Post by Arilan ML on Nov 22, 2011 0:54:27 GMT -5
Chris Baty: the man who start Nano with a group of his friends back in 1999. He was CEO of the Office of Letters and Light until January 2012 when he stepped down to pursue his writing full time.
Countdown Party: A meet-up on the night of October 31st that turns into a write-in once the clock hits midnight and it is officially November and Nano has begun. Also called a “midnight countdown party”
Donation Derby: The all-Nano fundraising contest. There are six teams and each region is assigned to a team according to a complex system that has never been fully explained. (Some speculate a Styrofoam globe and a set of numbered darts might be involved.) The donations that each region contributes to Nano during the course of the year are all tallied and whichever team raises the most money at the end of the year wins bragging rights for the following Nano.
Halfway Day: The 15th of November. Often the date of a gathering to celebrate the accomplishment of having written half a novel.
KO/KO party: short for the Kick-off Party, this is an event organized and run by the ML(s) where anyone in the region can get together and celebrate the beginning of Nano. This is usually held during the last week before November in some kind of central location.
Food and weird party games are almost always included.
Meet-up: a gathering of Wrimos where the main focus is talking and socializing instead of writing as it would be at a write-in.
ML: a slang acronym for Municipal Liaison
Municipal Liaison: the volunteer leader of a region - responsible for the KO and TGIO parties, weekly write-ins, and moderating the Regional Forum.
Nano: a slang term for NaNoWriMo/Nanowrimo. This can be used as a prefix to make anything Nano related, e.g. Nano novel, Nano headache, Nano chocolate, Nano mail.
Nano Mail: the private messaging system on Nanowrimo.org is called “nano mail”
NaNoWriMo/Nanowrimo: The official, trademarked acronym/name for National Novel Writing Month - the annual creative writing contest run by the Office of Letters and Light.
Night of Writing Dangerously: of the NoWD, is a massive fundraising party extravaganza run by the Office of Letters and Light itself, this event is really just an overnight write-in on steroids. Taking place in San Francisco on one specific night in November every year, this party/write-in starts in the early evening and runs all night. It has included such wonders as a Candy Buffet, some serious door prizes, and a Winner’s Bell for Wrimos to ring if they happen to reach 50k before the night is out.
The NoWD is open to any Wrimo who either donates, or raises donations of $350 or more. Spots are limited by space, however, so it is first come first serve and you cannot apply for a spot until you have raised the money necessary to qualify.
Pep Talk: Pep Talks are emails sent out by the OLL once or twice a week during November that have some kind of advice or encouragement for Wrimos painstakingly written in them. These are usually written by published and successful authors, and past Pep Talk authors have included people like Tamora Pierce, Holly Black, and Neil Gaiman.
Occasionally a Pep Talk will be written by a member of the OLL staff, and Wrimos will also receive emails from their region’s ML filled with information and encouragement.
OLL: a slang acronym for the Office of Letters and Light
Office of Letters and Light: After the first few Nanowrimos, as it became clear that this random idea to write a novel in one month was becoming something, Chris Baty put together a non-profit literary charity to serve as the structure behind the event. Since then, the OLL has gained staff, a really cool office in Berkley, CA, and has launched multiple other projects.
While Nanowrimo and the YWP remain the largest event on the OLL calendar, they also run Script Frenzy in April, and have recently launched Camp Nanowrimo which allows people who want to do Nanowrimo at a different time during the year a chance to do just that.
Over the years the OLL has raised money to build libraries in third world countries, has partnered with hundreds of libraries to promote literacy with their Come Write In program, and, through the YWP provides materials and support for thousands of classrooms all over the world to help kids get interested in reading and writing.
The OLL is funded almost entirely through donations from Wrimos and Script Frenzy participants, though they have formed partnerships with a few corporations who support the cause. More information about the business and fiscal side of the OLL can be found Here.
Region: To help facilitate community, the Nano website requires each user to designate a region - or rather to pick a physical area on the planet and say you live in or near it. There are currently 575 regions to pick from, including "Elsewhere" regions which generally cover any large sections of land with no major population centers (e.g. The US::Indiana::Elsewhere region covers any part of the state not covered by one of the 9 other regions in Indiana.)
Each region has its own Regional Forum. Most regions have an ML and all regions are assigned a team in the Donation Derby. Each region will usually have its own KO and TGIO parties and hold its own write-ins. Most regions also have extra features, such as a google calendar, a Facebook, Twitter, and/or external website.
Regional Forum: The small sub-section of the official Nanowrimo.org forums that is dedicated to one specific geographical region. e.g. the USA::Indiana::Indianapolis Regional Forum which you can see Here.
Regional War: a competition between two regions, where they compare total regional word count, total regional donations, or both. These wars are arranged and formally declared by the MLs of both regions and usually involve a Regional War thread in each region’s forum where various forms of snarky comments and trash talk fly.
TGIO/TGIO Party: short for the Thank God It's Over Party, this is nearly identical to the KO party, except that the people attending are usually a little more frazzled and a lot more exhausted than the ones celebrating the beginning of Nano.
This is an ML run event which usually takes place during the first week of December and will frequently include hilarious readings of extremely bad bits of writing that were created during the month of November.
Word Sprint: a short, timed challenge, usually seen at Write-ins or online through the Nanowrimo Twitter, in which all participating Wrimos write as hard and as fast as they can for the designated length of time. The person with the most words written at that end of, say, 10 minutes wins. Occasionally prizes are involved. Also frequently referred to as a Word War.
Word War: another name for a word sprint, also a name for a Regional War where only word count is measured.
Wrimo: someone who is participating in Nanowrimo.
Write-in: A gathering of NaNoWriMo participants in which the main focus is writing, can involve socializing or be completely silent; usually goes on for more than one hour and involves large amounts of caffeine and/or sugar.
Young Writers Program: sometimes referred to as “Nano Lite” this program is geared toward children and young adults who aren’t necessarily old enough to participate in the full Nanowrimo. Instead of 50,000 words the kids set their own word count goals to strive for.
This program also provides classroom kits to teachers who want to get their whole class of students to participate in the YWP. It fosters creativity, thinking outside the box, dedication to a goal, and, of course, a love of the written word.
Countdown Party: A meet-up on the night of October 31st that turns into a write-in once the clock hits midnight and it is officially November and Nano has begun. Also called a “midnight countdown party”
Donation Derby: The all-Nano fundraising contest. There are six teams and each region is assigned to a team according to a complex system that has never been fully explained. (Some speculate a Styrofoam globe and a set of numbered darts might be involved.) The donations that each region contributes to Nano during the course of the year are all tallied and whichever team raises the most money at the end of the year wins bragging rights for the following Nano.
Halfway Day: The 15th of November. Often the date of a gathering to celebrate the accomplishment of having written half a novel.
KO/KO party: short for the Kick-off Party, this is an event organized and run by the ML(s) where anyone in the region can get together and celebrate the beginning of Nano. This is usually held during the last week before November in some kind of central location.
Food and weird party games are almost always included.
Meet-up: a gathering of Wrimos where the main focus is talking and socializing instead of writing as it would be at a write-in.
ML: a slang acronym for Municipal Liaison
Municipal Liaison: the volunteer leader of a region - responsible for the KO and TGIO parties, weekly write-ins, and moderating the Regional Forum.
Nano: a slang term for NaNoWriMo/Nanowrimo. This can be used as a prefix to make anything Nano related, e.g. Nano novel, Nano headache, Nano chocolate, Nano mail.
Nano Mail: the private messaging system on Nanowrimo.org is called “nano mail”
NaNoWriMo/Nanowrimo: The official, trademarked acronym/name for National Novel Writing Month - the annual creative writing contest run by the Office of Letters and Light.
Night of Writing Dangerously: of the NoWD, is a massive fundraising party extravaganza run by the Office of Letters and Light itself, this event is really just an overnight write-in on steroids. Taking place in San Francisco on one specific night in November every year, this party/write-in starts in the early evening and runs all night. It has included such wonders as a Candy Buffet, some serious door prizes, and a Winner’s Bell for Wrimos to ring if they happen to reach 50k before the night is out.
The NoWD is open to any Wrimo who either donates, or raises donations of $350 or more. Spots are limited by space, however, so it is first come first serve and you cannot apply for a spot until you have raised the money necessary to qualify.
Pep Talk: Pep Talks are emails sent out by the OLL once or twice a week during November that have some kind of advice or encouragement for Wrimos painstakingly written in them. These are usually written by published and successful authors, and past Pep Talk authors have included people like Tamora Pierce, Holly Black, and Neil Gaiman.
Occasionally a Pep Talk will be written by a member of the OLL staff, and Wrimos will also receive emails from their region’s ML filled with information and encouragement.
OLL: a slang acronym for the Office of Letters and Light
Office of Letters and Light: After the first few Nanowrimos, as it became clear that this random idea to write a novel in one month was becoming something, Chris Baty put together a non-profit literary charity to serve as the structure behind the event. Since then, the OLL has gained staff, a really cool office in Berkley, CA, and has launched multiple other projects.
While Nanowrimo and the YWP remain the largest event on the OLL calendar, they also run Script Frenzy in April, and have recently launched Camp Nanowrimo which allows people who want to do Nanowrimo at a different time during the year a chance to do just that.
Over the years the OLL has raised money to build libraries in third world countries, has partnered with hundreds of libraries to promote literacy with their Come Write In program, and, through the YWP provides materials and support for thousands of classrooms all over the world to help kids get interested in reading and writing.
The OLL is funded almost entirely through donations from Wrimos and Script Frenzy participants, though they have formed partnerships with a few corporations who support the cause. More information about the business and fiscal side of the OLL can be found Here.
Region: To help facilitate community, the Nano website requires each user to designate a region - or rather to pick a physical area on the planet and say you live in or near it. There are currently 575 regions to pick from, including "Elsewhere" regions which generally cover any large sections of land with no major population centers (e.g. The US::Indiana::Elsewhere region covers any part of the state not covered by one of the 9 other regions in Indiana.)
Each region has its own Regional Forum. Most regions have an ML and all regions are assigned a team in the Donation Derby. Each region will usually have its own KO and TGIO parties and hold its own write-ins. Most regions also have extra features, such as a google calendar, a Facebook, Twitter, and/or external website.
Regional Forum: The small sub-section of the official Nanowrimo.org forums that is dedicated to one specific geographical region. e.g. the USA::Indiana::Indianapolis Regional Forum which you can see Here.
Regional War: a competition between two regions, where they compare total regional word count, total regional donations, or both. These wars are arranged and formally declared by the MLs of both regions and usually involve a Regional War thread in each region’s forum where various forms of snarky comments and trash talk fly.
TGIO/TGIO Party: short for the Thank God It's Over Party, this is nearly identical to the KO party, except that the people attending are usually a little more frazzled and a lot more exhausted than the ones celebrating the beginning of Nano.
This is an ML run event which usually takes place during the first week of December and will frequently include hilarious readings of extremely bad bits of writing that were created during the month of November.
Word Sprint: a short, timed challenge, usually seen at Write-ins or online through the Nanowrimo Twitter, in which all participating Wrimos write as hard and as fast as they can for the designated length of time. The person with the most words written at that end of, say, 10 minutes wins. Occasionally prizes are involved. Also frequently referred to as a Word War.
Word War: another name for a word sprint, also a name for a Regional War where only word count is measured.
Wrimo: someone who is participating in Nanowrimo.
Write-in: A gathering of NaNoWriMo participants in which the main focus is writing, can involve socializing or be completely silent; usually goes on for more than one hour and involves large amounts of caffeine and/or sugar.
Young Writers Program: sometimes referred to as “Nano Lite” this program is geared toward children and young adults who aren’t necessarily old enough to participate in the full Nanowrimo. Instead of 50,000 words the kids set their own word count goals to strive for.
This program also provides classroom kits to teachers who want to get their whole class of students to participate in the YWP. It fosters creativity, thinking outside the box, dedication to a goal, and, of course, a love of the written word.