Preparing for Nano 2011

Hello,

There’s only 12 days to go until the start of NaNoWriMo 2011 and I’ve been setting up our region, Ireland NorthEast on the Nano site. Looks like there’s issues with setting your home region correctly, so do make sure you do that.

So what can you do while you’re waiting for the mania of writing 50,000 words in the 30 days of November to begin?

You can…

1. plan your novel – pick character names, choose a setting, rough out a line per chapter of a plot, buy a new notebook and pencil.

2. stock up on freezer meals and takeaway menus.

3. tell your friends about this adventure and encourage them to join you, or at least not expect you to be available during November.

4. make a note in your diary of our Kick Off Meeting in the D Hotel, Drogheda on Monday 31st Oct at 10a.m.

I’ve got a title and some character names, so far, for my novel. How about you?

Hope to see you online or in person during November,

happy writing, Grace (ML for Ireland NorthEast)

Read your Work Aloud

As far as I can tell, most writers don’t enjoy public speaking. However it has a number of benefits for writers.

1. You get audience reaction. There’s nothing like hearing a roomful of people laugh at what you hoped was a funny line.

2. You raise your profile as a writer. It’s called building a platform and it’s more important than you might think.

3. You make contact with readers and other writers in a face-to-face world. It provides  moral support, advice, information, and a chance to speak with others who understand the world of words.

Why am I rambling about this? Because the Saltwater Scribblers writing group (contact them on facebook or saltwaterscribblers@hotmail.com) are now organising the Poetry in Motion event that runs monthly in the Droichead Arts Centre Cafe in Drogheda, Co Louth.

The next one is Wednesday the 26th of January at 7.30 pm. Special Guest poet and editor Christodoulos Makris will be reading but literally anyone can come along and read whatever poetry or prose they like, or just to listen and mingle with other readers and writers.

Several of their members did NaNoWriMo 2010 in our region. Go along and support them as they bring their words out in public.

Writing Groups in Ireland NorthEast

The Saltwater Scribblers are a Drogheda-based group who meet every Monday 7-9pm in Barlow House. They’re on Facebook – add them as a friend. You can also email them at saltwaterscribblers@hotmail.com. Several of their members joined us this year in Nano and at write-ins. They write fiction (long and short), poetry, etc.

Ardgillan Castle Writers’ Group. Meets every Saturday morning 10.30-12.30. No charge. No contact details, sorry. Ardgillan Castle, Skerries, North County Dublin.

Balbriggan Library Writers’ Group. Meets the last Thursday of the month (excluding August and December) 7-8.30 p.m. No charge. Contact Jane and Paddy at balbrigganwriters@gmail.com for more details or just come along. Grace is a regular here. We critique each other’s work, provide morale support, and regularly have themed evenings such as; writing for international markets, how to write a novel synopsis, etc. The group writes long and short fiction (youth and adult), non-fiction, memoir, screenplays, poetry.

The Viaduct Bards, Drogheda. They are run by Bunnacurry in our region, a.k.a. Emer Davies. For further details contact Emer at emerdavis@hotmail.com

Swords Writers – see www.swordswriters.ie

Boyne Writers, Trim, Co. Meath  – www.boynewriters.com

Meath Writers Circle – http://community.meath.ie/meathwriters/

I am sure there are more, but those are the ones I know about. If you know of others please let me know so I can encourage them to join Nano next year. I’m particularly keen to get in touch with Dundalk, Cavan, and Monaghan writing groups as I haven’t made many contacts there, yet.

Thanks.

NaNo 2010 is Over – now what?

Hello Writers,

It’s December and that means one thing (OK, two things) – NaNoWriMo is over for this year. So what happens next?

If you made it past the 50,000 words finish-line then you should check out your winner’s goodies, print off your winner’s certificate and put your winner’s badge onto your blog/Web site etc. Then, ensuring you are logged into the Nano site first, go to get your Createspace code at the Prizes Page. You will only see a code if you’re a winner and are logged in. Jot it down. It lasts until 30th June 2011, so you have some time to revise/finish your novel first.

You can include as many pages as you like, not just 50,000 words. Equally, if you have something else you’d like to print that’s OK too. Last year one of our winners printed her poetry collection with them and subsequently launched it in Ireland as a self-published collection. I printed one copy of my 2007 NaNo novel for my book shelf, and to lend to my sister. The formatting isn’t too hard but I kept notes, so feel free to pick my brains via email. Yes, postage is free. Yes, they don’t hound you to make it available for sale to the public. There’s a forum about the offer here which covers more than I can fit in this post.

Regardless of your final word count you should check out the What Next Page which is filled with hints and tips on revision and publishing etc.

If you are planning on bringing your novel further here are some pointers based on past experience of post-nano-life.

1. If you’re continuing your first draft – don’t stop! It takes ages to get back up to speed and you’re more likely to have inconsistencies in the finished manuscript. If you’re about to get into editing, taking a break first is a good idea – it helps you to spot mistakes easier.

2. Join/attend a writer’s group. My next post will be a list of them and I will add them to our links list, where possible. If you know of others, please let me know so I can suggest NaNoWriMo to them next October.

3. Join a critique group like Critique Circle. I can be tough to give/take criticism from someone face-to-face but an online group is a good solution. I’ve put an entire novel through (one chapter at a time) here and it’s much better as a result. It’s password protected and you must register (free). You also have to critique other people’s work and trust me, you will learn loads from doing so.

Even if you’re not going to lift a pen to fiction for the rest of the year, make a note now about next November, we’d love to have you back in NaNo 2011!

Happy writing, Grace

Where I write for NaNo – Grace

Just for fun, I thought I’d upload a picture of my writing space. I’d love to see where the rest of the region’s writers write too – so this could become a series – let me know if you’d like to join in.

Grace's Writing Space

Things to note.

1. www.nanowrimo.org open on the computer

2. progress chart from the kick-off-kit stuck on the wall over the screen

3. heap of paper at the printer is all the stuff I didn’t do in November and will have to handle in December instead.

4. warm crocs as that room is freezing. Ditto on the shawl.

5. usb key on the keyboard – backup regularly!

6. lobsided modem  – plugged out when I really need to hit my wordcount for the day – thus stopping me browsing the forums and my emails.

Honour Roll – 2009 Winning Writers

The following nine members of Ireland North East passed the 50,000 words in one month finish-line during our inaugural year as a region in NaNoWriMo. While we’re proud of everyone who took part, it’s only fair to give this lot an extra cheer. Two were under 18 which is especially impressive.

(writers are in alphabetical username order)

AccentMonkey

Bunnacurry

Cathas

Fiach

Grace Tierney

Inshin

Kevinmarron

Mwlink26

My name is Grainne

Result of the All Ireland Word War this year, run by Farfalla (ML for NorthernIreland) – Dublin won. Leinster in second place.

Honour Roll – 2010 Winning Writers

The following eight members of Ireland North East passed the 50,000 words in one month finish-line this year. While we’re proud of everyone who took part, it’s only fair to give this lot an extra cheer. Two were veterans of the region in 2009 and one was under 20.

(final word counts are in brackets – writers are in alphabetical username order)

AccentMonkey (50,022)

CiaranHodgers (50,567)

Gintoki (50,165)

Grace Tierney (75,044)

LiasCrowe (50,131)

MaeraBlack (50,119)

MariaM(50,218)

RetrosexualRawr (50,192)

Result of the All Ireland Word War this year, run by Farfalla (ML for NorthernIreland) – Leinster won! But special mention goes to Crowley from the Connaught team who wrote more than 27,000 words in the last two days. Amazing stuff.

Well done everyone!