We have a winner of the “No Plot? No Problem!” novel-writing kit: Scott Cowley

Scott says he is working on his first NaNoWriMo novel, and we can hope this kit will help him in his high-speed creation of novelistic wonder.

How is my own NaNo novel coming? Here’s what I’ve learned in the past week: The minute I announced that I would be posting my novel to the web in draft form on the day I wrote it, in that minute I damned myself to being unable to write a single word.

The knowledge that my craptastic, awful, reaching, super-drafty first draft sentences would be exposed to the glaring light of day — and to the eyeballs of readers — was enough to quash my writing completely. I’ve barely been able to write semi-factual blog posts all week, such was the reaction of my inner editors to my plan.

So this morning I decided I would do as I’ve always done and write my terrible first drafts for myself only. I started writing.

Sixteen minutes later, I had written 519 words and had at last truly begun my NaNoWriMo 2009 adventure.

Others can write their novels with people reading over the shoulder; I admire their confidence and wish them well. Myself, I’ll be writing my terrible prose more privately.

finlay is five, originally uploaded by papalamour.

Five years ago, right around this time, a half-dozen or so bloggers in the Pittsburgh area were reading each others’ blogs, commenting, and generally marveling at the discovery that each of us was not alone — that there were not a few folks in the region who had started writing online.

We were a motley collection, writing about politics or sports or writing or random cultural flotsam. While there was no unity of theme, we shared a passion for sharing.

Several bloggers made extensive effort to compile blogrolls of Pittsburgh blogs. Everyone linked to everyone, but it was hard to tell which blogs were about what.

As I recall it, then two things happened. First, Mike Woycheck started on his own to create a site both to list and to aggregate the posts of all the Pittsburgh blogs (an ambitious undertaking indeed). Second, independently, some of the bloggers (Vanessa & Christina, Anne, and I) decided we should all get together and have lunch or a drink or something, in real life rather than just online.

Somehow the two efforts became combined, and we found ourselves with a website — www.PghBloggers.org — and a social event — the first Pittsburgh BlogFest.

Both efforts got off to strong starts. About 20 bloggers attended the first BlogFest. The shocking thing was not the size of the crowd but how well we enjoyed each others company. We immediately made plans to make a habit of convening.

Notably, Mike Woycheck was unable to attend the first fest, but he proceeded to make up for his absence by constructing and launching the website on which we depend to this day.

I don’t know the exact date of the launch. (Please comment if you do.) What I do know is that it’s time to celebrate.

Pittsburgh BlogFest 19: Happy birthday to us!

Come meet your fellow bloggers and social media types in a friendly, unstructured setting. BlogFest is an informal and friendly quarterly gathering of local bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, and anyone who enjoys life on the Internet. It’s more happy hour than meeting: No talks will be given, no credentials required.

WHAT: Pittsburgh Blogfest 19
WHEN: FRIDAY, November 20, 2009, 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM and beyond
WHERE: Finnegan’s Wake (near PNC Park, 20 General Robinson St., North Shore, 412-325-2601), in the Pub Room
WHO: All local bloggers, podcasters, and social media folk of all stripes (and their friends… feel free to bring some even if they don’t blog!)

Food and beverages will be available for purchase from Finnegan’s Wake, as always. Arrive when you like, leave when you must.

SMOKING NOTE: As always, the room in which we’ll be blogfesting will be smoke-free.

If you plan to attend, please send an e-mail to blogfest AT pghbloggers.org

Or to RSVP, leave a comment below. I hope to see you there.

Back Bay Brewing cap, originally uploaded by cynthiacloskey.

It’s November, that heady month when people across the Web and around the world leave behind silly things such as reason and rationality and hygiene and take on tremendous challenges. NaNoWriMo. NaBloPoMo. DrawMo! And many other Mos of which I’m as yet unaware.

This year I’m tackling DrawMo and NaNoWriMo, with special twists on each:

For DrawMo, I’m working with just one medium: the Brushes app on my iPhone. I’m not an accomplished artist, I have never worked in waterpaint, and I downloaded Brushes just yesterday. Above you can see my first drawing. It’s interestingly difficult to paint with your finger on a tiny screen. The good news is I can only improve.

For NaNoWriMo, I’m going to do something I haven’t done in any of the years I’ve done this event: I’m going to post everything in the novel, in full, as it’s written. Yes, I’m going to expose every word of what is sure to be a really shitty first draft to the glaring light of the Web. I won’t do it on this blog — I have another site all set that is more sturdy, the better to withstand the onslaught of terrible fiction.

The thing is, I haven’t written today’s quota of words for the novel yet, and due to tomorrow’s work schedule I need to go to sleep right now. So I’ll be starting this novel a day behind.

No matter. I can catch up.

Are you thinking of getting in on this impossible challenge action? I hope you are. I could use the company.

To tempt you, I am offering a prize: an official “No Plot? No Problem!” novel writing kit, a product of the NaNoWriMo organization. I have one kit, brand new and unopened, from a past year when I was a Municipal Liaison. It includes:

• The excellent NaNoWriMo writing guide No Plot? No Problem!, written by Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo
• Daily noveling briefs
• A month-long, guided, displayable log with gold stars for keeping track of progress
• Motivational materials
• The Radiant Badge of the Triumphant Wordsmith

You know that you want this. The price on it is $19.95, but they aren’t sold any more, so who knows what it might be worth. It’s a collector’s item. It’s a major award!

To enter the drawing to win, please comment below. Your comment must contain either (1) the working title of the NaNoWriMo novel that you will write this month, which name you may change at will later but that you commit to finishing under some name; or if you are not doing NaNoWriMo this year, (2) the title and synopsis of an original novel that you will not be writing. The wackier, the better. (That is, you don’t get more chances for writing a weird and wild synopsis, but I will enjoy reading about it more.)

UPDATE: Additional rule: To win the noveling kit, you must supply a mailing address for me to ship to that is within the United States. International postal costs are a killer, eh?

I’ll hold the drawing Wednesday, so you’ll still have most of the month to make use of the noveling kit’s advantages.

Write on! Draw on!

Casualties of PodCamp Pittsburgh 4 (a partial list)

• Inadequate sleep for the several weeks leading to the event, resulting in reductions in health, well-being, good humor, and customary sangfroid
• Dissolution of any semblance of schedule or of feeling caught up
• Near-death experience for our office plant (above)

Beneficial Outcomes of PodCamp Pittsburgh 4 (also a partial list)

• New friends and connections in Pittsburgh and farther afield
• Oodles of new information to think about and internalize
• Fantastically positive response to my sessions, encouraging me to think of ways to build upon the concepts I presented

Each year, PodCamp Pittsburgh gets a little bigger and a lot better. This year, we had fantastic sponsors; varied and informative sessions full of discussion, ideas, debate, and energy; rooms packed with engaged participants, each with their own experience to share; and more than enough food (thanks again to the wonderful sponsors mentioned earlier).

I’m still recovering and absorbing all that happened, and I’m so glad to have been part of it.

I have a new post on the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Outside Perspective blog, “A year in 39 minutes.” It’s about the lovely performance of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons I attended Friday night.

In the course of writing the post, I discovered a few movie trailers that use The Four Seasons as their soundtrack. Here’s the one I enjoyed most, sort of for the music but mostly for the reminder of what a fantastic movie it is:

Maybe you’d like to hear the music without a voiceover? Here’s an impressive performance (not the one used in the movie above):

Vivaldi Four Seasons (Winter) Gil Shaham violin

"sitting room" by Uncle Crappy

Just 10 days until PodCamp Pittsburgh 4 — and only 9 until the opening Meet-and-Greet event.

I hope to see you there.

Amusing compilation of the many, many times current films use the absence of cellphone signal as a plot point.

“No Signal (and other cellular drama)”

Via screenwriter John August.

With leaders of the twenty largest economies, their assistants and entourages, worldwide news media, and demonstrators and protesters of all stripes converging this week on Pittsburgh, life in this region has begun to feel a wee bit tense.

OK, more than a wee bit. So far there have been people hanging banners from bridges, march permit applications ignored or revoked, windows boarded over, Pittsburgh businesses and schools closed for the rest of the week, personal friends of mine pre-emptively called up from the reserves to help quell any violence, and lots and lots of people looking anxiously about.

I wish and hope that whatever happens could end up like this video.

“Une americaine a Paris“

The band is Rupa & the April Fishes. This song nicely fits the description of their music being an “enchanting mix of chic French nouvelle vague, rousing Latin alternative grooves, energetic Gypsy swing, and dreamy Indian ragas.” That’s something we’d like to see in Pittsburgh this week I think.

Qu’est-ce tu pense, qu’est-ce tu pense?
C’est histoire.

"Pittsburgh" by JOE M500

Last week I was honored to talk with some of my smart friends in the Pittsburgh social media scene. The topic was the G20 Summit next week in Pittsburgh — what we can expect and how can social media creators be involved.

Mike Sorg, new media producer and fellow PodCamp Pittsburgh organizer,  put it all together. The participants were Tim Hindes, Grants Manager and Creative Director with GSP Consulting; Elizebeth Perry, a sketch blogger and Technology Coordinator at the the Ellis School; Norm Huelsman, Assistant Director of Public Relations with the Art Institute of Pittsburgh; and me.

Visit the PodCamp Pittsburgh site to hear the discussion.

Highlights: What is the G20 Summit; how are preparations affecting life in the region; what role can social media creators — bloggers, twitterers, etc — play in understanding and discussing the G20; is this a good thing or bad thing for Pittsburgh; predictions and suggestions.

Behind-the-scenes note: I was running a fever of about 101 degrees the evening of our discussion, thanks to a late-summer flu I picked up. I’d like to blame the fever for any particularly wandering trains of thought I followed during the talk, but really that’s how I am all the time.

Pretty shoes, yes?

Unfortunately, they are the cruel shoes.

The heels aren’t high, and because they’re wedges they are quite stable to walk on. But that pretty, shiny leather is quite sharp, as I discovered when I foolishly wore the shoes. I walked a single block, from car to theater door. By the time I reached my seat, toes were bleeding on both feet.

I found that if I walked very, very slowly, I could reduce the friction of the shoes on my tender skin, and thereby move without wincing. I still took the shoes off for the walk back to the car.

And yet I can’t bear to throw them away.