Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Where will you be by the end of Sunday?

phyntosia — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:38:48 +0000

So at our meet-up yesterday some of us decided to make word count goals to get to by the end of the weekend. Post your (realistic) goals here too, and we'll see if we can make them!

Moderately realistic goals are a good thing too. *grin*

As a point of reference:
If you're aiming for 50,000 words - you should be around 13,334 words
If you're aiming for 75,000 words - you should be around 20,000 words
If you're aiming for 100,000 words - you should be around 26,667 words

BUT the important thing is to make your goals realistic for today. I'm aiming for 100,000 words this month, and yes, I'm currently at 369 words - there is NO WAY I'm going to aim for 26,000 words today. Or even 20,000. Because that's just not realistic.

(I'm aiming for 12,000 words by midnight, which is still a little ambitious since I didn't fit any writing in yesterday and haven't written anything yet today at nearly 11am - BUT hope waxes eternal! Springs eternal? Something like that. :-)
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Ruth
Municipal Liaison - Palmerston North, New Zealand
http://phyntosia.blogspot.com

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Christchurch second meeting 8 Nov

Avron — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:47:43 +0000

I am happy to report what I believe to be record turnout for a Christchurch meetup. I counted 22 people yesterday which was double the prior record I've been a part of. (19 of whom are visible in the photos kindly provided by surrealix on last weeks post.)
And so we progress to thoughts of our second meetup. The consensus was that Sunday afternoons are good for people and so we'll be meeting from 2pm again. Chances are very good that I'll be there even earlier yet again as it's either that or go home and write between Church and meetup.

I'm going to be trying to get a graph post up later today. Basically, anyone that replies to the thread will have their daily wordcount show up on a graph as the month goes by (updates are supposed to be every 15 minutes but I doubt it will be that quick until the website load decreases.)

For those of you unsure how to use the search function to find out how you're doing compared to the rest of Christchurch... this lnk should take you to a page showing the (as I type) 49 people that have identified themselves as being located in Christchurch (At least two of whom are not in NZ). Alternately, this link should show you a list of the people that have New Zealand set as their home region. (If you can't find yourself on that list go here and set NZ as home.)

After almost beating my previous best for a first day yesterday I'm now going to load up OpenOffice and see if I can improve even more...
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ML duties again...
I may need to be more disciplined about writing every day this year. 10,000 word days aren't a good idea.

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Otago/Southland Meetups and TGIO!

tomoyan — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:55:35 +0000

Hiii! You may remember me from last year, my friend Matthew and I organised the Costal Otago TGIO parties for '07 and '08 and we're keen to do it again! This year, we're hoping to have weekly meetups as well, since we know of at [i]least[/i] one other person in Dunedin who's doing NaNo :)

So come on! Anyone from Otago/Southland keen for write-ins and a TGIO party? No plans for a kickoff party yet though, since my birthday party is on the 31st. (MY BAD.) But if anyone's got suggestions I'm all ears :) Parties will probably at least mostly be happening in Dunedin, since that's where both Matthew and I live, but if anyone wants to use this thread to discuss meetups further south, go for it!

And planning WELL in advance if anyone has any ideas for fun things to do during 2010 NaNo I'm all ears! I'm definitely planning on organising more and more stuff for Otago as time goes on to get numbers up, and I'm kinda keen to apply for ML next year, since I'll be 18 then XD

So Otagoers, Southlanders, discuss! How're we gonna work the meetups this year? Who else is keen? Anyone got any good ideas? TGIO party will probably be at the Botanical Gardens again, keeping with the tradition of the past two years :)
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NaNo '09 The Bachelor - 00,000/50,000
NaNo '08: Brotherhood - 50,529/50,000 - WIN!
NaNo '07: Amalgam - 50,175/50,000 - WIN!
Scriptfrenzy '07: Take My Hand - 03,310/20,000
NaNo '06: Never The Same - 10,061/50,000

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Night Of Living Dangerously

luvya — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:31:55 +0000

Alright I'm not entirely sure if any of you are actually going to make it to the one in Sanfransico (if you guys are great news and I'm completly jealous :D) anyway what I was thinking was (it might not be possible to do this this year but if there was interest) Would anyone be interested in having a New Zealand's own version of it? I wouldn't mind organizing one if there's the people who are interested? My parents do own a hotel here in little old Masterton and if anyone was keen we could have prices fundraiser for Nanowrimo and well do it that way?

What do you think? ML's opinion on the matter?

(and seriously I wish these Idea's that I keep on poping up where going towards my actual story.... must stop procastinating :) )
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

[auto-poll] Where are you writing?

Avron — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:20:37 +0000

I'm curious to know where everyone else is doing the majority of their writing.. so, a poll. (Tool developed by the same guy that gave us the word count graph.)

Instructions
Please answer the question "Where are you doing most of your writing?" by submitting your choice(s) with the form

VOTE="place your selection here"

To vote for multiple options, put more than one VOTE="option" in your post.
E.g., VOTE="home" VOTE="work" VOTE="write-ins" VOTE="library" VOTE="bus" etc.

Feel free to add any other location that you are doing a lot of writing in.

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ML duties again...
I may need to be more disciplined about writing every day this year. 10,000 word days aren't a good idea.

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Does everyone think you're crazy?

Jagerin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:01:05 +0000

I've tried several times to explain to people why I'm lugging my laptop around and typing furiously during downtimes. Those who know of Nanowrimo have mostly relayed how cool they think it is and how much they've wanted to do it too. Those are the minority.

Those who've never heard of Nanowrimo usually sort of pause and then give one of the following responses:
1) "Hmm. Interesting." (followed by change of topic or going somewhere else)
2) "You do know you do strange things, right?"

So I'm curious - what sort of reactions do you get from your non-novelling acquaintances when you tell them about Nanowrimo?
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Anyone up for a word war? Right here, right now!

phyntosia — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:33:28 +0000

I need a motivator.

I'm easily confused, and the actual word war forum confuses me. I want just one person (or a few) to war with.

I can write at about 1000 wph if I get motivated, but so far today I've only written 1750 words because, well, I'm just not that motivated.

10 minutes? 20? 30? I'm up for whatever! So does anyone want to word war? You don't even need to try very hard - you'll be doing me a big favour if you say yes and war with me for any time up to half an hour. Then once I've had time to rehydrate, maybe another word war. And another....

I'm here all day, folks! :-)
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Ruth
Municipal Liaison - Palmerston North, New Zealand
http://phyntosia.blogspot.com

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

procrastinators unite!!

supervixen_nz — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:56:57 +0000

come on, I know you're out there! How many things have you done today instead of writing your novel?

I cleaned my house, for goodness sake. And maybe read 500 websites, 500 times each. I did however get 3k done! I swear that this year will not be like last year, where all I did was chat right here, until I realised there were only 12 days to go! 45k in 12 days - unless you're Cristini who I am still in awe of, is really hard!!

Come talk to me anyway, my characters are quite happily sailing boats down the river right now, and I think it's a really good place to leave them for the night. Tomorrow, there'll be some terrible angst....I imagine..or will imagine..I hope! hee!
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Calling all Hamiltonians!

Imaginaryfiend — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:19:47 +0000

Are there any of us out there? lol i know last year there was a small group and they had a meet up which i missed for some reason or three lol
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"Who do you think I am? The wizard of Oz? You need a brain? You need a heart? Go ahead take mine. Take everything I have"

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Auckland write-ins

mogwai — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:08:03 +0000

Thought I'd better start a new thread, since we had such a wonderfully successful kick-off session. Sorry I couldn't stay long, folks!

So these are the Auckland meet-up write-in sessions, as far as I can tell...

WEDNESDAY EVENINGS

Starting from 6pm
Borders Bookstore on Queen Street

SUNDAY MORNINGS

Starting from 11am
Albany Westfield Shopping Mall - meet in the courtyard outside near where the inside foodcourt and cinema are... we can decide specific cafe from there. :-)

I know there was a bit of interest from people on the Shore, so I'm happy to be there for the Albany meet-ups, and of course I'll make as many Wednesday evening ones as I can. If anyone wants to organise a weekend Auckland City based write-in... go for it. :-)
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Favourite 6 Word Stories:
Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
- Eileen Gunn
I’m your future, child. Don’t cry.
- Stephen Baxter
The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.
- Orson Scott Card
Epitaph: He shouldn't have fed it.
- Brian Her

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Halfway there, in both word and deed

IsobelHill — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:45:36 +0000

This is my first NaNoWriMo and I haven't written any fiction since I was a teenage, about half my lifetime ago, so nobody is more surprised than me by what I'm about to post. Today, less than a week into November, I hit the halfway mark. Not only have I written 25,000 words, but I have also reached a natural halfway point in my story. I can't believe it! I will certainly need the whole month to finish the next section and go back to the chunks of plot I left unwritten in the first part (I didn't even try to write bits that I had no clue about - just wrote [AND THEN HE DOES SOMETHING AND ENDS UP IN BLAH WITH BLAH] notes to myself), but I love the story. I was describing it to somebody else earlier today and she seemed genuinely interested in the first part, and I can't wait to find out what happens in the second.

My novel has a large historical element to it; the first part is set in Christchurch in 1890. The research is fascinating! I only moved to New Zealand two years ago so I am completely new to the history of this part of the world. I am so pleased that my plot ended up in here at this time, because I'm learning more about the history of my new home town than I ever thought possible :)

What have you enjoyed most so far about your story?
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Anyone in New Plymouth?

J.C.Hart — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:10:29 +0000

Typically we're a fairly quiet region, but thought I'd say hello and see if anyone was keen for a catch up of any kind during November. I'll be around, and am not working, always keen to meet other writers, so let me know if anyone is interested.

~Cassie~
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

MSN contact details.

triorph — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:55:07 +0000

Hey everyone. I know last year a lot of people put their MSN address on this forum so we could keep in contact, provide inspiration, and have word wars with each other. So here's the second thread for giving out contact details.

Mine is triorph AT messive DOT com . Make sure you tell me you're from Nano.

Cheers,
Mike.
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

WWW - Weekend Wellington Write-in 8 November Esquires

angrysunbird — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:14:27 +0000

Okay, time to announce this! The first Wellington weekend write-in/meet up for Wellington will be on Sunday at two. This is the usual location we've used in the past, and it has worked well before. The kick off meeting was great and you can get the same motivational boost form coming to these meeting as well. If you missed the kick off then come along we still have some stickers left!

Address:Esquires Coffee House at 75 Fetherston Street (near the train station)

Time:2-4:30

Day:Sunday 8th November

I look forward to seeing you all there.
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2003: St Augustine's Chickens (w)
2004: Arcanagencia (w)
2005: The Exile War (w)
2006: The Exile's Return (w)
2007: The March Beyond Progress (w)
2008: The Monarchs of Paradise (w)
2009: Displacement

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

GREEN!

ratesjul — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:51:15 +0000

Congratulations Christini - I see you've hit your first 50k.

Here's to many more!
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..... Aaaaaaarrgggh!

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Masterton?

luvya — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:06:56 +0000

Okay previous years I seemed to have been the only one in this town doing Nano so I thought I'd try again and see if there was anyone from Masterton or the Wairarapa around? Anyone?

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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Compare your word count graphically

Avron — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:41:37 +0000

Much as I did last year I'm starting this thread hoping that there will be a graph show up soon after (magic like... ooh).
Anyone that posts a reply will effectively be giving their permission for an automated tool to check their word count on a regular basis and add that ever increasing daily total to a graph that may take more than an hour to appear.

http://graphing.teiru.net/2009/ for more info
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ML duties again...
I may need to be more disciplined about writing every day this year. 10,000 word days aren't a good idea.

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Weekly Palmy write-ins!

phyntosia — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:44:10 +0000

2pm
Saturday
Robert Harris

I'll try and reserve the big table at the back of Robert Harris each week - otherwise I'll bring along my big fluorescent yellow ML shirt or a NaNoWriMo book (No plot? No problem!) to make it a little more obvious who we are. So just go around looking at all the groups' tables to see which we are. No one will think you're weird. ;-)

Bring your laptop or pen and paper for word wars or writing games, depending on how things go!

I'll also try and organise a buddy system at the meet-up this coming Saturday (7 Oct) so all newbies will hopefully have an "oldie" to buddy up with. If you're keen for that, leave a message in this thread and I'll have a list of buddies ready for Saturday!

I'll be bringing different freebies along to each meet-up - but I have VERY limited numbers of these, so the sooner you're there, the likelier you are to get freebies! I also may be giving out prizes for word war winners, etc, so come prepared to write!

Any questions? Ask!

And I look forward to seeing you all at the meet-ups! :-)
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Ruth
Municipal Liaison - Palmerston North, New Zealand
http://phyntosia.blogspot.com

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

stumbles in, looking blearily around

Alex Collins — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:40:43 +0000

On days like today, I feel like I am torturing myself to understand.

And it's only the fourth day.

Someone tell me I am not insane, please?
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History's many paths lead to one: Liberty.

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

How do you fit NaNoWriMo into the rest of your life?

vmcalves — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:20:42 +0000

Hi all,

this is my first attempt at NaNoWriMo and, although I'm pretty excited about it, I'm still not sure how I'm going to do it.

My full-time job means that, during week days, I can only think about NaNoWriMo after I get home at 6pm. But I also have occasional freelance work that needs to be done after hours as well as a number of volunteering activities I'm involved with. Also, my full-time job is a writing job so, naturally, sometimes, when I've had a particularly stressful day at work, writing is the one thing I want to take a break from when I get home.

My question, especially for those who have done this before, is really just... how do you do it? How do you fit NaNoWriMo into a busy schedule without wanting to pull all your hair off with stress? Do you write in little intervals, squeezing NaNoWriMo wherever you can? Or do you allocate big chunks of time to it, even if that means that the laundry goes unfolded for an extra day, the kitchen doesn't look as spotless as it could be or the book you really feel like reading has to stay on the shelf for a while longer?

Lastly, considering that we might not have a lot of time to write every day, can you please share what you do to make the most out of your writing time? I tried Write or Die last night and found it quite useful because I kept getting sidetracked by other things that needed to be done. I think I'll use it often. Any other tips?

Thanks and good luck to all! :)
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Anyone up North??? Whangarei?????

hankypie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:08:08 +0000

hi
here in the winterless north...yeah right...
anyone else up her????
Am I alone and maddddd....
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Introduce yourself!

angrysunbird — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:07:48 +0000

Another year, another set of aspiring writers! So we need a thread where everyone can post something about themselves and we can all get to know each other. As one of the Municipal Liaison's for Wellington, I'll start.

I'm angrysunbird (lowercase is important) which is somewhat redundant as in my experience sunbirds (small nectar drinking birds not unlike Tuis - and be sure to fit them into your stories for extra wordcount goodness) are always angry. My real name is Duncan and this is my second year as one of the MLs for NZ. I also was a co-ML in Sydney in 2006. I've been doing this since 2003 and have won every single year since then, having done Nanowrimo in Cheshire, San Francisco, Sydney and Wellington in that time (and planned an as yet unwritten novel while in the rainforests of Uganda. Lots of monkeys were involved, both in the novel and the forests). I am also now in a writing group in Wellington that actually has published authors, so I guess that means the pressure is on. I tend to write sci-fi, although last year I tried my hand at a romance novel, and it was the worst thing I ever wrote. I think I'll try something different again this year, but planning has never been my strong point.
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2003: St Augustine's Chickens (w)
2004: Arcanagencia (w)
2005: The Exile War (w)
2006: The Exile's Return (w)
2007: The March Beyond Progress (w)
2008: The Monarchs of Paradise (w)
2009: Displacement

Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Word War Team!

Christini — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:55:07 +0000

Okay, probably a little late buuuuuuut Post here if you want to join the team that will take on vancouver!

First twenty repliers (including myself) that sign up will be the team (unless the number goes up upon further discussion with the canadians :) )

If you're NOT wanting to join the smaller team, its okay you can still contribute via the total region word count/ average, but please don't post here for now :)

Thankyouverymuch

*brain is slightly mushy from writing too much for this to make much sense*
Read this thread for more info if you're completely lost http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3286847
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Wellington Midweek Write-in?

u_ne_korn — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:20:03 +0000

Who is keen? Where? When?

I'm so desperate for some socialisation/procrastination I'd almost suggest my place..
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Australia & New Zealand :: New Zealand

Can't sleep wordcount will eat me.

Jesheckah — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:38:01 +0000

Does anyoen else find themselves setting goals for their word count and then just not being able to force themself to sleep until it's completed. I can't believe I am sitting here at 5:37 am staring at the screen because I told myself I would get another 700 words done before bed so I would be at 15k.
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Bling bling like L.E.D.