your friends too!

- Typically the duration for the meetups should be around 1 hour. But it depends on the number of people who turn up. If you have less than 10 people out there, there won’t be much to talk about. On the other hand, if you get lucky, and there are over 10, that’s going to be one awesome marathon session

- In case the meetup is held at a coffee shop, make sure everyone pays for their own orders. Nanowrimo is a completely Not For Profit Org and so is Wrimo India.

- All meetups are completely FREE. There should not be any fee charged for attending/ participating in meetings or write-ins.

- Ensure and maintain basic decorum. Sure, its an informal event, but that does not mean a person can get away with demeaning others or by creating a ruckus.

- Please use a standard format for introductions (helps the introverts too): something that goes like this: please state your name, a bit of what you do (student/ businessman etc), hobbies and interests, ur favourite book/ novel, what genre u r trying to write a book on for Nanowrimo. You can add on more here but we don’t want a lecture out there!!

- Old timers/ those who have gotten books published will share their quick views/ experiences about novel writing

- For those who don’t know what to write - there will be a discussion for plots, themes etc. You can ask others to share their ideas/ plots with the group.

- Last but most important: Bring your camera along… Take pics!! As many as possible, please!

- Let us know your feedback on how the meets went, If possible, write it up for us to put on the wrimo site and blog…