Hello Pinoywrimos!

I just got back from my trip to Makati where I met up with 15 other Wrimos to eat pizza and talk, talk and talk! It was such a fun afternoon — good thing we ruled Yellow Cab. :P Thanks to everyone who attended!

Anyway, I’d like to say congratulations to everyone who joined this year’s NaNoWriMo. To the newbies who reached 50k for the first time, to the veterans whose won NaNo for more than a year, to those who have been a part of NaNo for a while but only won this year, and most especially to those who did more than 10k yesterday just to reach the word count goal: CONGRATULATIONS! You proved that 50k in a month is crazy, but doable. :)

If you did not reach 50k, I still congratulate you! The very fact that you joined this year and tried writing is an achievement already. What matters is YOU WROTE, so don’t feel bad that you didn’t reach 50k. That, and I hope to see you guys again next year! This time, we’ll all make sure you reach the word count goal!

To those who missed this afternoon’s event, you can still attend the TGIO party! You don’t have to have reached 50k last month, as long as you participated in NaNoWriMo, you can attend the TGIO Party. It’s going to be on December 12 at Fully Booked U-View at Bonifacio High Street, from 7-9PM. This is your time to talk to fellow Wrimos and people from the industry and win exciting prizes! Remember that wooden journal back in Kick Off Party? That’s up for grabs on the TGIO, so be there to get a chance to win it! Please do sign up here, and if you have any questions, you can email/YM me or just post a question at the TGIO thread. :) Much thanks to Talecraft again for sponsoring the party.

And so here’s a bittersweet feeling. I always have this feeling after November, like the days seem emptier and less…well, exciting. Of course, work’s always waiting for me, so now I must focus on work. I’m resting from writing from December, but I promised myself that i’d pick it up again as 2009 comes. I gotta get serious with this, y’know? :P

So here’s a collective question I can feel from everyone: WHAT NOW?

  1. The NaNoWriMo HQ gives us plenty of things to do after on the I Wrote a Novel, Now What? page.
  2. I believe the website will be up all year, so we can keep on posting here until they wipe it off before next year’s NaNoWriMo. They’ve also opened some new forums for December, namely:
    - Critiques, Feedback and Novel Swaps
    - Novel Draft Aftercare
    - Life After NaNoWriMo
  3. If you’d like a new challenge of writing scripts, you may also join Script Frenzy on April. :)
  4. We’ll also be having a 2008 NaNoWriMo Anthology, so watch out for emails about this!
  5. If you have any suggestions for activities, or if you know of any writing events that you want to share to the group, please do email me about it so I can send it to the groups and post it on the website. :)

We won’t be having the weekend chats anymore, but expect random conference invites every now and then just so we can all talk and update each other about life and such. :) I’d miss you guys too much if I don’t get to see you or talk to you every now and then. :D Who’s up for Laser Tag sometime next year? :D

Anyway, I really should get started on some of my freelance projects that I’ve pushed away this past month. I’m proud of you guys. :) It’s been such an honor.

See you at the TGIO!

P.S. Oh guys, donating to NaNoWriMo is still open — if you guys can donate, please do! This will help NaNoWriMo stay online for the rest of the year. :D You can donate here. If you’re broke, you can still help out here. To find out where your donations go, click here. :D Let’s help keep NaNoWriMo alive!