United States -- Maryland

[Sticky] Welcome! Come introduce yourself!

webpixi — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:55:45 -0700

Let's have a general introduction/welcome thread!

(Feel free to share as much or as little as you like. I tend to ramble)

My name's April and I'm apparently the Municipal Liaison - that means I mostly will be a cheerleader, a bit of a moderator on the forums if needed, and generally responsive to email.

I live in Catonsville (Baltimore County, just a tad to the southwest of Baltimore City itself) and teach Freshman Composition at UMBC and CCBC (and an online college that I don't like as much). I live with my husband and my cat, and that's plenty for me.

We're food geeks - rather into America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated - my husband's really getting into the science of it all with some of the classics by McGee and This.

We're also sorta scifi geeks - I'm not as up on anything current, but I'm addicted to Babylon 5 (Except I hate the direct-to-DVD movie that came out last year). I have all of JMS's script books to date and I adore the way he layers plot and character and theme and has such extended-delay payoff. I'm also a bit of a comics geek - I used to be way-90s-Vertigo, but then at the start of last year I started reading all X-Men and related titles. I'm just at the turn of 2000/2001 now.

I've done some one-acts for "the 24 experiment" - a 24 hour playwriting/producing festival, but I haven't done anything "on my own" really. For this thing, I'm working with my strengths and doing a series of one acts, and I don't want to say more for fear of jinxing myself.

So that's me - who are you?

United States -- Maryland

[Sticky] ONLINE CHAT!

webpixi — Wed, 2 Apr 2008 07:05:28 -0700

We have a centralized chat server, if people want online write-ins, or just to coordinate things, without having to get matching IM programs or share their real name/email.

http://chatnano.net/tempchats/maryland.html

(As you can tell, the URL may change slightly)

You can change your name and icon there, and if anyone wants to schedule virtual write-ins, go crazy!

April
--
Maryland Script Frenzy ML

United States -- Maryland

[Sticky] Start more topics!

webpixi — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:00:16 -0700

Go ahead and hit the link that says Post A New Regional Topic.

You can start them for any reason, but a great one may to be to make it easier to find people in your region! Some of us seem to be Catonsville/Columbia centric, but start posts with your county name, city name, or entire region -- whatever feels like home to you!

Also you can start some to share some ideas, some links, some frustrations, whatever!

I'm chatty and this board was really empty, so I started some to get things going, but that does NOT mean I'm the only one who can do this, so come on and start more topics!

United States -- Maryland

Howdy - Spring's almost over, do we still frenzy?

webpixi — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:50:05 -0700

Just wondering if anyone wandered by the forums at all any more. I just felt a sudden urge to do so.

I have learned to never overload myself with classes (especially grading-intense ones) in April again. And yes, I'm here procrastinating some grading -- that class that started in Mid-April is wrapping up now. :)

Anyone do anything with their scripts? Anyone want to try for some more writing challenges between now and Nano?

United States -- Maryland

Maryland vs. Utah! [The Challenge Thread]

webpixi — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:03:16 -0700

Yes, the challenge is on! Shall we stand for this? Utah claims they can write a page in a blink of an eye - ha! I say we have more super-writers than that in a myriad of forms. Who's with me?!!?

April

(P.S. - We can taunt* them here: http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/eng/node/2003223 )
--
Maryland Script Frenzy ML
95% of my word count (of Nanowrimo) was thanks to write-ins. Thank you!!

*taunt = nothing crude, just work up some competitive spirit, of course

United States -- Maryland

It's Over!

Kinkatia — Thu, 1 May 2008 16:20:53 -0700

Well folks...it's all over for this year.
The wonderful adventure tha is Screnzy has come and gone, in the blink of an eye!

Anyone else missing it already?
I totally almost cried at midnight last night...right after I barely squeezed in my last page count update...

United States -- Maryland

Some numbers!

webpixi — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:26:31 -0700

Out of the 84 registered with the region, 48 have nothing in their word count.

When I last ran the numbers on the 15th, the 36 with page counts listed gave us a total of 942, and the average per marylander was 11.214 pages, and the average of those who had a non-zero count was 26.166 pages!

But now, 3 days later, we've crossed the 1,000 page mark! (1092, to be precise.) Everyone signed up gets to claim 13 pages each, or if we just count those in state with active page counts, it's an average of 30.3333 pages!

We have 2 winners so far: Caeraerie and Kinkatia!

(This is based on what was in people's profiles today at 3PMish. I'll continue doing this every 3 days, unless a more automated widget appears.)

Every single extra page you post helps!

United States -- Maryland

Other victories?

webpixi — Mon, 7 Apr 2008 06:49:16 -0700

(I didn't realize there was already a "Winners" thread, so I'm changing this)

What else are we accomplishing this month? This is a place to post about getting a report done for work or school, or putting on a play, or anything else that's NOT word-count related, but still mighty!

United States -- Maryland

Anybody else having last-minute "What the Fudge?" moments?

Spark_Keyper — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:13:43 -0700

I just have to get this down somewhere before my brain explodes. You know how inspiration comes from really weird places? I've been stuck for an ending for about a week, so last night in desperation, I outlined the general crisis to my roommate and asked her how she would fix it.

[Now my roommate has little-to-no story creation talent whatsoever. She hates reading for pleasure (heathen!) and claims that her head hurts just by looking at 2 solid pages of my text for SF on a Word Document. My 50+ pages blows her mind.]

She looks at me and laughs and says "Inter-dimensional duct tape! Duct tape fixes everything!" And out of nowhere, I realized that it worked. Sure it won't be as simple as 'pull out some inter-dimensional duct tape and slap in on the hole', but with some tweaking and overhauling, I can make it work. I was speechless. I think I see the apocalypse over there on the horizon...

Anybody else getting last-minute crazy inspiration from impossible sources?

-Spark

United States -- Maryland

RSVP for Sunday IKEA (college park area) write-ins!

webpixi — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:11:36 -0700

Starting Sunday April 6th....

this is the first of what would be recurring Sunday morning write-ins at the College Park IKEA. The cafe part opens at 9:30AM, and you can get a very cheap breakfast, have kids be taken care of in the play area, and send significant others to play with furniture if they're not writing with us!

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/IkeaNearYouView?storeId=12... has details on location.

Please respond if you're interested!

United States -- Maryland

WINNERS Post Here!

Caeraerie — Mon, 7 Apr 2008 06:08:40 -0700

We all need a thread that gives us an opportunity to show off our impressive verbosity and massive wordcounts! This here thread be just that.

As of last night, around 8 PM EST, I crossed into the uncharted territory of the 100+ page script. Another three or four pages remains for the "Watchmen" script; and then on to the next...

United States -- Maryland

RSVP for Friday Timonium Border's write-ins!

webpixi — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 09:57:45 -0700

Weekly Friday write-ins from 6:30-11PM (store closing) at the Border's in Timonium (Baltimore County - northish)

170 W. Ridgely Road Lutherville, MD 21093
http://www.bordersstores.com/stores/store_pg.jsp?storeID=43

Who all will be there?

United States -- Maryland

Personal goals

webpixi — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:19:24 -0700

What are people hoping to achieve? It's ok to admit not aiming for the 100 pages that makes one a winner. It could be story completion, it could be a lower number, it could be a crazy number, but I'm wondering if anyone else would feel reasonably satisfied with a "lower grade." (Yes, I'm a teacher. And I've realized not everyone needs an A to "succeed" -- a C is all that's needed to claim success in my class, and for some engineering-type majors, expending any more effort than it takes to get a C would be a waste.)

I admit, one of the best things for me with Nano/Screnzy is the energy and sense of possibility -- I always reach out to apply for some job I wouldn't have otherwise, or make some connection. This year I managed to contact someone about teaching for another college (better paying, more freedom) with my screnzy energy, so that's a major success.

I also wrote one skit to have a beginning, middle, and END! Granted, it's a 5-pager, but still, I could see it playing during Robot Chicken, so that also was satisfying.

Page-count-wise, though I of course would love the 100, hitting 2/3 of it would exceed my feeling of what I could do, given my work obligations (3 colleges) and other things going on. 50 should be doable for me, but over mid-60s, and I'll be extremely pleased with myself.

So Maryland - I know that 100 is a wonderful goal, but this is the first year this has been in April, so it may be a new experience for us juggling our life and scriptwriting in spring. What are you PERSONALLY aiming for? (Any success IS a success. And personally, every damn PAGE is a success in my mind! )

United States -- Maryland

Wednesday Columbia BORDERS Write-in! (7-11PM)

webpixi — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:43:50 -0700

As the knitters have now invaded Panera, we shall reclaim Border's Books-n-Chai on Wednesday evenings! 7-11PM (store close), or as much of that as fits your schedule.

(the delay in start is to allow people more time to get dinner, even if it's across the street at Panera)

6151 Columbia Crossing Circle
Columbia, MD 21045

http://www.bordersstores.com/stores/store_pg.jsp?storeID=89

April 16, 23, and 30th!

Who's going to be there?

United States -- Maryland

Tryst in Adam's Morgan

smashduff — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:41:59 -0700

Hey Gang,

I'm still pretty new to the area, being a transplant from LA, so I make a point of "getting lost" in the city to find new things. I stumbled upon this place the other day and thought "this seems like a perfect spot for a write-in". My sweet daughter is off to her dad's for the next two days, so I have some time on my hands to seriously increase my page count. I'd like to head over to Tryst for some coffe, sweets, and possibly martini's (now that I'm off of mommy duty and taking the metro). Anybody up for a last minute write in tonight or tomorrow night????

Let me know. I am pretty used to flying solo these days, considering that I don't really know anyone here yet. But, I thought I would extend an invitation to my fellow Screnzies!

Tryst Coffeehouse
2459 18th Street NW . Washington, DC 20009
202-232-5500

United States -- Maryland

RSVP for Wednesday Evening Panera Bread(Columbia area) write-ins!

webpixi — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:18:51 -0700

This is the first of what will be recurring Wednesday write-ins in Columbia! 6PM-9PM (store closing)

This is NOT the Panera Bread in the mall, but the one in Dobbin Center. (arbitrary decision made for the sake of being decisive -- if someone has a reason why we should definitely choose one or the other, let me know!)

Dobbin Center
6435 Dobbin Road
Columbia, MD 21045

(I just checked it out -- enough outlets once I bring some power strips -- I'll take over some tables in the first section to the left, sorta near the fireplace!)

Please let me know if you'll be able to make it!

United States -- Maryland

Gah! I'm stuck! AGAIN! [Venting Thread]

Kinkatia — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 19:19:24 -0700

Find yourself coming to a standstill? Have no idea what to write? Found a plot hole that you absolutely need to work around before you can go any further? This is the thread to just whine and complain about all your woes.

And I think I'll start...eleven pages in, fourth scene of a musical, and I'm already tired of rhyming and have no clue what's going to happen next scene, because my muses are MIA! TT~TT

United States -- Maryland

Goals and Support Thread

Caeraerie — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 10:53:25 -0700

During NaNoWriMo, authors would frequently set public "goals" for themselves: X wordcount by Friday, 10K day tomorrow, etc. Other novelists who wished to cheer on the aspirants would "sponsor" such noveling excesses: geenrally the sponsor would agree to donate $2-$10 to Nano/Office of Letters and Light if the goal was met.

It was a great idea, I thought, so I'm throwing this back into play here in the MD forums. Note: this is for personal/writing team goals, not for the Utah challenge. Post your goals, get support, load up on a few sponsors and earn some cash for SF, all in this thread!

As an example, I submit this post:

It's raining, it's cold, and the weather is starting to cause me significant pain. For those who remember last November, you will undoubtedly recall that it was just that combination of occurences that powered many of my all-night writing sessions. Add in the fact that I have just gotten permission from a close friend to use her drug slide and recovery notes in a one-act play and you will see that I have much to fuel my writing frenzy.

My goal: 75 pages by April 7 (next Monday). It will occur. Any sponsors?

Current Page Count: 37

United States -- Maryland

Tech Thread

webpixi — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:01:14 -0700

I thought maybe we could share what we've got, so if you're having problems, others locally can help you. Or if you have tips, that's cool too!

(You pen and paper people can lord it over us with your lack of crashing, I know.)

I'm using a Windows XP Laptop, and I've gotten Celtx and StoryLines (by Writer's Cafe). I think StoryLines will be great for decoding my Nano novel, but it may be overkill for my one-acts, but I haven't poked around with it at all.

I also got Q10 (http://www.baara.com/q10/) for write-ins or just doing focused free-writers. No formatting, no distractions. Just amber screen (or whatever you choose) and GO.

For backups, I use Mozy - it automatically backs up everything I tell it to nightly to a remote server. I also tend to email myself copies of whatever I'm working on (gmail is great!)

So what's everyone else here using?

United States -- Maryland

Words vs. pages

webpixi — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 07:15:15 -0700

Anyone else struck by the difference? I like how word count led to such interesting numbers, but pages are so solid. Also, I feel nano's wordcount encouraged flights of fancy, while i feel that a more polished thing is expected from this. Anyone else feel like that?

Or should I just have "Exposition Guy" and "Subtext Guy" or whatever also as characters, to give my meta-writing a place to bloom?

(yeah, day 1 jitters)

United States -- Maryland

Best Times to Write

lonedog80 — Thu, 3 Apr 2008 07:51:13 -0700

I'll be writing a lot next weekend as I'll be down and out after getting my wisdom teeth out. So, if things work right, I'll be done 100 pages next weekend.

But when is the best time for you to write a lot? I'm not talking about minute long rush of ideas, but like anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour or more. I can do 15 minute sprints at work, as long as I can keep my work load down.

United States -- Maryland

Howdy - anyone from Nano?

webpixi — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:43:04 -0700

I've done Nano for several years, but this year, due to write-ins (mostly Columbia Border's and White Marsh Ikea) I finally won with just over 50k!

This year I plan to do a slew of one-acts. I've done one-acts before during The 24 Experiment (a 24-hour play writing/producing festival), but that's it.

United States -- Maryland

What April 1st Stuff have you seen today?

webpixi — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 04:29:44 -0700

It's odd that Frenzy begins today - some may believe it's a joke -- what cool pranks have y'all seen today? LiveJournal News Rickrolled everyone as they announced a "new member of the support team," and in Salon.com, a technpology columnist announced a new service. Ah, here's Google's newest innovation - I'm filling out the application now!

(If you hate/love these, here's an April Fool's Day Defense Kit, with links to some great ones of the past).

Off to class, to collect a research paper and announce the write-o-rama, and try to convince them that no, it's NOT a joke.

United States -- Maryland

Day jobs and sneaking writing in

webpixi — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:57:37 -0700

I'm just curious, what do y'all do, and how will you sneak Frenzying into your job?

I teach at 2.5 schools (the online one starts 4/13 this month), and while 2 of them will have me doing a lot of grading, for one of them, I have the students do "write-o-rama" which is like a self-determined-goal'd Nano -- they can aim for 10K, and it'll still be more than they've written before, probably (though I urge 20K). So one of my sections has a "lab" -- during this lab in April/November, we just do write-ins and word-war challenges.

Also, for my other in-person school, I'm having the students research simple items that they chose -- I'm using these items as springboards for my short plays.

So what are y'all doing? Do you have excel spreadsheets with your characters you flip to when you're supposed to be running budget numbers? Write on the cups before you serve the customers?

United States -- Maryland

MD/DC Metro Frenzy! What is your plan of attack???

smashduff — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:37:08 -0700

Hi Again~

As this is my first year participating, I was wondering what the usual approach is for conquering the 100 page mark? Do you guys set page count goals daily, weekly? I am hoping to get 4-5 pages out a day, and wondering if this is realistic? Anyone with past experience have any insights to share? Do you like to write free form or to an outline etc?

I'd just like to start a conversation for all the newbies (who I am guessing have similar questions).

Best,
~smash