CWN Project

Voting!

2007-10-10T01:16:02Z

The voting for the theme and for the charity will begin today! I'm hoping that there'll be a good turn-out to vote.

Another Calendar

2007-10-08T02:11:39Z

At the moment we are still trying to decide on the theme for our main calendar, but we have come up with an idea for a secondary calendar, which will be a lot of fun, I can see already. It will be interesting having two calendars that are very very different. I'll announce the theme for that one soon.

Starting Again

2007-10-04T09:27:19Z

So, we're starting again. I do have to apologise for the very long hiatus.
We're starting with the CWN calendar- that is our project for the artists amongst us.
We're currently trying to decide on a theme and on a charity.

Art

2006-12-19T08:57:16Z

We're now also going to do a spinoff project, for artists. This will hopefully include a calendar and a photobook. I only announced it today, (actually I only thought of it today) so I'm hoping for the best in terms of responses and logistics. Any profits from the artists amongst us will also go to the same charity. We'll also still be called CWN, but their spinoff I think will be known as CAN. ie, Artist Ninjas. But we'll all be functioning together.
I'm excited about this new spinoff, and I hope you will be too!

New Affiliate

2006-11-07T09:45:54Z

http://www.bluesbros.us/ Blues Brothers Fansite

This is our new affiliate. She'll be hosting our banner on her site. Check out her site! Thanks

Hiatus

2006-11-07T08:05:24Z

This LJ is designed to tell people about the group project process. Well, I think this involves being truthful about the difficulties as well.
I am still fully committed to doing this project. However, my timing was probably not the best. Most of our members participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month for those who are not aware) and so we're all taking a break from thinking about CWN for at least a month. It's true, organising things like this *is* like herding cats. Everyone has very different schedules, and we also have to take some time to organise things before we do them. I'm a firm believer in planning things properly before you do them, or at least *while* you do them and before you finish.

The project will still continue. Just, I'm not quite sure when right now. And I guess that's something that happens to a lot of group projects, as well as to writers individually. 'Real Life' just catches up with you sometimes.

On that note, here is a poem, written by a 19th century Australian poet. It's nice to know that writers now and writers then have similar motives, experiences and problems!

Oh the ballad writer rose
Snorting slaughter down his nose
And he drew his pen as though it were a sword
And he dashed it in the ink
Nor a moment paused to think
As the livid lines across the page he scored
Now he wrote of blood and death
While his sulpherated breath
Made the letters dance with tiny flames of blue
And his greenish rolling eyes glaring twice their usual size
Peopled vacancy with warriors strong and true.

“How much longer will you be, c’mon down to have your tea!
Why the mischief can’t you come down when you’re told?
It’s standing in the pot, come and have it while it’s hot
And the sausages are very nearly cold!”
"yes, I’m coming now, my dear” gasped the poet blanched with fear
And the eye that lately flamed was soft and weak
In those accents loud and shrill spoke a warrior woman’s will
And to tea there slunk a poet mild and meek.

Writer's Block Prompts

2006-09-24T03:56:16Z

Spark Word: Infectious

Write about a black sheep in your family. How did he or she become ostracised? And what are your personal feelings towards this person?

David Sedaris has probably held more odd jobs than any writer working today. And while 'none of which were the type to hand out tax statements at the end of the year', all have served as useful inspiration for his essays and fiction. In books like "barrel fever" and "Naked", Sedaris chronicles his experiences cleaning houses, picking apples, washing dishes, selling marijuana, writing erotica about 'gals who grow to gigantic proportions' for a magazine called Giantess, waiting on tables, stripping woodwork, manufacturing jade stash boxes, helping out on a construction site, and, (most notably) dressing up as an elf for the Macy's Santaland in New York City. Although none of these career choices looked great on Sedaris' resume (actually, he probably never even had a resume) they gave him a wealth of experience for his writing. So tell a story about the worst job you've ever had. Or, if you've been lucky in your career choices, write about the worst job you've ever paid anyone to do- and how you felt about paying them to do it. Or use your imagination.

This time: If any of you have any prompts, I ask you to reply to this with one of them each.

flails

2006-09-22T19:31:57Z

Omigosh! It already has a comm and everything! =P I thought we were still on theme deciding part on the forums.

Hi,it's me C.J., and I hope I'm not too late!

*runs off*

aka Meerkat here

2006-09-22T06:46:30Z

I just found out about the LJ community, so I'm writing a quick hello to let you guys know that I've joined up.

sigh

2006-09-19T10:59:41Z

Well, I had a great idea, but then it got so big that I now will have to do it for NaNo.

Ah well.

*has a backup plot, mwahahaha*

Deep breaths

2006-09-18T12:19:20Z

I am pretty happy with the theme we have chosen but, apart from that, I am beginning to feel a deep, clawing sense of fear and inadequacy. So far, I have had one idea for my story, which is a start, but it seems pretty dark and it would be really difficult to write. I suppose I should just take some time to have a go and see what happens.

cwn_project @ 2006-09-17T23:49:00

2006-09-17T14:20:51Z

Well, I quite like the theme that ihas been chosen for this book, but just have to start it!

So, tomorrow, I'll be taking a pad of paper with me to every class and even to recess and lunch (crazy, huh?) so I can put down any ideas that come into my head. I have found though that doing a story plan helps, so I'll be doing one of those.

Hopefully it all turns out well, and I will be very happy if it does.

Writer's Block Prompts

2006-09-17T00:53:32Z

Here are the three (!) for this week, random again. Maybe you could take one of these in addition to a fairytale, and 'make it work'.

Write an argument between two characters that begins in bed.

"Addiction"

Stories from the Tube: I've known writers who draw their inspiration from a wide range of sources - family histories, natural wonders, passages from scripture, scientific phenomenon. Yet Matthew Sharpe is the first writer I've known to derive his inpsiration from tv commercials. The ten stories in his debut collection "stories from the tube" borrow elements of their plots from commercials for deoderant, coffee, cars, and other familiar products. The storie "Tide" for example, begins with an excerpt from a television commercial shooting script.
"A mother and her small daughter open the trunk of a car to find the daughter's leotard has a red, wet stain on it
Daughter: and the ballet's tomorrow!
Mother: Honey, we'll get it out."

What follows is surprisingly moving story about parenthood, ballet, menstruation and a broken botle of grape juice, and it's all much more literary than anything produced by an advertising agency! For a fun, off the wall exercise, watch half an hour of television and jot down one line descriptions of the commercials. Then, like Sharpe, use any one of the ads as a jumping off point.

Random Myth, Legend or Fairytale

2006-09-16T06:15:11Z

I also have several books of mythology, so every now and then I'll post a few random myths, legends or fairytales. (other people can feel free to do so too!) Maybe it'll inspire a story! I'm literally picking one at random, just flipping through the book and jabbing my finger at a page. The other, i'm trying to go for one that has been heard of.

Nordic legend

Ottar was the human lover of Freyja, the Germanic fertility goddess, and was said to be a distant descendent of Sigurd (germanic hero similar to King Arthur). The warrior caught the goddess's attention through grand sacrifices. He built a stone altar and turned it into glass by the constant heat of the fire he used in preparing his bloody offering. Freyja transformed him into a boar so that she could keep him with her in Asgard, the home of the gods. She even used the disguised Ottar as a mount. Ottar may have been a leader of a warrior band, a lover pleasing to Freyja who shared those fallen in battle with Odin. In the myth it is suggested that he is related to the berserkers, warriors who, 'howling and foaming in frenzy, left a trail of terror and leaped like wildfire over land and sea'.

William Tell
(from Wikipedia...)

William Tell from Bürglen was known as an expert marksman with the crossbow. At the time, the Habsburg emperors were seeking to dominate Uri. Hermann Gessler, the newly appointed Austrian Vogt of Altdorf raised a pole in the village's central square with his hat on top and demanded that all the local townsfolk bow before it. As Tell passed by without bowing, he was arrested. He received the punishment of being forced to shoot an apple off the head of his son, Walter, or else both would be executed.

Tell had been promised freedom if he shot the apple. On November 18, 1307, Tell split the fruit with a single bolt from his crossbow, without mishap. When Gessler queried him about the purpose of the second arrow in his quiver, Tell answered that if he had ended up killing his son in that trial, he would have turned the crossbow on the reeve. Gessler became enraged at that comment, and had Tell bound and brought to his ship to be taken to his castle at Küssnacht. In a storm on Lake Lucerne, Tell managed to escape. On land, he went to Küssnacht, and when Gessler arrived, he shot him with a crossbow bolt.

This defiance of the Austrian reeve sparked a rebellion, leading to the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

Hey, there

2006-09-15T16:40:57Z

New member here who got linked through the NaNoWriMo boards. I'm looking forward to doing this and since I walked in on the theme posting, yay! I can just start.

Call me Shona. Drop by my page on NaNoWriMo.org anytime you like, or my LJ.

Drumroll Please!

2006-09-13T12:32:34Z

After extensive voting, we have chosen our theme!
And that theme shall be...

Fairytales, Myths and Legends.

I think that this will give a lot of options to our authors!
I'll be back with more information later. As usual, feel free to ask questions.

Eliminated

2006-09-10T09:27:56Z

We finished counting the votes for phase 2 of the voting process. The themes that were eliminated this time were:

Heroes
Roads Travelled
Youth
A Unifying Place or Objeect
New Life
Invention
First and Last
Hope
Music
Good and Evil
Changing times, a new age, transition
Dark and Light
Nationality/A Sense of Home
Miracles

Random Writers Block Prompts

2006-09-10T02:21:24Z

I have a book of writing prompts, so I thought that I would take two prompts each week and post it to the community. It may not help the cwn ers with their anthology piece, but perhaps it will help our other readers? I'm picking these at random, by flipping through the book.

Write a story set in the 1980s. Use as many period elements as you can.

Going to Extremes:
Personal obsessions are at the heart of many great novels- Vladamir Nabokov's Lolita comes to mind, as does John Fowle's "The Collector" and Ian McEwan's "Enduring Love". But obsessions don't need to be criminal to be interesting, and there's no better proof of this than the Guinness Book of World Records, a fascinating annual document of extreme human behaviour. Its pages feature thousands of capsule biographies about people like Angelica Unverhau, the owner of the worl'ds largest collection of ballpoint pens (168, 700 to date). Or Jennifer Murray, a fifty seven year old grandmother who was the first person to pilot a helicopter around the world. Or Arthur Blessit, who has walked 33,151 miles through 277 nations while carrying an eight foot high wooden cross. Or Cindy Jackson, who dubs herself the 'human barbie doll' and has spent $99,600 on twenty seven plastic surgery procedures. The entries go on and on, and it's often hard not to imagine fictional backgrounds for these people (how does someone end up with a ballpoint pen collection anyway?) By beginning with a small shred of truth, you can free your imagination to generate utterly fantastic fiction.

Intro

2006-09-09T12:35:22Z

*looks at the links under longwaytogo's post, then hovers over each. presses 'speak' when I see that it is the right one*

Yay! I have figured how to reply!

Okay, enough of my usual insaneness.

I am Cat_Lover_4113, both on NiH and here, and my avatar is the same, an adorable, darling kitty cat!

I have written short stories, mostly for school, but a few for myself as well, from ideas that have just come into head during (usually) totally unrelated moments to the ideas.

I also have tried my hand at poetry. I wrote a piece while sitting in Science class this year. I was watching the bubbles on the surface of the water in the fish tank drift towards the glass and pop against it, while my teacher was talking about something that didn't interest me in the slightest, and I can't remember what it was about either.

I love the CWN idea and have an idea for a story, and if the theme is right, I will write it for the project. If the theme is not right, I will try to think of another.

Can't wait until the theme is decided!

(Not happy cause I pressed the link I described at the top, posted, then found it was the wrong one so I had to copy, delete, and post it again.)

Affiliates

2006-09-06T03:48:28Z

We are currently trying to find LJ affiliates. If you know of a community which would like to be affiliated with ours, please reply to this message.

Our first affiliate is

_unsent_ This is a community for writing letters that will never be sent.

Our new second affiliate is

originalit A community for writers of original fiction, with prompts, character development exercises, discussions, critiques and helpful links.

Our third new affiliate is

random_hotties This Community is for posting any and all Icons, Graphics, Screencaps, you would like to display, without having to stay in a specific topic

Our fourth new affiliate is premium_fanfics is for serious fanfiction writers seeking to improve their skills through constructive criticism.

Voting for a theme

2006-09-05T11:29:29Z

We're part way through voting for our theme. This has been very interesting to me, and, it's amazing how many people showed up to vote! 48 people!
Phase 1 of voting was a system designed to work out which themes were the members least favourites, so that we can eliminate them straight away.

Because so many people voted, less themes were eliminated than I anticipated, but here are the themes that we will not be doing this year.

United in purpose
Emotions
Stages Of Life
"Things that are Cool" (eg, ninjas, pirates, vikings, robots, aliens)
Impossibilities
Time

HAY GUYS

2006-09-03T22:52:00Z

it's me, Iananan

i have revamped some banners and such to include a new name

the c in the shortened ones can be for "collective"

something for use on LJ (100x100, so good for forum avatars too)

another, based on the LJ banner

said banner

and a regulation websitey size banner

enjoy, and go spread the word

Thoughts so far

2006-09-03T09:19:57Z

I thought I should make an introductory post here. My name is David, I am from Scotland, and I intend to write a story for CWN. Having said that, I am having a lot of fun thinking about the project, pitching in ideas and hopefully helping out a bit.

I do not have much writing experience. The whole notion of becoming a writer (I like saying it that way) came to me a few months ago but, the second the thought entered my head, I realised that I had actually wanted to write for a long, long time. I think I was so daunted, afraid of failure or ridicule, that I had buried the entire notion in the back of my mind.

So, whatever I write for this project might end up being my first complete story! In the meanwhile, I do actually write quite a bit. Most of it is stream-of-consciousness stuff or journalling, but I am pleased with my progress so far. That is, if I can keep those nasty, "you're not good enough" demons at bay long enough to enjoy what I have written.

Our Mascot

2006-09-03T02:49:02Z

One of our members (the talented Iananan) has been working on some art for our project and promotion. BEHOLD! Our Mascot!

He's also made us another nice banner.

Please feel free to use them!

Theme Ideas

2006-09-02T13:33:40Z

These are the theme ideas that we are considering writing on. We came up with them through vigorous brainstorming. We're currently voting on them, so stay tuned to see which one we decide on in the next week/fortnight!

Fairytales, Myths and Legends
United in purpose.
Nature
'nationality/a sense of home'
Love and Hate (including 'friends and enemies')
Good and Evil
Family Affairs
Sci Fi/Fantasy
Sins and Virtues
Absurdity
Ghost story/Scary Story/Halloween:
changing times, a new age, transitions
"The passing of the hours and days"
Youth
A Past Golden Age
Conquering/Overcoming
Master and Servant
The End of a Journey
The Roads Travelled
A colour theme of some sort
a unifying object or place -we'll need to chose what it is
Emotions
Hope
Tales of Creation
Glimpses of an Epic
Superstitions
Miracles
Crime
New Life
Invention
Stages Of Life
If Only: A Missed Opportunity
Dreams
Doorways
"Things that are Cool"
Travels through Time
Darkness and Light
Impossibilities
First and last
Time
Music
Heroes

CWN Project

Voting!

Another Calendar

Starting Again

Art

New Affiliate

Hiatus

Writer's Block Prompts

*flails*

aka Meerkat here

*sigh*

Deep breaths

cwn_project @ 2006-09-17T23:49:00

Writer's Block Prompts

Random Myth, Legend or Fairytale

Hey, there

Drumroll Please!

Eliminated

Random Writers Block Prompts

Intro

Affiliates

Voting for a theme

HAY GUYS

Thoughts so far

Our Mascot

Theme Ideas

flails

sigh