We’re into the mid-month slog. One more full week of writing, followed by the Week of Thanksgluttony, followed by the end of the road for this year’s NaNoWriMo main event.

Your MLs are excited and enthused by this year’s engagement and excitement. It feels different — as if we’ve recaptured a bit of the whimsical magic of pre-pandemic noveling.

Each of you is working hard on some project, or some goal. Even if you fall short, progress is progress, and it’s a privilege and pleasure to see so many of you moving forward.

May it ever be thus!

Day of Knockout Noveling

This year’s Day of Knockout Noveling brought 38 writers together for potluck-style writing, eating, and networking over eight glorious hours.

We ask participants to sign in with their beginning and ending word counts. So how’d we do?

• 38 people logged in; 32 people logged out.
• We wrote 106,599 words — that’s two NaNo novels!
• Our top seven finishers cumulatively crossed 50k words.
• Our top three writers were Emma K. (13,513), Allison H. (12,093), and John W. (7,089).

Oh! And Sara and Emma brought a popcorn machine, which was a fabulous treat and earned them bonus points.

We had good fun, good words, good camaraderie — and with so many fresh faces, we also made good connections we hope will endure for years to come. Thanks to each participant who helped make this year’s DOKN successful and special.

Fantasy Quest Points Leaderboard

Here’s where we stand as of 11/12/23:

Of note: the next 10 people are all within a few points of each other, and can absolutely break into the Top 10 list. So keep striving! You never know when an ML will bestow bonus points upon you for your heroic endeavors. So keep logging your points for the prospect of prizes and glory at the end of the month!

The Week Ahead

Here’s what’s going on this coming week:

• MONDAY: The O.G. Tribe Write-In, 6p-9p, Jason’s Books & Coffee (Wyoming)
• TUESDAY: Come Write In, 8a-2p, Jason’s Books & Coffee; Holland Writers’ Group, 5:30p-7:30p, The Bluestocking Bookshop
• WEDNESDAY: Come Write In, 11a-7p, Bettie’s Pages (Lowell); Wednesday Weirdos Write-In, 7p-9p, Discord
• THURSDAY: Come Write In, 5p-7p, The Bluestocking Bookshop (Holland); M(e)L at the Lakeshore Write-In, 6p-8p, Cafe Tamaki (Grand Haven); Thursday Night Lights Write-In-, 8p-10p, Discord
• FRIDAY: G.R. Queer Writers, 6p-8p, Lotus Brew (Grand Rapids); All-Region Virtual Write-In, 7p-9p, Discord
• SATURDAY: Panera & Prose Write-In, 4p-6p, Panera Bread (Grandville)
• SUNDAY: No programming.

Regional Finances

Between the donations at Kickoff and the donations and silent auction at DOKN, the region raised $195 from participants. These funds offset the costs borne by the MLs for regional programming.

This year, the Kickoff space at the Allendale Township Library was just $50. The cost of the goodie bags plus postage was around $60. Snacks for kickoff added roughly $50. Infrastructure (domain name, some server space) incurred roughly $30. So the region essentially paid for itself this year. Yay!

Sundry Announcements

• If anyone left a teal casserole warmer thingy at the bookstore, please let Jason know.
• We are not holding any regional activities on Thanksgiving Day.
• In the last week of November, we will open a fully anonymous survey assessing your thoughts about how the region performed this year. We’ll share a link when it goes live.