Welcome Back!

It’s a brand new year and a brand new semester, and we hope it’s going to be a good one!

Whether you’re new to the Writing & Lit. club or you were a member last year, you’re invited to join us for our welcome back party and book discussion this Friday from 2-4pm in the Lower B Conference Room in Smith Hall.

This is an opportunity to unwind after the first week of classes, catch up with friends or make some new ones, as well as learn what we will be doing this semester and talk about books.

Our December reading list included two books: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (which is actually a play). Don’t stray away if you haven’t read them! You can view the lecture or the movie if you like, or you can just show up and vote for our January and February reading instead.

We can’t wait to see you there!

December Reading

We hope you’re all enjoying your winter break. This is just a quick reminder to check out a copy of Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture and drop by Project Gutenberg to read The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde before January 14th. You can also watch Pausch’s lecture on our reading page if you can’t get a copy of the book.

The Final Countdown

Hello Fellow Wrimos! If you have looked at your calendar at all today, you will realize that it is indeed November 30th. It snuck up fast. You may have finished (congrats Chelsea “The Yerb”) or you may be really close to finishing (Here’s to you Jess “theflockforever”).

Some of you may have finished your word goal, some of you hHello Fellow Wrimos! If you have looked at your calendar at all today, you will realize that it is indeed November 30th. It snuck up fast. You may have finished (congrats Chelsea “The Yerb”) or you may be really close to finishing (Here’s to you Jess “theflockforever”).

Some of you may have finished your word goal, some of you have exceeded it. But if you are like me, you have writers block the size of Russia and dont know where to go from here. Well, get out of your funk, and write. It doesnt matter how much or if it even makes sense, just write.

Remember, if you get at least 50,000 words, you have until June to turn in your voucher, therefore, start pasting your term papers into your story so you can reach it. (I may or may not be doing this myself).

Anyway, there is the Last Ditch Write-A-Thon tonight in the Lower B lounge in Smith Hall. I hope to see you there, and I hope you will finish. Best of Luck, Sam Halverson “FalarieMarie”ave exceeded it. But if you are like me, you have writers block the size of Russia and dont know where to go from here. Well, get out of your funk, and write. It doesn’t matter how much or if it even makes sense, just write.

Remember, if you get at least 50,000 words, you have until June to turn in your voucher. Therefore, start pasting your term papers into your story so you can reach it. (I may or may not be doing this myself).

Anyway, there is the Last Ditch Write-A-Thon tonight from 9pm to midnight in the Lower B lounge in Smith Hall. I hope to see you there, and I hope you will finish. Best of Luck!

Evening Write Tonight

Need to work on your novel? We are having an Evening Write in the Library from 9-10pm tonight! Join us for an hour of writing with your fellow novelists. Bounce ideas off of each other, or just write. Check the calendar for additional evening writes if you are interested.

Today’s Word Count Goal: 16,670!

30% Completion

Guess what, NaNo Novelist? If you’re on track by the end of today, you’re 30% done with your novel. That means you have written 15,003 words if your goal is 50k. Do you know how huge an accomplishment that is?

Typed in 12 point double-spaced Times New Roman font, 15,000 words amounts to approximately 60 pages. Yes, that’s what I said. 60 pages.

For most of you, that’s a whole lot more than you’ve probably ever written for a single project in your life. So go out and reward yourself. You deserve it. Then get back to writing!

And if you’re behind, there is still hope. You need not write 10,000 words in a single day in order to make up your deficit before the end of November. Just subtract the number of words you have written from your goal, and divide that number by 21. There. That’s all you have to write every day in order to make it. And you will. Just write!

Don’t Forget: Write On Tabor is This Friday!

Right around this time of the month, I find that I could use some inspiration. Some refreshment. Some nature. If writing in a dorm room or the library isn’t very good for your muse, come with us on Friday, November 12th to write on Mount Tabor with a fantastic view of the city.

We will meet in Tabor Grind at 1:00pm, and then we will hike up just a short distance and spread out blankets on the grass and write in long hand. Bundle up because it probably will not be warm, and make sure to bring a notebook. Laptops are not recommended. We don’t want them to get damaged.

If there is heavy rain we will reschedule for Saturday, November 13th. By this we mean rain that would soak your notebook. If there is a slight drizzle, we will probably still go. Notice will be given on the website by noon on Friday. If you would like to receive notice via text message, please e-mail one of our officers.

Please note: This event isn’t exclusive to NaNo novelists! Feel free to come write some poetry or work on an essay as well. All are welcome.

Today’s Word Count Goal: 13,336

Now Entering No Man’s Land

You know that part of Splash Mountain where the vultures warn you to turn back as you are ascending the top of the waterfall?

Yeah, we’re nearing that part of the month. For some of you, this part of the ride is a thrill. You can’t wait for what is to come. For others, all you can think of is, “WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?!”

Week one of NaNoWriMo is the easy part. Everyone is hyped up on adreneline, sugar, caffeine, and the thrill of something new. Plot bunnies are multiplying like Tribbles, and the ongoing word war between you and the friends on your floor is enough to push you to write until midnight just to be one word ahead of them.

But week one is ending and the dreaded week two is upon us. No one quite knows why, but something usually happens during week two. Your plot bunnies suddenly stop multiplying. The exhaustion from staying up past midnight for an entire week finally hits you. Suddenly, you realize that finals are only a few weeks away.

We are now entering no man’s land—a deserted wasteland where your muse turns against you and you think that you’ll never get this done. But there is hope. There is an oasis in sight. It’s called week three.

You’ve made it through one week already. If you can make it through week two, you’ll be halfway to your goal, and a beautiful thing will start to happen: your imagination will explode (in a good way) as you start to reach the climax of your novel.

Most Wrimos who give up will do so during the second week of November. If you can make it through this week, you are very likely to succeed at this challenge. So don’t be discouraged. This week may be tough, but once you take the plunge, you’ll enjoy every minute of it, and the ride will be over sooner than you think!

Today’s Word Count Goal: 11,669