Michigan::Flint Red Hot Writers

Yep Yep Yep - for the first time ever, The Office of  Letters and Light (Same folks who run NaNoWriMo) are starting the Annual Script Writing Month called - Script Frenzy. I hope to see all of our writers over at the new Script Frenzy Site even if you don’t plan on writing a screen play….. you can support those crazy ones of us who will be.

Curious as to what this June’s challenge entails? Hop on over to this page to get the scoop.

 testing out how the trading cards I plan to post look on the blog :)   for March there will be 31 of them - to coincide with the 31 days of editing we’ll be doing

It is official Red Hot Writers. Straight off the presses (my email) about ten minutes ago, I found out National Novel Editing Month’s new site has just opened completely! I’ve already gone over and registered as eensybeensyspider (of course) and I even posted a Hello on the Michigan Regional Forums.

To register simply go to NaNoEdMo and click the registration link. To be taken directly to the Forums you can click here. For those of you who may not know, NaNoEdMo is where we attempt to do fifty hours worth of Novel Editing During the Month of March.

You can find the FAQ’s Here, The NaNoEdMo Rules are Here, and to download a nifty icon you can place on your site, go here

I hope to see all of our Flint Red Hot Writers registered and participating in the NaNoEdMo forums soon!!!

It’s gonna be fun…….crazy…..and filled with so many laughs as we once again look at our novels and think, “What on earth was i thinkingof when I wrote that??? LOL

Ciao for now

eensybeensyspider aka Cyli

NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison Michigan::Flint

All these are clickable, and if you click them you’ll go right to the product page so you can check it out even MORE.  Enjoy! 

Red Hot Writers bumper sticker!  (above)

Red Hot Writers long-sleeved women’s style t-shirt! (above)

Red Hot Writers slimmer fitting (whatever that means) men’s/unisex t-shirt!  (above)

Red Hot Writers mousepad!  (above)

Red Hot Writers short-sleeved women’s style t-shirt!  (above)

Red Hot Writers roomy unisex tshirt!  Also comes in children’s sizes.  (above)

I’ll screenshot them soon so you can see them here; but if you’d like to be outfitted as a true Red Hot Writer, go to my zazzle (click here) and note that there are four different styles of shirts to choose from. There is even a shirt for your kids!

EDITED TO ADD:  This morning I designed a mousepad and a bumper sticker.  Mugs and buttons will follow later…

Okay, it’s your fearless web designing elf here… I’d like some feedback on the new header and overall template decision.  Please be specific, both in your criticism and praise.  I accept dark chocolate in almost all forms, Doritos, money, and complimentary cafe drinks at bookstores.

*grin*

NaNoEdMo or National Novel Editing Month goes hand in hand with almost any Red Hot Writers goal. After writing the 50k novel in November, every writer I know has to take time out and edit their work.  That is where the month of March, the NaNoEdMo month comes into play.  Back in the day, NaNoEdMo used to be a lively, active forum for the purpose of editing your novels. 50 hours of editing in 30 days is what made you a NaNoEdMo winner. The original site went defunct, and while ML’s from NaNoWriMo are rebuilding and revamping the site. Right now you can hope over to the new main page and sign up to be updated when NaNoEdMo starts up.

While we wait for NaNoEdMo to come back to life, I’ll share with you some tips from the once grand and glorious old site.

Chomping at the bit to get started even though March is months/weeks/days/even mere hours away? Plan your attack with these simple steps.

1. Step away from the novel
   Once you’ve completed your first draft, print it out and put it in a drawer. This will give you distance from the project and let your mind breathe. Most writing teachers suggest 7-10 days. I prefer a month.
2. Read through
   After a month in a drawer, your novel will be far enough from your mind that it will feel like someone else wrote it. Read it as though it was — straight through in one sitting if you can. Ignore the typos and poorly constructed sentences and focus on the meat of the thing — the story. You will be tempted to make notes and corrections as you go. RESIST! If you must, you can make broad marks in the margin — an arrow or circled paragraph — but do not get caught up in the minutia. It will prevent you from experiencing your story the way it was meant to be experienced — the way your reader will experience it. Afraid to face it? Arrange a read-in with other NaNos. Just like writing, reading will be less daunting in a group.
3. Note your initial reactions
   Once you’ve read through the whole thing (and congratulated yourself on your discipline), make note of your general reactions. Does it flow? Do you like the characters? Are there huge gaping holes? Does it tell the story you wanted to tell (and if not, does it tell another equally interesting one)? Do you need to add or delete people, places, things or scenes? Don’t get hung up on the nitty gritty here. Just focus on the big picture. Look at the forest. You’ll have plenty of time later to deal with the trees.
4. Outline/diagram/map what you’ve got
   I like to make a chapter-by-chapter list of everything that happens and who is involved. Another writer friend prefers to do mind maps. I’ve known people who have done wonderful things with the outline feature of Microsoft® Word. Whatever method you prefer, create some sort of picture of the thing as a whole — including the pieces that make it up — so you can easily see what happens where and when and what, if anything, might be missing.
5. Plan how to fill the holes
   Make notes on your outline, in a separate notebook or directly on a copy of your novel. Do any necessary research. Do the planning you couldn’t do during NaNoWriMo. Decide what story you are trying to tell and create a roadmap for making that happen.

There you go Red Hots - some small but well worn tips on how to begin getting ready for the second hardest part of writing a novel - editing it!

Ciao for now

Cyli aka eensybeensyspider

On this page you will find the updated Dates. Times, Places and Events that the Flint Red Hot Writers of NaNoWriMo will be having. If at anytime you’d like to come to one of our meet - ups and see what were about, or if you have any questions contact Eensybeensyspider or leave us a comment here. As Always with us crazy, fun loving writers, the more the merrier! The address’s and contact phone numbers for all of our meet-up locations will be listed at the bottom of this page.

We hope to see you there!

Schedule of Events:

January 2007:

Red Hot Writer Meet Up/Social Hour: Saturday, January 6th 2007 @ 2:00pm - Borders Bookstore - Flint

Red Hot Writer Meet Up / Social Hour: Thursday, January 11th 2007 @ 6:00pm - Borders Bookstore - Flint

Red Hot Writer Meet Up / Social Hour: Saturday, January 27th 2007 @ 2:00pm - Borders Bookstore - Flint

February 2007:

Red Hot Writers Meet Up / Social Hour: Thursday, February 8th, 2007 @ 6:00pm - Borders Bookstore - Flint

Red Hot Writers Meet Up /Social Hour: Saturday, February 24th, 2007 @ 2:00pm - Borders Bookstore - Flint

March 2007 - National Novel Editing Month - Schedule Yet To Be Determined

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Places We Meet At:

Borders Book Store - In the Cafe
4135 Miller Road
Flint, MI. 48507
810.230.8830

Barnes & Noble Book Store- In the Cafe
Genesee Valley Mall
4370 Miller Road Unit E-10
Flint, MI 48507
810.732.0704

Apollo Restaurant - Reservations under name of either Cyl or Joz
715 S. State Road
Davison, MI. 48423
810.653.3351

Hope to see you all there!

~Cyli

Listed Below are the 2006 National Novel Writing Month writers from Flint, Michigan. Click each writers NaNoWriMo user name to be taken to their NaNoWriMo 2006 Profile Page on NaNoWriMo.org

Eensybeensyspider Municipal Liaison, Michigan::Flint

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Thorisaz

Tempest675

AngelWarrior

Tandaina

Eensybeensyspider

FaithMaggie

Ambellina

Avrowife

Jschu3

Felicity-Chan

Moondustwolf

GBjazzman

WarriorMage

Felicitychan

MacfarlaneBright

AxaCaputSaxa

Caffeinated_Elf

CraigKennedy

KevsWords

Sreed12

Hamelin

Waving_The_Red_Flag

FrawleyHouse

WispWisp

FanShawe

CuteGrl02

Lissien

Tauvyk

QueenE

Mies

Equator

AyrFyre

Pdusen

Caysie

Krista

Dblynkpt

John_Zorn

PluckyBm

Terrie Waterstraut

Mandi

Missmr94

DragonFlight1023

Tshirt

Tehfudgie

Bluespicker

ErinBerin

RotsMan

Wolfsighs

Katepohj

Chandraorr

CarinaMac

Aranarose

Lizghendrickson

Cl5191

Glith

ChristinaMarie

DjReid

Ladyildri

Michigan::Flint Writers are Red Hot!

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