Daily NaNo Q&A
Q: Hyland Baron, when can I sign up for NaNoWriMo 2006? How can I stay connected to NaNo throughout the year?
A: Sign ups for this November's NaNoWriMo (and the creation of new user accounts) will begin around October 1, 2006. For Team 2005 participants, the forums and NaNoMail will be functional until mid-September when we'll lock everything down to prepare for the 2006 event.
Unfortunately, we don't have the resources to keep registration open to new participants year-round, but you can add your email address to our NaNoRemindMe box and we'll be sure to send you a heads-up when sign-ups begin in October.
Q: Lael Gold, many NaNo participants find that their novels take over their thoughts, day and night. You've had some crazy dreams. Would you stretch out on the NaNo couch and tell us about them?
A: The process of accelerated noveling has definitely affected my dreams. The night following a catch-up day when I'd doubled my regular word count, I dreamed that I encountered a young man in his twenties who, instead of wearing blue jeans, had inked his right leg in blue. The density of the ink was quite striking. The word "PROSE" had also been penned in all caps at the top of this ink-covered appendage. This young man and I passed one another while changing trains in a subway station. Although we were heading in opposite directions and getting on different cars, I recognized him as a fellow traveler and quickly asked whether he was also a nanowrimo participant. After he replied in the affirmative, we smiled in solidarity and hastily said goodbye.
An earlier dream during the first week of this my first National Novel Writing Month was quite dramatic and intense. In it, I observed a lifelong servant ambiguously murder her mistress. I supposed this to be a mercy killing, as the victim happened to be injured. Then, to my surprise, the old servant began jumping up and down while joyfully declaring herself finally free to write. She bounced about elatedly, repeating her delighted cry of creative liberation: "I am finally free to write! At last, I can do what I've always wanted to do!!"
Both dreams affirm that dredging the subconscious, as we do when we write (and perhaps especially when we write quickly and plentifully), is likely to activate this other venue for subconscious communication, nighttime dreams. It also suggests that, along with its pure pleasure value, creativity may be deeply transformative and perhaps deeply healing as well. By the way, these dreams in turn made their way into my novel. In a moment of shameless word debt desperation, I "went postmodern," stating, "The author dreamed..." and filling in the details of these two dreams. All the best to us all as we hit the home stretch. May we remember that our unconscious or subconscious (call it what you will) is very much on our side, cheering us along, and perhaps even jumping for joy!!
Q: Rob Hamel, you recently hosted a phenomenally productive all-night write-in for students at the school where you teach. Could you tell us about it?
A: Each Monday this month I've reserved my school's 30 laptops for my 21 freshmen, and allowed them my 90-minute period to write. We also held one after-school session.
As time progressed, students realized they'd like more time to write. They wanted more in the form of an overnighter. We scheduled our event for Thanksgiving Eve. At 8:50 p.m. students started knocking at my back window. I had 13 students attend: 12 freshmen and one senior. They were to stay until eight a.m. In they rolled with chips and pizzas and sodas and sleeping bags and pillows; most arrived dressed in their pajamas.
I gave them until 9:30 to settle in, and then we wrote, silently and furiously, until 11:00. We took a 15-minute break to talk and fidget, rip open bags of chips, and the like. At 11:15 it was back to work.
This continued until 1:00 a.m. and our second 15-minute break. From there, students were on their own as some dozed off. Five of my students never slept. By the time the event had ended, the 13 kids had added some 70,000 words to their novels that night alone. Two have since completed 50,000 words; a handful of others are fast approaching.
Q: Tim Yao, what is this terrific deal I heard you worked out with your local Barnes and Noble for your region?
A: Gee, and I thought you were going to ask me about the NaNoWriMo hipster PDAs I introduced to the ML's or the wordcount API that I worked on with Russ 
When Bonnie Jean (BERaven, a wonderful friend and mentor) asked me to be co-ML with her in the region, I approached the Naperville Barnes & Noble in September. Vicky Brown Lynch, their new Customer Relations Manager, was immediately excited about the possibilities and promised us not only space in their store for write-ins and the kick-off but to help with publicity with a large in-store sign, a display of related books, mention in their monthly calendar of events (which would reach the terrific targeted audience of people who shop at Barnes and Nobles) and press releases sent to the local media.
The results have been excellent for our region. Because of Vicky's press contacts and releases, a journalist from the Daily Herald came with a photographer to our successful kick-off event (the very first for our region) that featured 31 energized participants. The in-depth story will run in December. Our participant enthusiasm has even persuaded Vicky herself to enter NaNoWriMo this year.
Q: David Bridger, despite debilitating pain from a chronic illness, you've refused to give up on NaNo. What words do you have for others who face similar challenges, and what has inspired you through the past month?
A: I've met dozens of writers over the years who have different chronic illnesses, and they've all inspired me. Writers just get on and do it, don't we?
Quite a few NaNoers are chronically ill. You won't hear them making a song and dance about it, though. They just do the job.
Every NaNoer makes me proud. We all have our stresses and strains, but we get over them, or around them, or under them, and we just keep on writing.
The creative buzz in these forums has given me energy and inspiration every day. NaNo is a wonderful event, and everyone who takes part is an
inspiration.
I signed up for this because I needed to escape from my internal editor. All I wanted to do was set my muse free and get a big chunk of first draft down.
Well, I did that.
But also I met a whole load of wonderful, generous, inspiring people - and some of them have become my friends. That's the warmest memory I'll keep of NaNo.
Q: Roxann Grissom, I understand that you, your mother, and two sisters are all writing different versions of the same novel this year. Where did this idea come from?
A: My mother, two sisters and I are participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. We've written two previous books, both memoirs: Myopic Memories: Girls Who Wear Glasses and Are We There Yet? Girls on the Road. We write as one, under the pen name Rumor Perkins. We wanted to write a murder mystery, so participating in National Novel Writing month was our motivation. We met once and discussed characters and a bare-bones plot. We're each now writing our version of the story, being careful not to read too much of each other's stuff because it's too confusing. When the month is over, we'll read all four books and decide what to use and not use! In other words, 4 rough, rough drafts to compile one smooth, smooth (we hope) final draft, eventually.
Q: Kay Tabin, you're chronicling your NaNo journey in a weekly article in your university's newspaper. How did you convince your editor to let you do this, and how has it helped you in your novel writing?
A: When I approached the editor of The Fulcrum (the weekly newspaper for the University of Ottawa) I had a huge pitch planned out. But before I was even half way through my pitch she was almost more excited about my articles than I was. She had done a similar thing last spring break, where she and several of the other editors stayed in Ottawa, locked themselves in the offices and tried to write 75 thousand words in just one week. So she was very excited about the articles and was more than willing to give up a small chunk of her section to my diary.
This has been a strangely inspiring thing. The newspaper reaches over 10 000 people, so knowing that that many people would know about my failure makes me even more dedicated to make my third year of NaNo my first success. The articles have almost helped get rid of some of my insanity as I got the chance to clearly write out my thoughts and stay focused.
The articles can be viewed at the newspaper's website: www.thefulcrum.ca
Q: Joseph Matlock, Jr. and Kaere Schmidt, you lost your house, your computers, your writings, everything in Hurricane Katrina. In the midst of rebuilding your life, why is writing a novel this month a priority?
A: We met doing NaNo in 2003. We wrote NaNo side by side in our apartment in New Orleans in 2004. We had planned to write NaNo 2005 from our new home in Arabi. Hurricane Katrina took our home, and everything we own including a considerable library and all of our writings.
In the aftermath of Katrina, we have found a new home in north western Louisiana. We moved in on Day 1 of NaNo. While writing at NaNo speed is anything but normal, sitting in our office, side by side, writing NaNo seems normal for us. Having spent time on the roof of a neighbor's house, in temporary shelters with no food or water,a red cross shelter, and then with relatives whom we had never met before, a return to normalcy has been one of the most important things for us.
We have both found it difficult to write this year (note those lagging word counts). Somehow, missing the usual distractions of work, pets and all those other things that make it easy to "take a break for a few minutes" has actually made writing harder. Having none of our reference material, research material or inspirational material makes it a challenge. We find ourselves writing sentences like "and then that thing that I still have to look up is found..."
Being able to sit in a home again, with our very own computers and write side by side is an accomplishment for us... We'd love to tell you more, but we have to get back to those word counts.
Q: Amanda Ratchford, you’re organizing a unique write-in at a movie theatre this November. Can you tell us all about it?
A: The event, which will serve as our ‘halfway there and then some’ party, is called Writers Make Magic and it will be held all day and into the night on November 18th, to coincide with the opening of the new Harry Potter movie. The event is being hosted by Regal Entertainment’s Parkway Plaza 12 movie theatre in Tukwila, Washington.
The day of the write-in, we writers will be setting up out front of the theatre. The patrons coming to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as well as other films, will have the opportunity to “sponsor” a writer of their choice at one penny per word written during their movie. All of the proceeds from the sponsorship will go directly to NaNoWriMo’s Libraries in Laos program. The theatre is also going to have games, crafts, and activities for kids and families going on all day to help attract a crowd to the event. STAR 101.5FM, a major station in the Seattle area, has partnered with the theatre and Fandango.com to give away movie tickets on the radio, with the spots mentioning the Writers Make Magic event. The event should generate a lot of interest in NaNoWriMo and help to grow the program. We hope it raises a decent chunk of change, too!
Q: Melissa Sokulski, you recently opened a new health center while participating in NaNoWriMo. What health services do you think are especially helpful to someone in the midst of NaNo madness?
A: Our center offers massage, acupuncture and herbal medicine, all of which are helpful during NaNoWriMo. Personally, I love massage. Massage decreases stress and relieves neck and back pain, computer eye strain, headaches, wrist and arm tightness. It can get your circulation flowing, especially if you've left behind regular exercise for November.
Acupuncture is great, too, for all the above reasons, plus it balances your body's energy, including mental energy. Watch your writer's block dissolve into solutions for writing problems. If your stomach hurts from too much chocolate and caffeine, or carpal tunnel flairs, acupuncture can help. And, now that it's cold and flu season, remember that acupuncture and herbs can boost your immune system. If your characters and/or plot line (or lack of) are keeping you awake at night, a good acupuncture treatment or massage can help you have a sound sleep.
In the meantime, drink more water and get some fresh air. If you're in Pittsburgh, stop by our center: The Birch Center for Health in the south side. The address and more information is on our website www.birchcenter.com. I'd love to meet other NaNo-ers, and I'll even offer you a discount on any of our services. Happy writing!
Q: Sarah Beehner, you are running an unofficial school organization dedicated to allowing students in your school who are doing NaNoWriMo to meet up. Can you tell us about it?
Last year, I was one of three people at my school doing NaNoWriMo. I vowed that this year I would assimilate a school-based NaNo Army to keep us all going. So I told everyone I knew, students and teachers both, all about NaNo. A lot of students signed up, mostly gifted and band kids, plus my AP English teacher (jennleighh). She even donated her classroom to us after school whenever we wanted to sit around and do write-ins. Every Friday we've had meetings to follow up on word counts and plot progress. We even took over a portion of her whiteboard to list the 20+ participants and our current word counts.
It's a very relaxed atmosphere. Since most of us are typing our novels out rather than writing them on paper, we don't do too much writing at the write-ins. We mostly rant about how far behind we are and how our characters will not do anything we want them to do. But it's a way to connect with fellow NaNo novelists and not have to drive thirty minutes to a bookstore.
Word got out fast; our first meeting attracted sixteen people. The responses to our noveling voyage range from "How do you have time?" to "You're all crazy, I would never do that!" We've even had kids coming into The Writing Center (a group of students who proofread papers) to brainstorm and work out plot kinks. It's always fun to see someone in the halls and have a conversation that begins with "What's up?" and ends with a word count.
Q: Ethan Cooper, you list one of your non-noveling interests as “adventure racing.” What is adventure racing, and how does it compare to adventure noveling?
A: Adventure racing usually involves a combination of athletic events, all rolled into one race. Every race is different, but some examples of activities experienced in an adventure race are cross-country running, mountain biking, swimming, paddling, climbing, and orienteering. Often, certain events in a race are kept secret until race day.
My interest in adventure racing came from my desire to balance many hours in front of my computer with some exercise. As with Nano, I need a challenging but obtainable goal in order to motivate me. Completing an adventure race is a goal I can work toward. It gets me out of the house, and I’m a healthier person because of it. Interestingly enough, I have yet to include adventure racing in any of my novels. Now, I like to think that each of my novels written during Nano contains whole great heaping piles of adventure! Just not so much racing, unless you count dodging bullets or running from icky Martian invaders. That said, my adventure racing has given me a better feel for what our bodies are capable of, and that knowledge definitely helps when writing dynamic action sequences.
Q: Lee Budar-Danoff, Maryland came out of nowhere to become the most prolific region in NaNoLand last week. As you now battle for the top spot with the Twin Cities, what toll is the enormous writerly output taking on your writers?
And what do they put in the water there in Maryland?
A: Many Maryland writers suffer untold sacrifices for the art of speed-noveling. Our children are unbathed strangers living among piles of laundry and starving, while we get fat consuming mass quantities of chocolate and fancy beverages spending hours at our computers/notebooks, fingers bleeding and wrists rebelling as carpal tunnel sets in. Spouses disappear for hours at a time, claiming they are going to work (one husband has gone to Paris). Student writers must ensure lesser priorities such as classes, projects, and exams don’t get in the way of completing their 5K-a-day goal. One writer’s laptop has become a permanent appendage. Another was forced to miss political conventions.
Aside from crabs and oysters, our writers suggest you don’t want to know our water’s composition (something about biotech companies with weird, scary, futuristic names), but it’s been recycled through James Michener, Nora Roberts, Tom Clancy, Anne Tyler, and Edgar Allen Poe. Maryland water, used to produce special liquids such as “coffee,” “Coke slurpees,” and “adrenaline,” magically produces prolific writing. Drinking this water has engendered a tight-knit group of nano-cultists (with supportive families) who, inspired by the NaNoGoal, volunteered to host almost a dozen weekly write-ins, share advice, engage in friendly competition, and celebrate our individual accomplishments.
Q: Donna “Kai” Wilson, you manage over 50 websites, a writer's boot camp, and often write more than one NaNoWriMo novel at a time. What are your secrets for successful multi-tasking?
A: I'm planning three books this year: a book set in my home town (Edinburgh) about a ‘community’ of friends and the people that they affect as they go through their lives. I’m going to try to describe my main characters through the bit parts and cameos that the others in the story have, along with seeing how they think and interact and (DON’T) deal well with their own issues and problems. The other two are sci fi and horror books in the series' I've been writing every year. Its always good to get to November and know that all I’ll be doing is write novels though, ‘cause I take the month ‘off’ and only do basic maintenance on my (60) sites. About all I’ll be doing regularly is my blog (http://kaiberie.com) and chasing agents about the novel I did in my first year. Tips: Ask people to help out and encourage you and connect with the people in your area. If you've got an ML, email them, that is what they are there for. Use the communities without losing time and procrastinating -- there's nothing better than encouraging, commiserating encouraging, and making new friends with during November -- it is how, in a very round about way, I met my partner.
Q: Sharna Lockyer, what made you decide to save up your money for a laptop to use especially for NaNoWriMo?
A: I'd been planning, saving and dreaming of buying a laptop for a very long time. I'd only saved saved up just over half the money though, and knew that I needed it before the end of November. So, with a bit of begging and puppy dog eyes, my Mum lent the the rest of the money. I went to this trouble because I find that moving around when I'm writing gives me inspiration and ideas. Writing in public areas, like beaches and libraries are best because everyone is buzzing around you with their own life force, being characters and ideas just waiting to be snapped up.
Q: Alex Hijmans, you've decided to write your entire novel in Irish (Gaelic) this November. What made you come to this decision?
A: My two main reasons for writing my NaNoNovel in Irish are as practical as they are sly! I know two publishers of Irish language books (which I hope will make publishing the NaNoNovel easier) Also, Irish grammar calls for countless insertions of the letter 'a' in sentences, which word-count will count as a word each time!!!
My choice to write in Irish is possibly even more bizarre as I am originally Dutch, but I have been living in Ireland for the past 10 years. As in daily life I work as a journalist for an Irish language newspaper (amongst other things), Irish is also the most natural language for me to write in at the moment. As well as that, the NaNoNovel is set in an Irish-speaking area, so it suits the novel.
Q: Tiara Letourneau, you're leading NaNoWriMo's very first Tunisia writers group. What do you expect to be the biggest challenge for this year's NaNo novelists in Tunisia?
We have a lot of challenges ahead of us but there are two in particular that deserve mentioning. The first is a very real language/communication barrier between our participants. Most of our participants will speak English, French, Arabic or some combination thereof, and may have some difficulty communicating with each other. This also makes it difficult for some of our members to access information on the site which is mostly in English, though we're trying to remedy that.
Probably the biggest challenge, though, is gaining access to computers. Unlike North America and Europe, North African homes are generally not equipped with a computer, and while it's not hard to find one, the cost of using it for the 50-70 hours needed to write a NaNovel can be prohibitive.
All the same, we're excited to try and we've got a whole month to sort out the details. Tunisia has a penchant for the night life, so I anticipate we'll have at least a couple of all-nighters with dark Arabic coffee, sweet mint tea with pine nuts, and baklava and makrouth to keep us going. And if the sugar can't pull us through, the enthusiasm here will. It's contagious, and I've got a wonderful team to work with!
Q: Stephanie Alexander, You have a baby due on December 1st (Congratulations!) What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of being pregnant during NaNoWriMo?
A: NaNoWriMo and pregnancy have some things in common (you have to have either a little bit of insanity or a whole lot of optimism to attempt either!) In thinking that over, it occurred to me that, with a noveling deadline of Nov. 30 and a delivery due date of Dec. 1, I might be able to balance the two nicely against each other.
Being eight months pregnant can make time drag; I'm impatient to meet this baby I've been carrying for so long. Conversely, NaNoWriMo seems to make time accelerate, because it's easy to get panicky about getting enough words in on time. So I thought the nervous energy of "Oh no, the month's going by too fast!" as I'm noveling would help temper the "Oh man, will this month ever end?" as I carry around six to eight pounds of baby in my midsection.
I'm probably asking for extra fatigue by taking on these challenges simultaneously. After all, neither NaNoWriMo nor the third trimester experience lend themselves to high-quality stretches of sleep. However, I can't think of anything more rewarding than emerging from the other side of this self-prescribed obstacle course with both a beautiful baby and a potentially beautiful novel. That would be creation at its finest.
Q: Starla Blake, what made you decide to write your novel by hand this November? Do you have any special tricks that you plan to use to write it?
A: I'd like to believe it's for all the romantic reasons, but it's not. Mostly, I can't really think in front of a computer screen as well as I can when I start to with my pen and paper. There is something about the way the words and the characters flow for and from me when I write with pen and paper that really excites me about writing. I get thoroughly distracted by the notices of bad grammar or misspelled words. I want to correct them immediately. On a practical side of life, I don't have a laptop or a coveted AlphaSmart.
I don't have any special tricks, really. Well, ok maybe I do -- writing in colored pens. I have to use blue or black ink so much at work that
seeing bright pink or purple really relaxes me. You gotta take the small pleasure when they come, you know. That and keeping plenty of paper in my notebook.
I do transfer the handwritten stuff to my pc, mostly to get an accurate word count, and since people have a hard time reading my handwriting,
especially after a particularly intense moment of writing.
Q: Sherry Ramsey, your 2003 Nano novel "One's Aspect to the Sun" won 2nd place in the novel category of the Atlantic Writing Competition last year.
What motivated you to enter the contest, and what was the most memorable part of preparing your manuscript for the contest?
A: 2003 was my second year of NaNo, and at the end I was really pleased with the story that had emerged; taking Chris's advice, I'd even made it to "The End" this time! But I wanted some guideposts for improving the novel, and the Atlantic Writing Competition has a great reputation for providing entrants with professional feedback, so it seemed like a good idea.
The most memorable part of getting the manuscript ready? Knowing I had to add another 15k or so to really flesh out the story, and then procrastinating on the rewrite until a month before the deadline. But hey, after NaNo, 15k in a month should be a breeze, right? Ha! I frantically carried the manuscript everywhere with me for the month of July (camping trips, road trips, beach), recruited my sister and fellow Wrimo (Scribe81) as copyeditor, and mailed it out two days before the deadline. Whew!
The feedback, as expected, was wonderfully helpful. The 2nd place award came as a surprise, though. A science fiction novel doing well in a mostly literary competition? Weird. I'm finishing up a second rewrite now, and then it goes off to publishers. I'll keep you posted...
Q: Fionan Juan, you're leading NaNoWriMo's very first official venture into South Africa. What activities and exercises do you have planned for your Nano group?
A: The South African Nano experience is, by nature of the vast distances and crappy public transport system, a solitary one. This year we are attempting what no Nano group in South Africa has before: to actually get together for a meet. Its baby steps, with some of our writers in the middle of exams, but I am ever optimistic. Our meets will be in the crypt of St. Georges Cathedral in the centre of Cape Town. Hopefully this will provide enough inspiration for the plot-challenged. I am also working in conjunction with members of the Out to Lunch group, hosted by the Center for the Book in Cape Town. Our numbers are small, but our determination and drive?... Well, I guess come November 30, we will see just what South Africa has to offer! Our goodie bags are ready, pencils sharpened, and plot bunnies well fed. November 1 here we come!
Q: Diana, last year you created and channeled the “Magical Novel Writing Faerie.” Everyone “she” visited reached the 50,000 word goal. Will she be back this year?
Last year I started sending out fun, helpful emails from the “Magical Novel Writing Faerie” to help people deal with Writer's Block. After seeing how much the Faerie helped people last year (and of course how much fun those visits were to write), I will certainly be bringing her back for another round.
For those of you who did not hear of her last year, the Magical Novel Writing Faerie is what I like to call a muse-for-hire. Last year I started writing 'visits' to people in need, be it help with Writer's Block, a stubborn internal editor, uncooperative characters, or even a celebration that they were needing. After the first few I wrote, people began telling me how much help she had been and thanking me, so I started sending out more 'visits' to whoever asked for them.
This year, I am again sending her out to those in need—I have already sent a couple, and am ready to send more as soon as the need arises. If you would like a visit, feel free to send me a NaNoMail (http://www.nanowrimo.org/userinfo.php?uid=58667) or email (ladyvivamus@hotmail.com ), whichever you prefer.
I'm looking forward to sending the Faerie out to as many people as possible, so if you need her, don't hesitate to ask!
Q: Bonnie, you were blind for an entire year, and didn't know whether or not you would recover your sight. How has the loss of vision affected your noveling?
A: In January of 1998, I graduated from Loyola University in Chicago, IL. My PhD degree landed me my dream job teaching college on an Indian reservation. In March, on a routine visit to my doctor, I complained of occasional blurry vision. He referred me to a specialist who told me I was going blind. After a second, and then, a third opinion, the recommendation was immediate surgery. No one could tell me what the outcome would be because this was a rare condition, causes unknown.
Two surgeries were required. For one year, I was blind. I did not know how much I would be able to see again, or if I would ever be able to see again at all. Thanks to a lot of prayer and surgical skill, I did regain most of my sight.
I have to limit my reading and writing but I don't think too much about what I can't do, because there is so much that I can. Of course, I lost the dream job. It's taken me a long time to get back on my feet. I am finally teaching college, which is what I wanted to do. During this time of unemployment and a relationship gone bad, I had lost a lot of my self-confidence.
It's a hard lesson, realizing that you are helpless, with no control of your circumstances. I heard about NaNoWriMo from some writer friends of mine. At a time when everything was limited to me, when nothing was happening, NaNoWriMo was something to do at a time when I had a lot of time on my hands. This was in 2003. I won. In 2004, there was no question about whether or not I would do NaNo again. I won and I was ML for my area.
This year, I'm co-ML with a NaNo writing buddy, NewMexicoKid, whom I haven't even met yet! We met in the Nano forums and stayed in touch. I met one of my best friends on NaNo last year, Riverchic. This year, I'm introducing my students to NaNoWriMo, and writing a lesson plan just for them. It's not just about the writing, it's about community, and confidence, and courage. It's about crazy courage- I tell my students to look at Chris Baty's example of how he started out with an idea and a group of friends, and made such a difference in the world.
This year, I'm editing my 2004 Nano novel for possible publication. If it happens, that would be wonderful, but if it doesn't, that's ok too. Being blind has taught me that it's not what you do, but who you are. NaNoWriMo reminds me every year that it is not the product but the process. The joy is in the doing. Have an idea? See where it goes! Magic happens.
Q: Cybele May, You seem to be everywhere on the forums at all times. How is that possible?
A: During the server upgrade process, we had my brain linked via fiber optic cable directly to the server. The cables are a little awkward when I sleep but otherwise comfortable. Actually, besides just keeping the forum window open in the background while I'm working on other things I use the site's new features. One of the best new feature is the enhanced notifications - you can set the site to email you or send you a private message when there's a new post in a thread or even in a forum (like your regional lounge or genre lounge). So, while it looks like I must be sitting on the site hitting the refresh button in the Rules, Regulations, and Other Minutiae, I'm really not. Okay, maybe sometimes I am. The other great new feature this year is the "report" button on all posts. This is helpful in two ways. If you see something that's posted that's inappropriate or perhaps just posted in the wrong forum, you can flag it for me to look at by simply clicking that and giving me a brief line about why you've flagged it. The second way you can use this is to flag your own posts in case you accidentally double posted or want me to move something.
Q: Erin Allday, what the heck is a Municipal Liaison?
A: I like to think that Municipal Liaisons, or MLs, are the heart of NaNoWriMo. Clichéd? Yes. But true. MLs are local volunteers who are the cheerleaders, social chairs, and structural backbone for NaNoWriMo in their area.
MLs organize events throughout the NaNoWriMo season, typically starting with a kick-off party in late October and ending with a Thank God It’s Over party in early December. Throughout November they coordinate write-ins—when writers get together in cafes and libraries and other public places to, well, write together on laptops and in notebooks—and other activities to bring Wrimos together.
At the same time, they moderate their regional forums, answer questions from local participants, and generally browbeat their participants into writing 50,000 words. It’s a tough job sometimes—a lot like herding especially cranky, overly-caffeinated, sleep-deprived cats—but also incredibly rewarding.
If you’re interested in becoming an ML, check out our requirements (http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=16) –you need to have participated in at least one prior NaNoWriMo and be over 18 years old. Then email me!
If you’re a participant and want to find the ML for your region, look at on the contact page here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=6.
Q: Sam Hallgren, NaNoWrimo's podcast "WrimoRadio" seems a really cool idea.
But I have no idea what a podcast is and I have no idea how to listen to one.
A: You don't know what a PODCAST is? Don't worry. You're not alone.
According to a recent poll, only about 20% of internet users had ever
heard of podcasts ... and even fewer have actually listened to them. (I'd
never heard of them until I started making one, back in March of this
year.) Basically, a podcast is just an audio file that's been posted on a
website. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection can enjoy the
pleasures of podcasts -- including "WrimoRadio." What makes podcasts
different from normal website audio files is the special coding (called
RSS, or "Real Simple Syndication") built into the website that allows
listeners to SUBSCRIBE to the site's audio. By subscribing to a podcast,
new shows will automatically download to your computer as soon as they're
posted ... sort of like having a (pre-recorded) online radio show that you can listen to
whenever you feel like it.
Subscribing is easy. But just like downloading anything on the internet,
the faster your internet connection speed, the faster podcasts will
download to your computer. To learn how to subscribe to "WrimoRadio," go
to the WrimoRadio Q&A
(http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/xoopsfaq/index.php?cat_id=9) and look
under "How do I listen to WrimoRadio?"
The next episode of WrimoRadio will launch on Monday, October 31.
Q: Hyland Baron, what's the deal with the laptop library?
A: Each year we collect and maintain a small but mighty fleet of workhorse computers for folks whose only barrier to authoring a life-altering tome is a computer to bang it out on. Alas, our limited supply falls short of the demand... so this year we are asking prospective borrowers to send a detailed request to laptops@nanowrimo.org by October 15. We’ll review the requests carefully and send laptops out to those with the greatest need on or around the 22nd.
If you'd like to be considered for a laptop, please send a borrowing request to laptops@nanowrimo.org. In the email, please include your name, NaNoWriMo username, and a brief (1000 words or less) explanation of why a laptop would be helpful to your noveling efforts.
For more info on the library, check out http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=15
Q: Ellen Martin, what is this Young Writers Program? And how can I sign my kid up for it?
The NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program (YWP) is every young writer's hot new ticket to fame and fortune. As a sibling website to NaNoWriMo.org, YWP is the new home for 12-and-under writers and the K-12 set taking part in NaNoWriMo as a classroom exercise.
We’ve given the program some running shoes by creating a stand-alone site (http://www.nanowrimo.org/ywp), toning up the teacher resources, and classroom-friendly forums. For years, youngsters and parents have been pleading with us to create a kid-friendly message board. We also have customizable word counts, lesson plan ideas, and starter kits that we send out to classrooms by mail.
How to sign up: Go to http://www.nanowrimo.org/ywp and click on the “Sign up now!” link at the top of the page. Then, you’ll be directed to the appropriate registration form. All users have to be validated by our staff before activation, so please note that it may take a day or two before you have access.
Here’s to the next generation of novelists!
Q: Russ, what juicy new features are you launching this year on the NaNoWriMo site?
I'm so glad you asked.
There are some completely new things, like WrimoRadio, that are completely different than anything we've ever done before and the Live Chat feature that will be available sometime in the next couple of days.
There are number of major enhancements that will be deployed in the weeks leading up to november, including new NaNoMail features, a Writing Buddy List, and a couple of things that are too wonderful to talk about.
We've also made some quieter changes by upgrading the forums area. The biggest complaint we had last year was that you could no longer mark topics or forums as read. This feature is back, along with a new compact view mode that hides signatures, a 'Report this Post for Moderation' button, and the return of the polling booth.
We have a new sister site, NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program, which is for teachers and students working on NaNoWriMo in the classroom.
And finally, we have a couple of new profile fields, a lot of new forums and a LOT of new Regional Lounges.
Have fun trying everything out, and please post in the 'Site and Message Board Feedback and Suggestions' forum if you have any questions or if you find anything that isn't working perfectly!