October 14th, 2008 by Erin
Attending: Stephanie, Donna, Virginia, Jamie, Erin, and Alex
NaNo Write-ins: There will be plenty of write-in opportunities during November. You don’t have to attend, but we’d love to have you at any or all. To help you make those NaNo goals (or to make whatever goals you set for yourself, if you’re not doing NaNo), there will be word wars, possibly prizes, etc. All we ask is that if someone sends out a headcount email before the write-in, please respond. If you don’t, you run the risk of the write-in being cancelled on you.
Tuesday and Thursday during November will be our NaNo “two-a-days.” Erin will be coordinating lunch write-ins on those days (expect appointments soon). The lunch write-ins will be an hour in a conference room. Bring your laptop/notepad and write while you eat (the already existing Tuesday WI meetings will stay an hour and a half as originally scheduled, but we will be writing then, as well).
Virginia is coordinating Tuesday night write-ins at Panera on University from 6 to 8:30 p.m. (you should already have appointments). Jamie is coordinating Thursday night write-ins — probably at Ol’ South, but we’ll find out when the meeting invitation comes out (soon).
There was some interest in write-ins on Wednesday nights, but half of the regular crew is busy that night. If you’re interested, contact Stephanie and/or Alex, and y’all can set something up.
Also, if you want to write at lunch more often than just Tues./Thurs. and want company, send out an email and see who else is interested. You’ll probably find someone. 
Christmas Planning: No one was really in the mood for the story exchange this year, so we’re not going to do that. We discussed the idea of Secret Santa or white elephant gifts, but we’ve tabled the discussion until later. The idea of having a party (probably not at a regular meeting time) was also discussed. Think about the options, and we’ll make plans at a future meeting.
NaNo Prep and Homework: We had a handout about the Snowflake Method for writing a novel (http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php). During the meeting, we did step 1 (writing a sentence to describe the novel) and brainstormed them.
Your homework for the next meeting, if you want to participate in the NaNo Prep, is to complete step 2 (expanding the sentence into a paragraph about the novel, covering the major plot points). If you want to go farther in the method, feel free to do so. We’ll share the paragraphs at the next meeting, and we will spend time brainstorming and helping each other with any plot holes that have developed. If you have questions, come prepared to share them. If we have time, we will progress into character creation, using character profile sheets provided by Virginia and character archetype synopsis provided by Erin.
Goals: This month, we had total and utter FAIL for meeting goals! No stickers for anyone! 
For next time:
- Jamie — work on illustrations
- Erin — work on NaNo outline
- Alex — work on outline/research for NaNo
- Stephanie — work out NaNo outlines for short stories and finish two rewrites
- Donna — work on NaNo outline
- Virginia — write NaNo character list and work on NaNo outline
Upcoming Events:
- 10/26 — Saturday write-in, Kevin’s house, 3 to 5 p.m.
- 10/26 — NaNo WI kick-off party (potluck dinner, swag, and games!), Kevin’s house, 5 to 7 p.m. (or whenever we’re done partying Note that this is the same day as the October write-in — come to one or come to both, as your schedule allows.
- 10/28 — Tuesday lunch meeting, Blue (12), 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., second NaNo prep meeting.
- 11/1 — NaNoWriMo 2008 BEGINS!!!>
September 25th, 2008 by Kevin
Just a note from your friendly web host and sort-of Writer’s Ink member here that yours truly has won a couple of awards. My Fort Worth architecture & urbanism blog, Fort Worthology, has been named the Best Blog in Fort Worth by the readers of Fort Worth Weekly, and the Fort Worth alternative news blog I co-founded with four other bloggers, West And Clear, has been named Best Web Forum in Fort Worth by the same readers of the Weekly.
Thanks to all who voted!
September 23rd, 2008 by Erin
Attending: Stephanie, Brittany, Donna, Alex, Virginia, Jamie, Erin, and Paige
2009 Collection Theme: Genre Collision — write a western set in space, write a steampunk mystery… heck, you could write a mainstream story with elements of fantasy/magical realism and romance. Write something that straddles conventional genre boundaries! The sky’s the limit here.
Put your thinking caps on, guys! We’ll start scheduling crits for these pieces in January. Everyone is welcome to participate, whether you voted or not. Though, in the past all contributions have been short stories or flash fiction, we are totally open to contributions of poems, essays, or whatever you want to write.
NaNo Kick-off: The three options were Thursday evening, 10/30; Saturday brunch, 10/25; or Sunday dinner, 10/26. The not-very-decisive vote seemed to be for a dinner get-together on Sunday, 10/26. If you’re going to do NaNo and have an opinion on the kick-off party date but weren’t able to be there today, email Erin.
Christmas Story Exchange: Last year, in lieu of Christmas gifts, we drew names and wrote stories for each other as Christmas gifts. Do we want to do this again this year? If so, we need to draw names in October, so people have time before NaNo to work on the stories. We would exchange them either at the only meeting in December (12/9), or we could have a special Christmas party later in December. Other alternatives would be a $10 Secret Santa gift exchange, or to just say ba-humbug, no WI Christmas this year.
Think about the options, and be prepared to discuss at the next meeting (10/14). If you can’t come to the lunch meeting, feel free to email any thoughts to Erin.
Goals: Kudos to Brittany and Erin who met their goals from last time.
- Jamie — write prompts
- Stephanie — write a story
- Brittany — write something
- Donna — write 2 prompts
- Virginia — write 1 story set in the fictional world from the world building exercise
- Paige — write something
- Erin — finish story-in-progress
Upcoming Events:
- 9/23 — TONIGHT — rescheduled September write-in, Panera (University Dr.), 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- 10/14 — lunch meeting — Summit (13), 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., NaNo planning activity.
- 10/18 — Saturday write-in, Kevin’s house (1500 6th Ave., FW, 76104).
- 10/26 — NaNoWriMo Kick-off party (tentative), evening, place to be decided.
- 10/28 — lunch meeting — Blue (12), 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., NaNo planning activity.
September 9th, 2008 by Erin
Attending: Virginia, Donna, Alex, Stephanie, Brittany, Jamie, Erin, and Judy
Next Year’s Themed Collection: The theme vote is scheduled for the next meeting (9/23). If you will be at PPC that day, you have to be present to vote. If you aren’t a PPCer or are on vacation, e-votes will have to be submitted before the 9/23 meeting to count. If you have theme nominations, email them to Erin by 9/16.
The vote will be done using the new method discussed at a meeting a few months ago. The new method should help make sure that the people who actually contribute to the collection are most instrumental in choosing the theme for next year. The basic rules are:
- If you voted for the 2008 theme and didn’t write a story, you can’t vote this year.
- If you wrote a story for 2008 and made all your deadlines (submitting to the group for crit, submitting to Virginia for typesetting), you get 2 votes.
- If you wrote a story for 2008 but missed your deadlines, you get 1 vote.
- If you’re new to the group and plan on participating in the collection, you get 1 vote.
- If you do not plan on writing a story/essay/poem/etc. for our 2009 themed collection, please do not vote.
We don’t want to be rule nazis about this, but the theme votes are often really close. It’s not fair if the deciding vote is one from someone who isn’t going to contribute to the collection.
NaNo 2008: Around seven tentatively thinking about participating this year. If you weren’t at the meeting and think you’ll try National Novel Writing Month this November, email Erin and let her know. Erin and Stephanie are planning activities for the meetings in October — dubbed NaNo planning month. If you have suggestions for planning activities, send them to Erin or Stephanie.
We’re tossing about the idea of the NaNo buy-in contest again (everyone buys in at an agreed upon amount, and everyone who reaches 50K splits the pot, probably as a gift card to somewhere). We’ll decide for sure in October.
Everyone at the meeting was interested in having a WI kick off party again (with NaNo Balderdash). Details to be finalized during October.
If you’re not interested in trying NaNo, but would still like to challenge yourself during November, what about a slightly less massive contest, such a writing a story every week with a word count of 3 to 4K? If you’re interested, email Erin and we can work out the details.
Prompts: Since no one won in August, we have an extra gift card. The group decided that we’re going to hold onto it and give it out as a half-way NaNo prize — the first person to reach 25K.
Donna volunteered to coordinate the October prompts contest, so look for exciting prompts from her on 10/1/08.
World Building Exercise: Virginia is excited at how well the world is coming along! There is still land available, so if you’d like to join us in this endeavor, just email Virginia and she’ll get you started claiming land.
Goals: Kudos to Erin and Jamie who met their goals from last time!
- Jamie — write “a couple of” prompts
- Brittany — come up with an activity for the next meeting
- Stephanie — write 2 more short stories based on 3-Day-Novel outlines
- Alex — write a new story and 2 prompts
- Donna — finish prompt-in-progress, write 1 more prompt
- Judy — revise poem and submit to EDP
- Erin — write 3 prompts
Upcoming Events:
- 9/20 — Saturday write-in, 2 to 4 p.m., Erin’s house (email if you need directions).
- 9/23 — Lunch meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Blue (12) — activity by Brittany, 2009 collection theme vote.
August 26th, 2008 by Erin
We haven’t had a writing discussion here in a while, so I thought I’d post one. Of course… that means I have to think of a topic! Hmmmmm!
What are your favorite writing resources (books, websites… anything really that help you write)?
August 26th, 2008 by Erin
Attending: Judy, Virginia, Stephanie, Jamie, Donna, Alex, and Erin
Prompts: Virginia is sad because only one prompt has been submitted this month. That means it’s wide open for a winner if anyone can produce 5 between now and Sunday!!! Look for September prompts from Jens starting on 9/1!
Apocalypse Collection: Jamie has placed the order. If you still want a copy of this year’s collection, email her and she’ll send you the link so you can order it yourself. It costs $10.42 per copy, plus shipping.
Shared World: In today’s meeting, we started creating a shared world. There is still land (and boons) available, if you’re interested in joining the experiment. The purpose is to have a place that we can write our own stories in, and to write collaboration stories, as well. Fun, fun, fun! Email Virginia if you’re interested, and she’ll explain the details!
Goals: Huzzah to Judy, Jamie, and Stephanie for making their goals from last time!
- Virginia — write 2 novel scenes.
- Judy — write 2 prompts.
- Erin — write at least 1 prompt.
- Alex — finish SPN and continue Cinema Spec story.
- Donna — write 1 prompt.
- Jamie — actually write something.
- Stephanie — complete the 3-day novel contest!!!!!
Upcoming Events:
- 8/30 — 3-day novel write-in, La Mad (downtown), 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- 8/31 — 3-day novel write-in, Panera (University Dr.), 3 p.m to 5:30 p.m.
- 9/9 — Lunch meeting, Summit (13), 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. — activity by Jamie.
- 9/20 — Saturday write-in, Erin’s house, 2 to 4 p.m.
- 9/23 — Lunch meeting, Blue (12), 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. — activity by Brittany.
If anyone wants a crit slot for 9/9 or 9/23 just email Erin to claim it. We can fit in one crit along with the planned activities. Slots are available first come, first served!
August 26th, 2008 by Erin
Attending: Virginia, Jamie, Stephanie, Erin, Judy, Alex, and Bobby
Last call to order a copy of the Apocalypse Collection! Email Jamie if you want in on the group order to save shipping.
Supernatural Collection: A big “thank you” from Virginia to the group for getting their SPN stories in on time this year!
Weeknight Write-ins: We may schedule the occasional weeknight write-in in the future. No official recurring appointment or anything — just casually, if people are in the mood. If you get the hankering for one, let us know.
Oh, and speaking of write-ins, don’t forget Stephanie’s 3-day novel write-ins (see the upcoming events below). Even if you aren’t doing a 3-day novel, go and write and spur Stephanie on!
Fairy Tales: Thanks to everyone who participated in the Fairy Tales exercise. And, if you want to pursue your tale further, here’s the link to the e-zine that focuses on just this subject: http://www.les-bonnes-fees.com/guidelines.html.
Updated Handbook: The hanbook has been updated. If you have anything else you’d like to add (a mission statement, publishing credits, etc.), email them to Erin.
Goals: Kudos to Virginia and Erin for making their goals from last time!
- Virginia — Write 4 scenes on novel.
- Jamie — Order the APC collection, maybe write something, submit werewolf story to Cinema Spec.
- Alex — Finish SPN and start Cinema Spec story.
- Bobby — Turn in prompts.
- Stephanie — Finish 3-day novel outline.
- Judy — Write a mission statement and submit something to be critted at the next meeting.
- Erin — Write at least one prompt.
Upcoming Events:
- 8/21 — Dinner write-in, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Panera (University).
- 8/26 — Lunch meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Blue (12) — activity from Virginia, critting Judy’s piece.
- 8/30 — 3-day novel write-in, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., La Madeleine (downtown).
- 8/31 — 3-day novel write-in, 3 to 5:30 p.m., Panera (University).
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