mentalistbbvent, posts by tag: word wars! - LiveJournal

Where's Jane? Why is Rigsby still on the phone? Somebody needs to get some focus here...

It's Word War time and we all have a very important job to do. Get on your computers, drag out that slate and chalk and GET WRITING!

We imagine many of you will have already been doing plenty of writing over the course of the last few weeks, but today is an extra opportunity to get some motivation in order to create. It's not a competition, though there will be someone who comes out on top. What matters more than anything is that together we write as many words as possible over the course of the day.

Big Bangs (including Minis and Littles) are a natural source of material to work on, but in the style of Word Wars, they're not the only thing you can write today. You don't even have to write all The Mentalist if you don't want to. Besides, sometimes it's nice to take a break from a big project and do something smaller and fun.

You could always make some gifts for the Stocking Swap over on www.Paint-It-Red.com, you don't need to already be signed up (though feel free to do so now) and you will find plenty of prompts in different stockings.

So really, there are no excuses because even if the things above don't interest you, we're also giving you a handful of addition prompts to help inspire you. :P

Please update us throughout the day, whether you finish a drabble or even a novel sized fic, let us know your current word count. It doesn't have to be the final one, though we hope you'll update us at the end too.

We also like to set ourselves targets for the day and if you achieve your target, well, then maybe you'll get a little something in the form of a banner to celebrate.

Good luck and if you need that extra inspiration then keep on reading!

+ Death
+ Last I saw mother, she blew me a kiss (Iron & Wine - Rabbit Will Run)
+ Heart shaped pillows
+ Oh love love you tear my world apart (Amy Macdonald - Love Love)
+ Take a walk

...get your computer/pen & paper and your plot bunnies ready:

tomorrow is a word war day!

I know some of you are most likely back to work today, but here in the UK, we have a double bank holiday special thanks to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

What better way to celebrate than continuing our epic word war to end all word wars?

Yesterday's totals currently stand at:

5,200 - tromana
3,867 -sirenofodysseus
3,294 - miss_peg
400 -diviniaserit

The current totals for the past three days stand at:

15,598 - tromana
12,993 -sirenofodysseus
12,120 - miss_peg
2,519 -diviniaserit

So, little miss overachiever strikes again. But anyway! I'm glad to see that in the space of three days, three of us have written an incredibly healthy sized regular Big Bang! Also special kudos tomiss_peg and diviniaserit, both of whom I know have been having problems with writing of late. Your achievement is greater than mine! :p

However, everyone is still invited to play today whether or not they've joined in previous days or not. Let's see how many words we can all write together.

And if you need a bit of prompting:

* Are we liars, in denial? Are we smoke without the fire? - Picking Up the Pieces, Paloma Faith
* Stockholm syndrome
* Murder on the mind
* The Wicked Witch of the West was framed
* Smile

Finally: remember to tell us your targets and keep us up to date on your progress. That makes this more fun! ;-)

It may be Sunday, but that doesn't mean you can't join in the extravaganza that is our epic word war weekend. So what are you waiting for?! Set a target and update us throughout the day and/or at the end.

We have four people who have been playing so far and their word counts just keep going up and up:

4919 - tromana (target: 4k; Friday: 5479)
3782 -sirenofodysseus (target: 3k; Friday: 5344)
3524 -miss_peg (target: 2k; Friday: 5302)

diviniaserit (Friday: 2119)

Yet again tromana has written the most words, but it's safe to say that I have beat my target by the most. :P

Whatever you're wanting to write this weekend - whether it's your Reverse Big Bang, another Mentalist fic, fanfiction for another fandom entirely, or even original fiction, you can count it towards your goal. Get those word processing programs open and get writing!

Here are a few prompts to help inspire you:

Don't think about it at all, Just keep your head low (Soldier on - Temper Trap)
Fuel
A picture tells a thousand words
Strictly Confidential

Even if you're not much of a writer, feel free to join us with pom poms and cheer on the competitors...not that it's a competition...much. :P

It's not too late to join in with the Word War Weekend extravaganza. Just reply to this post with your target for today and keep us posted on just how you're doing.

We currently have four people playing, which is pretty awesome. Word count totals from yesterday are as followed:

5,479 - tromana (target = 5k)
5,344 -sirenofodysseus (target = 4k)
5,302 -miss_peg (target = 1k)
2,119 - diviniaserit (target = 2k)

So I'm the person to beat, clearly. (I'm busy this afternoon, so please do). 

Once more, any form of creative writing can be included in your word count title. What are you waiting for? Fire up your word processors and just write!

If you need a little inspiration before starting, check out these prompts:

* I can't decide whether you should live or die (I Can't Decide - the Scissor Sisters)
* A little bit of rain never hurt anyone
* Celebration
* Patience is a virtue

And even if you don't want to play, feel free to come and post encourage those who are! The more the merrier. :-)

CBI staff: pick up your notepads and a pen, start up your computers and your word processing documents. It's day one of our epic word war weekend!

Let's pit ourselves against one another and see just how can write the most over a three day span! (Or five, if you've got the extra long bank holiday! ;-))

Of course, it would be pretty awesome if you work on your Reverse Big Bang fic, but our word war weekend extravaganza will allow you to take into account any piece of writing that you do over the course of these three/five days.

So, no excuses! Just write. 

Please feel free to spam this post with regular updates of just how you're doing. I really don't mind (and neither does my cat, Zara, who is helping me with this post. In fact, she's quite the taskmaster. And says you should all write and write lots. How can you refuse a fluffy face like this?

There will be prizes in the form of banners for anyone who makes their target. So, let us know what your target is first and foremost!

There will also be prizes in the form of banners for the person who writes the most on each day and writes the most overall. So yes, more incentive to write and write lots!

If you're not sure where to start and want some prompts to get you going, here's some inspiration to go your way:

"Three words that can change your life forever." -this is this month's challenge prompt on Paint It Red, so if you can post it this month, you should enter if you use it! 
Serendipity
Magic tricks
I need you like a hole in the head
smile to keep you grinning at the madness of this world

Finally, if you need some assistance in the old writing department, here's some handy applications which may help you:

Write or Die - for those who work best with negative reinforcement.
Written? Kitten! - if kittens are your idea of positive reinforcement!
yWriter - if you're writing a novel...

Now, what are you waiting for? Really? GO GO GO!

BUT FIRST:

ONE WEEK NOTICE FOR A WORD WAR WEEKEND!!!

Next Friday will see our first weekend-long word war. Starting from first thing Friday morning, until 11.59pm Sunday, we'll be seeing who can write the most. Banners will be issued to everyone who meets their targets AND the person who writes the most over the course of the weekend!

Exciting? Yes.

And, for the fun of it, if you're from the UK like miss_peg and I, and will be enjoying an additional two days extra , we'll be continuing our personal word war until 11.59pm on TUESDAY 5th May. What better way to spend the Jubilee Bank Holiday than writing, hey?

Now that's out of the way, and now that we've started writing, it seems like high time to resurrect Fic Rec Fridays. And the theme for this one? Well, as we've just started writing (finally!), what could be more appropriate than: BEGINNINGS

So, rec all those fics which have hooked you in within the first chapter/paragraph/few lines.

Here's a template to make your recs:

Roll up, roll up, all of your carnie folk and CBI employees...we've got a job to do!

I know we're not quite ready to start writing for the big bang challenge just yet (though we're very close!) but that doesn't mean we can't have some fun and do some general writing.

So whether you've got a project on the go, or want to just write something new, please join us for word war Wednesday!

I know you're probably wondering why I'm talking about Wednesday when many of you are still in the middle of Tuesday, well, we wanted to give you some notice!

Any words you write from midnight to 23:59 on Wednesday can be counted.

What do you need to do? Just write!

And when you're done, come and tell us how many words you've managed to get through.

If you don't have a project on the go and want a prompt, here are three to choose from:

- Life and Death
- I’d rather be causing the chaos, Than living at the sharp end of this knife (Gabrielle Aplin - Home)***
- Compromise

*** This prompt is the monthly challenge for May on Paint It Red, the Mentalist forum, if you're not a member, feel free to write for the prompt and come and join in the fun!