Quick Info about the Monday Night Tacoma Coffee Shop Write-In

Social Media Reminder about Monday Coffee Shop Write In

Hello everyone!

We have a Sockmonkey Writer who has generously offered to host a weekly Monday Coffee Shop Write In during the month of November.

Things to keep in mind: 

•  This location can only seat 10 - 12 people maximum, including the host***
• Seating is a mix of wooden chairs and padded bench seats
• Outlets may or may not be accessible from some seating areas
• It is drafty and can be loud, since it is a Starbucks
• The host will have a rainbow scarf and a laptop (and may have a sign as well)
• Please DO NOT attend if you have any symptoms of illness or have been exposed to someone who has, in order to keep from potentially spreading it to others
• Masks are appreciated but not required
• The host would like to ask that attendees be up to date on their Covid vaccinations, but this will not be checked

***If you're in our Discord, feel free to send a quick "Is there still room" or similar message in the #write-ins-happening-right-now channel before you head to the location so the host or another attendee can let you know the answer so you don't waste gas or time traveling there if seating is full.

Also, if you'd like to make sure there is a write in at a time and in a place that's convenient for you, feel free to schedule it and send a note in the Discord, via our Facebook group or to me at the PCSockmonkeywriters@gmail.com email. I will pass along the information and place it on the Google calendar.

Image: Blurred white background with a white table and chair top in the foreground. An open laptop with a brown journal and a black pen on top of it sits on the table next to a white mug in a wooden coaster. A text box in the center with a brown heart at the top reads: Reminder Sockmonkey Writer Hosted In Person Tacoma Coffee Shop Write In Today 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. Limited Seating. The PCSockmonkeyWriters Polly Esther and Pierson Logo is in the lower lefthand corner.

RebelWriMo Week One Sockmonkey and Library Hosted Writing Events

 

Graphic with Calendar of Sockmonkey Hosted Writing Events this Week

Okay, Sockmonkeys, here we go!

Whether you're participating in our November RebelWriMo or not, if you're writing or editing a project and would like to join other writers while you do it, here is the schedule of Sockmonkey Writer hosted writing events from November 3rd - November 9th, 2024:

Sun 3 - None hosted - Turn Clocks Back!

Mon 4 - Tacoma Coffee Shop 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Tue 5 - Cave of Time Discord 6 - 8 p.m.

Wed 6 Return to Cave of Time Discord 7 - 9 p.m.

Thu 7 Under the Sea Discord 6 - 8 p.m.

Fri 8 Wordslinging on Discord 7 - 9 p.m.

Sat 9 Zoom Write 10 - 11 a.m.

Please note that seating at the Coffee Shop is limited to a total of 10 - 12 people, including the host.

Check the Google Calendar for more details.

Image: Brown background with beige rounded rectangles that list the above date and event information from top to bottom over an image of a world map with sunglasses and an open notebook and pen on it. The PCSockmonkeyWriters Polly Esther and Pierson logo is in the lower left corner and the words "See our Blog, Google Calendar or Discord for more info" are in dark brown at the bottom.

Graphic of Library Hosted Writing Events This Week

Here is a listing of Library Hosted writing events for November 3rd - November 9th, 2024:

Mon 4 - 320th Federal Way 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Wed 6 - South Tacoma TPL 3 - 5 p.m.

Wed 6 - Puyallup Library 5 - 7 p.m.

Wed 6 University Place 6 - 8 p.m.

Fri 8 South Hill 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Fri 8 Sumner (and Zoom) 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Sat 9 None hosted

See the event on the Google calendar for addresses and links to the library's event listing for more information. The Sumner Zoom session is something they request registration for, so be sure to visit that event listing before attempting to attend.

Image: Brown background with beige rounded rectangles that list the above date and event information from top to bottom over an image of a world map with sunglasses and an open notebook and pen on it. The words "See our Blog, Google Calendar or Discord for more info" are in dark brown at the bottom.

A Quick Reminder Before RebelWriMo Starts (But Also Good Any Time)

 

This reminder is in our Discord and on all our social sites, but I wanted to put it here for any who might not be connected in those places.

It reads: There is a self-care poll going in the server and in our FB group, but I thought I'd post a bit of pre-RebelWriMo info that could be considered self-care before starting a month-long writing challenge: 1. Update your writing/computing device. 2. Update any writing or plotting software you use. 3. Check to make sure you have multiple redundancies in your "backup my writing" plan. (This is good advice any time, but especially prior to a month long event.)

So, have you updated your devices and software? Do you have multiple places you can (and do) back up your writing in case of device failure?

Be sure to take care of this before we get started to help ward off potential tech glitches that might interrupt your writing time!

Fun RebelWriMo Social Banners for Your Use!

 

A fall themed announcement about RebelWriMo Social Graphics

Hi Sockmonkeys!

We're getting closer and closer to the start of November and writing or editing in earnest. I'm continuing to work on events and preparing communications, but I was pleasantly surprised when I logged into the Discord this afternoon and found that one of our members there (who asked only to be credited as a member and not by name in a public post) had created and posted a few fun RebelWriMo social media banners for other Sockmonkeys who are participating to use.

Click this link to visit their folder in the Sockmonkey Google drive, click on the one(s) of your choosing and you should be able to save it to your computer or phone from there, but if that doesn't work, please let me know and I'll figure out another way to get you access.

This is a salmon/pink colored banner with RebelWriMo in large letters above November 1st - November 30th in smaller letters over a dark illustration of a steaming coffee cup.

This is a black and white photo of a pad and pen next to an open laptop with RebelWriMo in teal over November 1st through 30th in white with a bottom border of teal slashes.

This one has a dark brown background with various fall colored plants and gourds in it surrounding a light pink scalloped rectangle that has the words RebelWriMo November 1st through 30th above a divider line and Sockmonkeys Discord under it in brown letters.

This one has a dark brown background with various fall colored plants and gourds in it surrounding a light pink scalloped rectangle that has the words RebelWriMo November 1st through 30th above a divider line and Sockmonkeys under it in brown letters.

I am so thankful for the enthusiasm, creativity and ideas that our community of Sockmonkey Writers is sharing with the region as we start a new era of writing adventures!

March 2024 Update and Stepping Down as ML

 

 

Posting this here so that every Sockmonkey in the region can see it, whether or not they are signed up to the NaNoWriMo website. The text of my most recent regional email is below:

 

3/26/2024 - Editing to add: I apologize if this comes through to your email twice, but I wanted to be sure it was sent by the site. I sent the first draft of this via the site 5 days ago. It was posted to our regional chat box, but I never received it in my inbox even though I have received other emails from NaNoWriMo HQ since my first attempt to send it, so I am attempting to send it again. Also added a content warning for one link and a sentence in the postscript.

Hello Sockmonkeys!

I realize this is a bit out of the ordinary, but we have finally been given more details on how HQ and the Board plan to move forward after the events I mentioned in my December regional mail. Again, I realize not everyone in our group participates in NaNoWriMo and probably few of those who do were even aware of what happened on the forums outside of my mails because they don’t visit them, even during the off-season, but this new course of action from HQ is why I decided to write to you now.

Although it was a hard decision, I currently feel I cannot ethically move forward with NaNoWriMo as an organization. I have decided to step down from my volunteer role as Municipal Liaison for the Tacoma & Pierce County region after 6 years as a result.

If you’re not familiar with the ongoing forums situation I mentioned earlier and would like to know more, feel free to visit the Board threads on NaNoWriMo’s main forums, especially the summary posts from NaNoWriMo’s Board. Leadership failed to communicate well and participants got increasingly frustrated with how HQ was conducting itself so things continued to escalate, which is what led to the Board stepping in and shutting down the forums. If you’d like a non-site summary of events put together by some other volunteers (rather than wading through those very long forum posts) you can read this NaNoWriMo 2023 controversy summary document - but that is not required. (TW: CSA allegations)

Like a number of other MLs, I had concerns about what the coming year would look like, but I was waiting to see what the regrouping efforts, particularly with MLs, would be. I hoped there would be an honest effort to right the ship, but what I have seen in the new process for moving forward and the draft of the new ML agreement are some requirements and restrictions I do not feel comfortable committing to and do not have the free time for. (A link to a copy of the agreement, as well as a brief summary of the highlights can be found near the end of the controversy summary document linked above - although some changes and concerns about legal language are being looked into by a lawyer and the final language may change.)

I currently have no idea who, if anyone, will step up as new ML(s) for the region. I leave that up to the organization.

Your regrettably former ML,

Kyrthanna Elvendahl (she/her)

P.S. This does not, however, mean that the Sockmonkey Writers as a group is going away. Only our officially/non-official affiliation with NaNoWriMo as an organization is ending. We will still be here to support you as you tackle NaNoWriMo or any other writing challenge. Please join us on our Regional Blog and/or our Discord for updates and for links to our other social media if you’d like to get connected with other writers in the Tacoma/Pierce County area. And, while this will also be sent out separately, if you have a few moments, please fill out this form to let me know what sort of things you’d like to see as part of the Sockmonkey Writer’s Group in the future.

Have You Joined Our Regional Year Round Sockmonkey Writer Discord Server?

 (The above image is the YouTube Thumbnail for a video on our regional YouTube Channel. It has a light blue green background with a white stripe across the middle that reads: NaNoPierceCo SockmonkeyWriters Discord Server Introduction. The NaNoWriMo logo and our Regional Mascots Polly Esther Socks and Pierson are in opposite corners on the bottom.)

Hello again, Sockmonkeys!

I introduced this video in a few of my NaNoMail messages and forum posts, as well as in a few of our social media groups, last November, but I realized it might be easier for everyone to access if I put it in a post of its own here on our blog. It will help you make your way through the initial rules and channel verification questions that are set up to help keep spammers and troublemakers out. You will only need to go through these steps once in order to have access and be able to take part in various chats and write-ins that are held on our Discord server. If you have questions or problems as you're going through the process, there is a hey-mods channel you can post in at any point to get help or you can send an email to pcsockmonkeywriters @ gmail.com (without the spaces) and I'll do what I can to help you past whatever might have happened.

Click here to watch the video.

Every Tuesday this April, I will be hosting a 2 hour Pomodoro style write in on our Discord server, which you will be able to participate in if you join the server.

Also, tonight, April 5th, is a special event:

We have been invited to a cross-region write-in hosted by one of the Municipal Liaisons in the Los Angeles region. They will hold it on their Discord server, which you can get an invitation to from the event on our Google Calendar, our NaNo Regional Events calendar, or inside our Discord server. There is a similar verification process to access their server, so you'll want to sign up before the event, although you are not required to join their server and can take part in the bot run word wars from our server as well (you just won't be able to chat with them between writing sessions).

Discord will run on both your computer and on mobile devices.

I hope the video helps you access our server and that you'll decide to join us there for chat and write-ins when your schedule allows.

Happy writing!