In case you guys didn't know, there are only 5 days left until NaNoWriMo ends!!! 

5 more days of hectic writing and crazyness!  If you have something you want to say in your novel, say it now, because the hours are slowly ticking away! 

Write!!!!  Write!!!  Write!!!!  Don't stop now!!!  Keep going strong!!!  You can do it!!!! 

Well, I'm new to this club and have never before have participated in NaNoWriMo. I just recently figured out what it is! I am so exited for it to start! Umm...some things about myself is that I want a horse really bad, I love to write, read and climb trees. I act out my stories in the backyard so I know how they will unfold and then write them all down as best I can remember. I am fasinated with colonial, prairie, and medievil times. I live in the world of...oh boy, I forgot I haven't made up the world's name yet, but I have made up many of the cities name, and I live in the story book city of Marrott.

I look forward to writing more,

Ellie (Horsewings) 

Greetings, Wrimos!

Cherise here.  I am hosting a little short-story contest on my blog, Poetic Voice.  The deadline is Oct. 31st, and the goal is to write a short story that is exactly 100 words.  This is a fun warm-up contest to help get us ready for NaNoWriMo.  Please consider entering!  View all the details here. 

~Cherise

NaNoWriMo is in FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!

*screams in excitement*

We're having an online party on Halloween, which will consist of much chatting and frenzied excitment up until midnight, the official start of NaNoWriMo 2008!!!!  Be sure to attend! 

Until then, keep working on last-minute preparations!

The first obvious question to ask is: who abandoned the blog? 

Answer: I did.    Sorry.

Anyhow, I wanted to tell everyone about something we've been discussing on the forums: accountability partners.  Basically, everyone pairs up with someone else in the group, exchanges email addresses (if parents approve), and encourages them and eggs them on during November.  The partner duties would include:

1. Sending whatever you write for NaNo each day to your partner.
2. Housing your partner's NaNo on your computer WITHOUT READING IT (unless your partner says you can). 
3. Encouraging your partner when she is having a bad day.
4. Suggesting plot twists when your partner has come to a dead end.
5. Doing Word Wars  :)
6. And any other fun things you can think of!

As you can see from the list above, part of the duties of partners would be to exchange stories via email.  Now, I know every one of you is paranoid that your partner is going to read or steal your story.  The reason we are doing this is so that if your computer dies during November, you won't have lost the story you've been laboring over. 

Now, this whole this is optional, so you don't have to do it if you don't want to.  I just think it's a fun idea to keep us going during November.

As for who's partnered up so far:

Cherise (me) and Mariella

Cherise and Meggy (forgot to mention: double or triple partnering is allowed)

Katie is either partnering with Tinuviel or Altariel, we don't know yet.

Beth might be partnering with Mariella

Mariella might be partnering with Svenja

Basically, it's still a mess at this point.  We're still figuring it out. 

I also want to extend an invitation to those of you who are inactive members to please check out the forums!  There is a TON of activity going on there!  We now have more than 500 posts! 

And for those of you who can't figure out how to make the forums, here's how: log in to your account first (after you get one), and then click on one of the forum sections.  A screen will pop up asking you to submit a password.  Type in the password to get into this blog (everyone remembers it, right?).  Then you should be able to navigate the forums without a hitch!

Blessings!

Cherise

So I logged onto Bravenet for the first time and created a chatroom there. Apparently it can't be just a pop-up, so if you close the page you logged in on, the chat box goes along with it. Hopefully we can all just minimize this and ignore it.

Which means we need to make a party room seperately. Unless someone has a better way to create a chat room -- though, believe me, I will be searching for one.

So if you want to log in it'll kinda be in steps. Step one, log in. Step two, minimize login page. Step three, enter party room. I guess it doesn't really matter though, since we won't be using the chat all day -- maybe ^^' -- other than on November.

I'll get to decorating tomorrow after I've had feedback from everyone on my ideas.

-Mariella

I would like to officially invite y'all to please use the forums!!!  There is a lot of interesting discussion going on there right now.  If you do nothing else, please read the rules of the forum just so that you know them.  The password is the same as for the NaNo blog. 

God bless!

~Cherise

Mariella here. Hmm... my first post. Let's see how it goes.

Okay, concerning group webbie. I created it because I got overexcited (thankfully Cherise didn't kill me =D) and then realized that we are more than two people here. I don't know what to do with that website, other than the chat room. So let's put together a group idea. There's the link to the webbie on the top-left corner. I don't know how to decorate it. Do you want to choose a specific color? I don't know if you would want member bios and NaNo stats. If so, would you prefer to replace your pictures with avatars? That's no problem. Lastly, the blog. If we go along with it, I was thinking it would be only for use during the NaNo season, and in it we will post every participant (in this group)'s word count achievements by the end of the day. I was thinking of scheduled group chats, in which as many of us as possible could gather in The Gathering Room (teehee) and do Word Wars (THE most fun thing in existence, might I add, I really hope we can do it) and just chat and become closer friends. =) This group is capable of a very fun November, but we all need to pitch in ideas. I'm willing to give the password to all of you, but you need to send me a PM so I can give it to you. It's quite silly. Hard to figure out, but not hard to remember.

This weekend I'll work on the chat room and the time zone countdowns. I haven't done HTML in centuries and it's going to be hard to adjust to the tags and stuff... ugh, I dread it. But it'll be worth it in the end. I believe it's been a group decision to go by your own time zone. Ah well, I'm still a proud Mountain Timer, I don't really care. =)

Whatever we decide to do with the site, it's going to be fun. But I need comments from all of you to shape it the right way. Please, please put in your opinions. I don't have enough of them to make this into something that suits us all.

Random fact: Right now I am rejoicing that I hit 50,000 words on rewriting my novel... what a shame it isn't NaNo...

Anyways, don't forget to comment. =) This is going to take a while, though, so after this post has 'expired' (lol) go ahead and email or NaNomail me (my email is available on the webbie.) Unless you are willing to help with the decorating, in which case I will give you the password. Decorating is really quite easy. You just don't know which template to choose from.

I also ask for opinions because I chose a stupid poll website that only shows votes in percentages. Ugh. Good thinking, Mariella.

Anyways... thanks!

-Mari

(Future New York Times Bestseller, Nobel Prize Winner, and sole achiever of Total World Domination. Really.
And the voice of doom. Definitely the voice of doom.
And just the Empress. Everyone calls me that. You don't have to, though.
Yes, this is my signature.)

Well, me and Molly had a joint idea, since NaNo starts on a Saturday, wouldn't it be awesome if as many of us as possible could stay up till 1 o'clock in the morning Friday night?

We could pass the time by:
1. Watching movies that inspire us
2. Read books that inspire us
3. Listening to music that inspires us

Then, at the stroke of midnight (you know, that saying is kind of funny now a days, seeing as though very few clocks even tick, much less stoke at the hours!) We can all get in one hour's worth of writing before we head off to bed!

Well, what do you think? Please ask your parents if you can, and let me know. It would be so fun! Especially because I'm most inspired at night (that may have something to do with that fact that that's the only time my house is quiet with three little sisters roughhousing all day long!)

Also, if we do, I think that each of us should get our own c box on this blog, or use the ones on our other blogs, if you've ever chatted with four of more people, you'll know that it gets confusing! And with all of us having different conversations, it will be a jumbled mess! Again, let me know what you think!

~ Katie

November is going to be an exciting, hectic time.  However, I assume that you aren't just lying around waiting for it to happen.  What are you working on while you are waiting for NaNoWriMo?  Any projects or goals that you want to get done before November?  Please share!

For everyone's info, I have just created a blog for nano and other writing purposes, and to make it easier to talk to yall!!! Check it out at www.homeschoolblogger.com/OutlawedPrincess!!!!

May your pen remain sharp!

Ariana Evenstar

I have a few announcements to make:

1.  There is now a handy countdown timer at the bottom of the page!  Scroll down all the way to see it!  Feel free to move it somewhere else on the template if you want.  I hope you all like it!

2.  We now have a widget!  I took the liberty of making a widget for the NaNoWriMo Lounge, and it is currently residing on the right sidebar.  Check it out and add it to your blog!  (If you completely hate the color I chose, please tell me and I can change it.

3.  I would like you to take note of our avatar.  It is pretty, but it has nothing to do with NaNoWriMo.  I was wondering if someone who has the skills and the technology would make us a spiffier avatar?  Preferably it would portray a pencil or a pen, and have the words, 'The NaNoWriMo Lounge' on it.  Would anyone be willing to do something like that?

Wait, I have a better idea.  How about we have a contest to see who can come up with the best avatar, and we all get to vote on the winner?  Would anyone else be interested in something like that?

4.  Next time you log in, please add your email address to the mailing list so that you will be notified whenever there's a new post on here.

Thank you!

~Cherise