Writtenwyrdd

Amazon caves--and it's not even Monday yet, lol

See the Washington Post article here.

McKoala Challenge report for January

Okay, I only got 6k written this month (6k plus 50 extra words, I'll have you know) but it's only 2pm and I'm still at work.  I might slam out some more.  But we'll say 'nuff said and carry on.  Hope you are all enjoying your own "Write your @ss off Sunday" like I am.

Charles Stross explains the Amazon:Fail! in clear terms

"[T]o customers, Amazon would like to be a monopoly (i.e. the only store in town). To suppliers, Amazon would like to be a monopsony (i.e. the only customer in town). Their goal is to profit via arbitrage, and if they can achieve those twin goals they will own everybody's nuts -- the authors, the customers, everyone. They are, in fact, exactly the kind of middle-man operation that the internet tends to squish, gooily. And if you think things would be different if I, Charlie Stross, went into self-publishing and sold my wares directly without any icky publisher to 'help' me ... do you really think I'd get better terms out of Amazon than a huge publishing conglomerate?" Charles Stross

Please read the entire article here.  It's very lucid and clears up any confusion as to what is going on.

Koala homestretch report in for January

Right now I am here, with 4k written for January, which equals 1 lone point.  Barely enough to avoid the shredding claws of doom!

But I will definitely be here by end of day, as I've almost added an addition 2k to my work...that's 2 whole points.

And I believe I'll make it to the following badge for 3 whole points for January, as today I plan to participate in Write Your Ass Off day (sponsored by Editorial Ass, details here, and sign up here) and add at least 2k more to my story, Magus of Athlinar. 

And if I am really diligent and drink enough coffee, I might get some more work in and get an even more glorious badge:

I suspect a sharp word is the least I can get away with, but, rest assured, I'll crow about it if I get more done than expected and also post this:

And while I've actually written as much as 30k in one day (no lie, I really did in a nine hour stretch once) I hold no hope of that tomorrow! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

And speaking of my story, I have a weird process when I'm working out plot issues.  If I can't put my finger on what's wrong, I end up fiddling with the existing parts until a lightbulb moment, wherein I figure out exactly what's the problem.  Typically, it's me not being willing to strip some particularly lovely bit of prose that Doesn't Belong There.  Eventually, you fiddle enough and you get sick of it and can actually admit to yourself the work is better off with it gone.

But in this story, not so much.  I'm working out a number of things.  I really love this world, this story, and this protagonist.  I have her in mind for either more stories or a novel.  However, something isn't working and it's not the world, the character or the basic idea.  It's something in the plot, some thing that I haven't figured out yet.  After spending several hours gnawing at this particular bone today, however, I feel like I've almost got it.

My obsessive-compulsive tendencies start showing when I write, I'm afraid.  And I really rather am like a dog with a bone once I get immersed in a tale.  (It feels rather good to be back here, actually.)

Oooh! We learn the events leading up to the stupidity!

Found on Scalzi's Twitter is this link to a letter from Publisher's Lunch.  In it, John Sargent states,

This past Thursday I met with Amazon in Seattle. I gave them our proposal for new terms of sale for e books under the agency model which will become effective in early March. In addition, I told them they could stay with their old terms of sale, but that this would involve extensive and deep windowing of titles. By the time I arrived back in New York late yesterday afternoon they informed me that they were taking all our books off the Kindle site, and off Amazon. The books will continue to be available on Amazon.com through third parties.

Your ball, your rules, Amazon?  Turns out, it isn't your playing field.  Amazon: Fail!

Here's the reply Amazon sent me:

We are working with the publisher to make their titles available as soon as possible and at the lowest possible prices for our customers.

We will e-mail you when these titles are available, which we hope will be soon.

I declare this Amazon: Fail! for the 'amazing' (and unsurprising) spin doctoring.

Amazon Ass-hattery???

Reading John Scalzi's Whatever blog, I discover that, yesterday, Amazon has apparently done something remarkably stupid AGAIN:  All Macmillan books (which includes Tor, Scalzi's publisher) are no longer listed.  The issue, according to Scalzi, has to do with Macmillan wanting to raise ebook prices.  Amazon apparently disagrees because they want more people to buy their stupid Kindle with its stupid DRM that means you don't own the ebooks you pay for.  And, according to Slash gear, Amazon may be in a snit because Macmillan signed on as an initial iBooks member with Apple, whose new iPad is direct competition with the Kindle. 

In any case, he's correct.  Every Macmillan or Tor book I checked for only has other sellers (e.g. used market) listed.  No new from Amazon. 

Spread the word, please.  Let's raise a shit storm so that authors are not injured by a dumb move on the part of Amazon.  Because the authors, the little guys in this 'debate' over who gets to set ebook prices, are the ones who'll suffer if people like me can't order new from Amazon.  (Frankly, I like the free super saver shipping and would rather keep buying from Amazon just for that reason.)

I’ve dashed off a nastygram to Amazon.com’s customer service department and threatened to move my business elsewhere. If they get a shitstorm of such emails and boycott threats, they’ll likely stop the nonsense.

 

Interesting take on defining science fiction

"Genres are usually defined by their tropes—mysteries have murders and clues, romances have two people finding each other, etc. Science fiction doesn’t work well when you define it like that, because it’s not about robots and rocketships. Samuel Delany suggested that rather than try to define science fiction it’s more interesting to describe it, and of describing it more interesting to draw a broad circle around what everyone agrees is SF than to quibble about the edge conditions. (Though arguing over the borders of science fiction and fantasy is a neverending and fun exercise.) He then went on to say that one of the ways of approaching SF is to look at the way people read it—that those of us who read it have built up a set of skills for reading SF which let us enjoy it, where people who don’t have this approach to reading are left confused." Jo Walton

The above quote is from a recent article on Tor.com, and well worth reading in its entirety.  I particularly like the concept of an SF reading skill set.  I think that's very true.

And a nod to Kristen at Fantasy Cafe for the link.

And I also really liked this bit:
"We’ve all probably had the experience of reading a great SF novel and lending it to a friend—a literate friend who adores A.S. Byatt and E.M. Forster. Sometimes our friend will turn their nose up at the cover, and we’ll say no, really, this is good, you’ll like it. Sometimes our friend does like it, but often we’ll find our friend returning the book with a puzzled grimace, having tried to read it but “just not been able to get into it.” That friend has approached science fiction without the necessary toolkit and has bounced off. It’s not that they’re stupid. It’s not that they can’t read sentences. It’s just that part of the fun of science fiction happens in your head, and their head isn’t having fun, it’s finding it hard work to keep up."

Or this bit:
"SF is like a mystery where the world and the history of the world is what’s mysterious, and putting that all together in your mind is as interesting as the characters and the plot, if not more interesting. We talk about worldbuilding as something the writer does, but it’s also something the reader does, building the world from the clues. "

I'll stop now, but GO!  Go read this article! 

And now I'm going to order Delaney's The Jewel-Hinged Jaw: Notes on the Language of Science Fiction, because Ms. Walton's references to the man's thoughts have me dreadfully curious.

Places to find cultural information

I'm presently working on a story that is set in what was once India, more than a thousand years in the future.  And to that end I've had to immerse myself in some of the culture of the Hindi, Jainists, Muslims, etc. of the Near, Middle and Far East.

And one site I found that is worth reading regularly just because it has interesting snippets of information is Original Wavelength, a self-proclaimed blog about "cross-cultural issues, culture, comparative religion, psychology, inter-cultural management and communication, international business, team-working and human resource development and management (HRD and HRM)."

GUD Volume 7 call for submissions (reopened)

GUD magazine is reopening submissions for issue 7.  They want to find more stories written by or written with people of color as main characters.  The idea is to increase cultural diversity in the generally 'white default' landscape of literature. 

If you've got something, check them out here.

Contest opportunity (with a fairly large purse)

I'm starting to receive emails re contests.  I love it when work is made easy for me.  (I'm like a cat that way...or maybe a dog?  After all dogs eat garbage, and given my fondness for junk food...)

Albedo One, Ireland's magazine of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, has announced the fifth Aeon Award 2010 short fiction contest, which may be of interest to you.

For the 2010 contest, the grand prize is again 1000 euro and publication in Albedo One, with 200 and 100 euro and publication in Albedo One for second and third place stories. As a bonus prize this year, the winning story will have the option of free publication for one year in the Storywire section of the excellent Authorlink.com, where authors earn royalties from online readers of their work.

The contest begins Jan 1st, and ends Nov 30th. In essence, the contest is aimed at promoting new writers and writing in the speculative fiction genres (e.g. horror, SF, fantasy, anything in-between or unclassifiable), which we think is a pretty worthy goal.

The full rules and guidelines can be found at the link below.
http://www.albedo1.com/html/aeon_award.html

Combining elements in sentences: coordination & subordination

"What you put together in a sentence is what readers read as going together, and they'll subconsciously try to come up with a reason these go together, or at least mentally read them together as a single thought. So this process of putting together sentences shouldn't be arbitrary. You don't have to plan every sentence, of course-- most of us can trust our instincts most of the time-- but do be aware that you are making meaning by combining certain elements, and as you're reading over, see if that's the meaning you want. (Rhythm also is a factor here-- "jaggedness" might be the result of combining the wrong elements so the flow is interrupted. You might or might not want that. Do you? You will sometimes, but not always.) " Edit Torrent

Okay, so I found something to share.  It happens to be relevant to today's writing process.  This is a good article that might clarify how to reorganize a paragraph so the elements feel right.  So that they are logical, have a good sound (e.g. they're 'arty') and lead the readers where you want them to go.

Sometimes, there's just nothing to say

Unless, of course, you are me.  I can always yammer on about something or other, without prompting.  But I haven't got anything of note for you today.  I intend to write, though.  Lots.

We also have a moderate storm predicted that should drop 5-9 inches of snow.  As January has had about half the normal precipitation, that will be nice!

Weight loss update

After sort of being stalled due to the holidays, I've dropped four pounds in five days.  I'll probably go back up a couple of pounds in the next couple of days, though.  It seems to be the pattern.  But it'll still be a net loss of 2 or 3 pounds in a week, so I'm not complaining.

Small details = versimilitude

I've talked about this before someplace on the blahg, but I like nicknames for main characters.  I have heard some people griping about characters having more than one name, or I should say they complain when more than one name is used for a character, citing reader confusion.  I, however, like nicknames if they are done well.  And by this I mean the reader isn't confused by constant switching about.  For example, if you have a bunch of military guys, they refer to each other primarily by last name, but they can use rank or first names, or rank plus last name, or they can even use nicknames.  All are used interchangeably--and here's the cool part about using these nicknames--readers can discern the level of familiarity the person using the nickname has with the person named.  Conversely, it can add something when a name is used that is not appropriate. 

Besides, sometimes the nickname allows you to present some character development in the form of backstory.

Take for example a nickname I thought of this morning:  Mick.  Sounds sort of normal, but imagine how someone might have gotten this nickname if his (or her, which is even better!) first name isn't Michael/Michaela/Mickey or any other names that could possibly convert to Mick.  Say, for example, your character is a werejaguar, and some bright bulb started calling her Mick Jagger, which immediately shortened to Mick. 

There's a lot of room for play and character building and providing opportunities to give some depth and history to your characters with little details like nicknames.  I especially like it when writers use some bit of fluffy details to give a sense of history having occurred between characters.  Use of an old, nearly forgotten nickname is one such opportunity.

Just thought I'd mention...

Want to know why I received that letter from the doc? Because the secretary calling me called my cell, which loses connection 99% of the time while I'm at work. So instead of calling back she decided she 'couldn't leave voice mail' and sent me a letter. Can you say numb?

Challenge: Win!

Hah!  I hit my McKoala challenge yesterday, 4136 words for January.  Still working on the story, which was supposed to be 5k and is now approaching 10k.  I think my usual problem of writing too damn much is at fault, but I also thing there's more story in there than I can write in 5k, so I likely have a novella on my hands.  I'm going to see if I can keep it under 10k though; I'd like to get it submitted next month.  Because while my 2010 goals are modest (submit two new stories this year); McK demands one per month. 

And since I've been going on about beginnings lately, here's my beginning.  You may recall it from before.  And please note that this first line 1) doesn't ask a question the reader wants answered, and 2) doesn't indicate that this is a science fantasy set in a far-flung future (e.g. promising the reader what sort of story they're reading)-- which are the two things that I keep saying make an excellent first line.  And yet I refuse to give up this first line because it feels right. 

I'm open to the possibility that perhaps I should cut this beginning; however it's one of those 'cold, dead fingers' situations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When twilight brought sirocco winds sweeping through the mud brick alleys of ancient Athlinar, Meida roused from a sweaty doze. She braided her damp curls and donned the local fashion, loose-fitting salwar pants and kameez tunic, then draped herself in a dark blue chadri. Made for a high-caste matron of copper-shot silk and embroidered with glyphs to guard the wearer's privacy, the chadri was stifling, not because it trapped the heat, but because of the magickal weight it settled upon Meida’s aura. The expensive bit of camouflage would go down the nearest midden as soon as Meida was done with it, and good riddance. But for now it masked her identity, power, and the various amulets, gris-gris and mundane weaponry she carried on her person.

Are your characters in your head?

"As much as I get asked to teach, I never teach workshops on character. Not solely on character, anyway. I just don’t. It’s not that I couldn’t figure out something to say. It’s just that - as I’ve said before - I think writers live with characters in our heads on a daily and nightly basis. I could be totally wrong, but I suspect people don’t become writers if they don’t have characters living in their heads. We don’t live with structure quite so intimately, and therefore it seems more teachable."  Alexandra Sokoloff

Wow.  I think Ms. Sokoloff nailed it with that statement.  I think we do have trouble dealing with structure more than character for the reason she stated:  We have them fleshed out in our heads (especially Mary Sues*) and they're far easier to put on the paper than a dynamic plot.

And that's partly because most story tellers are made, not born.  By which I mean that the majority of we writers have to learn how to craft a compelling storyline.  I know I continually struggle with it: how much of this section is too much, does the chapter end suffice to have the reader turn the page, etc.

But characters, they're easy.  Maybe it's because we are people, so we are intimately familiar with how a person's mind works?  That's pretty simplistic, but it does speak to the relevant factor that makes any form of endeavor function better.  If you are well-versed in any activity or with any field of knowledge, you use what you have better, and like a guitarist who knows all about chord progressions and jazz vs classical vs flamenco vs rock vs r&b, you can riff on a given theme more readily.

*Mary Sue: Over at Adam Heine's blog Author's Echo, he has a post on the Mary Sue, including a link to the original tale that sparked the saying.  I'd never seen the actual story before.  it's not very long, so pop on over and read it here.

 

First lines

More first lines from recent releases

'"What do you mean you nominated me?"  I held my breath.'  Hallowed Circle, Linda Robertson
Having had this same sort of thing happen to me, I shared the character's immediate trepidation.  And the style of opening is the typical 'ask a question the reader wants answered' e.g. what was the speaker nominated for?  Works 99% of the time on 99% of readers.

'"You told a two thousand year old oracle to prove it."' The Better Part of Darkness, Kelly Gay
One can see this is a provocative situation, and readers will want to know what happened here.  It turns out we're in the middle of a conversation and the unfortunate faux pas is in the past; but the mention gives us good information about our protagonist and her character, which in turn sets us up to wonder what she'll do next.  That curiosity will make readers turn the page.

"Normally I wear a Czarist Army greatcoat--the kind that sometimes gets called a paletot--with pockets sewn in for my tin whistle, my notebook, a dagger, and a chalice."  The Devil You Know, Mike Carey
From the get go, we know that our pov character is not in his usual element if he has to wear something other than his normal gear.  Further, curiosity is roused by the odd list, tin whistle in the lead, which implies that's the most important item listed.  It's indicative of magic due to the mention of the chalice, or possibly violence because he calls the knife a dagger and not an athame (ritual knife.)

'Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you." Demons Not Included, Cheyenne McCray
I don't know about you, but the misquote grabbed my attention, forcing me to parse what I'd just read, figure out What's Wrong With This Picture.  I didn't like it, but it did the job of rousing my curiosity and I was willing to read on.  I think this was in iffy choice for a first line. 

Doggie head tilt

I mentioned this on Facebook, but I received a letter from my surgeon yesterday informing me I was now scheduled for an ultrasound next week.  That's a bit of a puzzle, but I figure the doc's office didn't call me because she was in surgery all day Friday (when I called) and likely had 3 seconds in which to discuss the situation with her nurse who fielded my call.  I guess they might have tried to call me back, but I didn't have voicemail--which doesn't mean they didn't try to call, but some medical offices don't leave vmail due to the newish privacy laws, and I did have a few unknown calls on the missed call list.

Anyhow, I've been having a lot of indigestion lately (not new to me, I have had GERD, or acid reflux, for years) and also tenderness in my belly.  So I called since it's been going on for several weeks and kidney or gallstones, as well as gall bladder disease, can occur after the bypass surgery.

Honestly, I doubt it's anything but business as usual, but now I have to get an ultrasound.

It's pretty weird to get a letter about it instead of a call, though, isn't it?  I know my surgeon is typical with her lack of personable bedside manner, but still... :)

And now, I sit down to write. *cracks knuckles*

The self-abusing writer syndrome

Sabrina at Coffee Quill kindly gave a link and a nod to my recent post on The Inner Critic As Muse.  And her interpretation of what I said there made me think about that critical inner voice from a slightly different angle, which I wanted to share here...because I think it bears examination:

But truly, the worst thing that we do to ourselves is chip away at our self-confidence. We do ALL THE WORK much of time, too. If you were in a relationship that had someone emotionally abuse you, you would feel okay to walk away (once you realized what as going on WAS abuse, which is another issue entirely.) But when we do that to ourselves, well, we never think of it as abuse, do we?

Do you do that all the time when you sit down to write?  Is that what's behind a "Why bother?" or "Ho Hum, I think I'll just take a nap?" attitude?  Check out the inner dialog, ask why you are thinking whatever line you repeatedly tell yourself.  Ask why to that first answer as well.  Keep asking why until you see that, at root, it's about a sense of unworthiness or "I'm not good enough" or whatever the heck you have for the basis of your writing-related issues. 

I bet there's some element to your issue that might be defined as abuse if one person were doing it to another...

Writing quota (almost) reached

If I had written yesterday, I would have reached today's quota with the 377 words I wrote during my lunch break.  As it stands, to reach a mere, modest, not unreasonable quota of 4,000 words for January, I need to average 472 words for the next 8 days.

Know what?  I have tonight and the next two days off.  I think I can knock out the required writing then, if nothing happens.

And by the way, I lost another 2 pounds this week. I still have about 40 to lose, but that's around 80 pounds lost, most of it since the middle of August. 

yWriter, free writing program

Sherri of Sherri Blossoms has a useful tip on her blog today, a free-to-download writing software called yWrite.  Without having used it myself, what sounds to be the nifty thing about it is it lets you break up your writing into chapters and scenes, which is really handy.  It's also developed by Hal Spacejock writer, Australian Simon Haynes.  He's got over twenty years as a software developer, and he provides a lot of freeware*, which you can check out here.

And he has a query tracker called Sonar3, which you might find useful.

*his reasons are here

Why do you blog?

I've been seeing a lot of bloggers beginning to flag recently, most of them legitimately citing that they haven't the time to keep up with the posting, much less reading and commenting.  It's sad, but so long as they occasionally appear to comment or post, Google Reader will let me know and I can read them and comment, assuring them they are not forgotten and me that my blog friend is still around even if we don't chat so much any more.

I've made noises about slowing down my own posting from six days a week, sometimes several posts a day, to maybe every other day.  The truth is, though, that I tend to write five or ten posts in a row, thus only eating a half day every couple of weeks.  This is still a lot of time, but the application of one dose of 'medicine' over two weeks is a lot less pressure and stress than every damn day, rain or snow, hell or high water!  So I think I'll continue on the six days train until I really can't or don't wanna no more.

But really, my desire to post so much says something about me.  Not sure what that something is, though!  It might be I'm bombastic or that I think I know everything and here's my soapbox from which I preach Wyrdd's Rules Of Writing...But, really, I just like to talk about whatever interests me.  And I really like to chat about writing.

Maybe blogging is, as Josephine Damian has warned on her old blog, just 'scratching the writing itch;' but I think this blog has helped me be a better writer, as, because of blogging,I think and read about writing a lot.  And I think the conversation about writing keeps your head in the game.  It's sort of meta that way.

Yet there is a legitimate down side:  The amount of time I have to spend reading blogs, writing posts, and commenting to stay in the writing conversation is growing to be more than I should allocate.  I skim or don't read/comment on the majority of posts in my Google Reader queue.  Truthfully, I no longer comment on Evil Editor or do continuations there for this reason.  So perhaps I should cut back on blogging-related activities after all. 

Thing is, though, reducing blogging-related activities would not enrich my personal life, it would take away from it.  So I'll opt for using better time management, lol!

Why do I blog?
I started blogging about 4.5 years ago now, and the reason was because I was approached to write a series of articles for a publisher.  Turns out she's not really a publisher, more a POD clearinghouse from what I could tell; and besides that the deal was fly-by-night in that payment would have been based on Google advertisement.  (Such a deal!)  Since I wasn't into buying the Brooklyn Bridge, I declined; but the offer made me curious:  Did I even have anything to say about the topic of writing?  So I checked out the hitherto unexplored world of blogs, found Miss Snark, Evil Editor, Preditors and Editors, and by following links a bunch of other cool sites by cool people with things to say. 

And I started the blogger blog to chip in my $.02.

I haven't flagged since, so I apparently do have something to say.  Whether or not it's germaine to anyone but myself is the real question! :) 

Anyhow, enough naval inspection.  Let me just add a big thanks for stopping by and visiting me here, and thanks too for being part of the conversation.  I'm not so emotionally bankrupt that I need the shoring up; but no one wants to feel like they are talking to the air. 

But let me ask you all the same questions: 
Why do you blog?  Is the pace getting too much for you?  Do you need a break from blogging occasionally in order to recharge your batteries? 

Time for more teaser tees

I have an excuse to buy some more tee shirts, because my collection is waaaaay to big now.  Heh.  Cafe Press provides.

My favorites:

 
 
  
 

You may have noticed I have a thing for amusing tee shirts.  I try not to be over the top nasty, though.
 

What an author does and doesn't control

Cherie Priest has an excellent post on what an author does and doesn't control.  Very lucid and helpful.

I found the link and reference on John Scalzi's Whatever blog, which is one that I highly recommend reading. I love his voice (a bit snarky and yet balanced, lol) and he touches upon both important current events and issues regarding writing.  I rarely find an article that hasn't got something interesting. 

It's slow, but it's going!

Awakened at 3 o'clock, and decided to get up and write.  So I prepped for work, sat down at 4, wrote until about 5:15.  Got precisely 297 words in.  At this rate, I'll be just over my 4,000 word goal for January...and just in time.

The Inner Critic as Muse

[Reposted from 10/7/06]
Writers, like many other artists, frequently fall into the trap of listening to their inner critics and imploding in a blast of self doubt. Blame our culture, blame human nature, blame genetics, blame childhood trauma. The fact remains that the vast majority of those who pick up a pen to write fail to complete the mission, even though they are certainly capable of doing so.

And, sadly, whether the book would have become the next New York Times best seller will remain unknown, because the author couldn't get past an inner stumbling block. You might call this fear of success. Or perhaps this tendency is better described as fear of movement, an even more insidious version of phobia, because it's one we are conditioned to ignore, like the proverbial elephant in the room.

What keeps us from succeeding as writers? From finishing, for that matter? I suppose that every writer needs to face their inner critic and slay her like a dragon, or harness that force and use it to our advantage.

The Fear.
Lillith Saint Crow describes the crippling fear of failure really well in her blog:

What if nobody likes it? What if it flops and the publishing
company decides I'm no longer worth spending time on? What if
everybody hates the series? What if there's a big hole in the
book that nobody told me about because they thought I knew?
What if this book is the last one I ever sell? What if?

Ah, the Scylla of insecurity and the Charybdis of self-hatred. I
wish I could lash myself to the mast and sail through
these rocks.

I think that's about the best description of it I've ever seen, even though her perspective is from the pre-publication jitters experience. I've got a technique that sometimes works for me when I get really frazzled. No, not anti-anxiety meds, although those aren't bad.

Here's where I direct you to Victor Frankl, the developer of logotherapy. He wrote the famous book, "Man's Search for Meaning," a seminal book in psychology. The basic premise is that a human being can cope with just about anything happening in his or her life if there is seen to be some inherent meaning. You can go nuts following existential thought (now there's an irony) but something I read in the above-mentioned book has stuck with me and become the most useful took in my mental toolbox.

The concept stems from a technique Frankl describes regarding how to resist temptation, e.g. avoid doing what is unhealthy. Basically, the technique is this:

Say I wish to lose weight. I'm at a restaurant. The waiter comes by with the dessert cart. I crave that luscious piece of german chocolate cake sitting there looking gooey and delicious. I know I shouldn't have the cake; nevertheless, against all rational thought, I really, really, want that cake! I want that cake so badly, in fact, that I at that moment don't give a rat's patoot what the consequences of eating it will be!

Instead of giving in, however, I do a simple excercise: I envision a future where I already ate that cake. I imagine what the feeling I'd have afterwards would be - remorse, self-disgust, etc. - and I just roll in those feelings like a dog in a dungheap. Get to know it. Feel it like it's real.

After I'm finished, I reconsider that slice of cake. My perspective about the importance of that cake has been altered. I can be more objective. I can resist. I can choose to resist because I've developed a profound mental separation from the problem: perspective. And this allows me the freedom to act consciously and deliberately.

Perspective is the key.
The inner blocks to being a successful writer vary, obviously, from one person to the next. But my general observation is that, for most of us, it goes beyond simple anxiety and becomes a complex. This gordian knot of mixed emotions ties in fear of success with fear of failure; fear of not measuring up to a personal artistic ideal with fear that you are, in truth, unable to see the elephant in the room: you don't know you suck. That's what makes the elephant so potentially horrible: that your failings are known to everyone but yourself. The complex is fear of looking ridiculous and secret shame that you think you are so wonderful. It is myriad reasons that grow from our personal histories, our environment and whatever childhood traumas got their claws into our creative processes.

Adding to that milieu of confusion is our Puritan-based culture. We were steeped in sin long ago and the faint remnants still color our social perceptions today. The myth of the American Dream compels us to succeed; because if you cannot succeed you are, by definition, a failure. But, according to the American Dream, you will always succeed if you try hard enough, are smart enough, are good enough. Implication: Sinners lose. You are a failure because you sinned. You are a sinner because you failed.

Now there's a paradigm where you cannot ever win unless you, well, win. It keeps the upper eschelons happy with their lot and the rest of us supporting them so we can aim for the thrones ourselves.

Hmmm, off topic? Not really. Whatever is in the world around us in also in our heads and hearts. As above, so below. What we perceive in the world is a reflection of who we are inside. Change that and we can change our world. Or at least manage to get a story written.

There are so many complicated emotional hooks that pull the budding artist in many directions, it is a small miracle that anyone accomplishes anything.

Which is where Frankl's technique comes in handy. You use it to divest yourself of the irrelevant fears, worries and etc. that keep you from staying in that lovely, creative, right-brained place of artistic wonder. You use it to derail the freight train of I know I can't, I know I can't while you ankle off down the Road Less Travelled with your trusty laptop.

And you even use the technique to use your fears to generate ideas.
It's pretty simple. Instead of resisting the problem, I do a Vulcan mind-meld with it. I welcome that panic/worry/anxiety and let it make itself at home in my head. I invite it to spread out, rest its feet on the coffee table and nag me about my failings as a writer and artist. I let it tell me how no one loves me, everybody hates me and I'll always be a failure.

I take those fears and worries, and consider that worry as if the rejection had already come to pass. As if the fear of failure had already occurred. And I allow myself to wallow in it for a bit.

But then I move on to the real-world consequences. And I play them up. If I worry that no one likes my writing, the focus becomes not that they don't like my work, but the consequences. I imagine being unable to pay the bills and I imagine being evicted and living in a soggy box in Golden Gate Park, drenched in fog and misery and looking to avoid the needles in the bushes when I scramble there to both hide from the muggers and the police.

I imagine that I am assaulted while living on the streets, that I retaliate and end up in some horrible over-the-top situation (such as running from the Russian mob) because, say, I accidentally-on-purpose killed the would-be rapist. I imagine being chased down a dead-end alley, no hope of escape but trying hard, and I begin to wonder... What happens now? It's out of the realm of the original situation. Then I envision the orange outline of a door parting the shadows, and a hand that slaps across my mouth and drags me inside before I can scream...

Oooh, wait - this is a cool scene for a story! Who is that character I am skull-peeping into? It's not me, that's for certain! And what the heck is that doorway? The 5 Ws and a plethora of questions strike. Maybe this ties into something I am already working on, maybe it's something to remember for another day. I jot it down and get back to work.

I go from worry to an idea that way. Of course, I do have to make myself get back to the original project. And that's another project altogether.

Sleep Talkin' Man blog

Just learned about a seriously funny blog called Sleep Talkin' Man.  Apparently the husband (Adam) talks in his sleep a lot.  And he's so darned funny with his non sequitirs and strange dream logic, his wife (karen) started recording him and posting them on her blog.  And it went viral.  They have now been on the Today show, and there will likely be more such appearances.

Check it out.  You will waste endless amounts of time, but you will enjoy yourself thoroughly.

(And you can buy tee shirts.  I will have to buy some of those tee shirts.  I love tees that make people do a doggie head tilt.  And my old ones are so large on me the shoulder seams are halfway to my elbows (I'm not kidding) so I have an excuse!

The larval stages of the common American speculative fiction writer.
Linked from John Scalzi's blog, the article is here:

http://www.jlake.com/2010/01/21/process-the-larval-stages-of-the-common-american-speculative-fiction-writer/comment-page-1/#comment-8487

Very funny...and unfortunately pretty on the mark!

The uncanny valley

Catching up on my blog reading and commentary, I discovered a new term which intrigued me: The Uncanny Valley.  Per wiki,

"...as a robot is made more humanlike in its appearance and motion, the emotional response from a human being to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong repulsion. However, as the appearance and motion continue to become less distinguishable from a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-to-human empathy levels.

This area of repulsive response aroused by a robot with appearance and motion between a "barely human" and "fully human" entity is called the uncanny valley. The name captures the idea that a robot which is "almost human" will seem overly "strange" to a human being and thus will fail to evoke the empathic response required for productive human-robot interaction.

I recall hearing back in the 90s how companies were making their CGI animation less realistic due to a negative reaction from viewers in test screenings; but I had no idea why this was the case, or that there was a scientific term for the phenomenon.  

But the Uncanny Valley hypothesis to explain the poor audience response is really cool idea fodder as a basis for what if questions to start some world building, as listed below.

I couldn't help but picture scenarios where this natural tendency is juxtaposed with robots, aliens, holograms, cyberspace, and other forms of 'fake' life that fundamentally disturb or screw up humanity because we aren't, genetically or culturally speaking, geared for that sort of thing. 

Ideas.

• In a world where robots think to take over, they overlook a problem: No matter how much they make themselves look like humans, they aren't exactly human, and the human subconscious reacts with the Uncanny Valley effect, or something like it. Ensuing riots and troubles when it's a struggle for robots to be considered intelligent, or for robots to get rights, or for the author to pose the great thematic question What Is Life/Intelligence/Humanity/Fill-In-The-Blank. In any case, Robot fail! You can also have society collapse into chaos, riots, revolution, etc. if robot freedom actually is pushed through, and a new Civil War commences over basically the same concept, slavery. (This could be interesting.)
• After a new generation of humans is raised more by robot nannies or holographic nannies, or spending most of their educational life with computer generated teachers and care givers, the new generation starts acting funny/dysfunctional due to being raised by robots or holograms, none of which resemble humans, causing the young to bond improperly and fundamentally affecting society. Perhahps these kids are psycopaths, perhaps they become sociopathic, totally lacking empathy or the ability to bond with anything that breathes and has a pulse. In any case...Childrearing Fail!
• You could also have a generation of robots or holograms or version of cyberspace that are self-evolving and intelligent, and which reject the requirement to copy humanity, thereby kicking off the Uncanny Valley effect. Sort of a damn the torpedos, full speed ahead action that has consequences.
• Aliens offer us a place in the greater galaxy...thus unearthing (forgive the pun) a screaming horde of haters (otherwise known as humans) loose to poison galactic peace with our screwy need to be repulsed by anything that resembles us. This reaction could pop up the first time humanity reaches a group of similar life, where the galactic resettlement gurus place them, thinking that since they are so much alike, humanity can live peacefully with the G'chkchkim. Perhaps the Earth is destroyed, either by us or some other cause and the aliens feel sorry for us. So they stick us with the G'chkchkim and assume we will get along...Ooops: Galactic peace: Fail! (I can't help but picture this one told via a frame story, the trial of one of those who commited the atrocity of xenocide on the G'chkchk planet.)
• Re the above, suppose that humanity was seeded on various planets with the express purpose by some 'parent' race to serve a particular role in the future. Perhaps humans were to be part of a network of supply depots, thus making humanity's reaction to the aliens perfectly logical and an instinct based on their earliest ancestors' experiences with being treated as livestock? Oooh, that might be an Instinct: Win!
• Remember that Heinlein story, The Veldt? Kids kill their parents with holographic lions that mysteriously are real in the first version of the holodeck ever described (to my knowledge)? Childrearing: Fail once again!

As usual, my ideas tend to show a rather jaded and cynical view of mankind.  But if you can take this stuff and make a happy-happy-joy-joy plot out of it, be my guest.  I'll root for you. 

Introducing: Weird Book Wednesday!

Occasionally, I run across some really odd books.  I often buy them, too, because I have this sense that I might NEED the book someday for a writing project.  (This is the reason I have hundreds of dollars worth of college texts, mythology books, and books on a wide miscellany of topics such as forensics, true crime, religion, or obscure historical events...most of which I haven't used yet for an actual project.)

But, occasionally, I run across some really, really odd books.  And today I decided to initiate a sporadic series entitled Weird Book Wednesday wherein I shall share some of them with you.  Only the best of the weirdest, folks.  So with that in mind, here's offering number one:

Contingency Cannibalism:  Superhardcore Surival's Dirty Little Secret by Shiguro Takada
Paladin Press trade paperback, 160 pages

One reviewer described this as 'Cannibalism For Dummies but darkly humorous.'  And it has recipes. 

Part of me thinks that having this book would be useful; but truthfully it's unlikely I'd ever write about cannibalism. So any desire for this on my part sparks of prurient nosiness, basically.

Another way to think about acquiring books like this is that, when reading them, you can spark some interesting ideas--like what if your protagonist had to consider such things as cannibalism to survive?  How would dead bodies be dealt with in enclosed environments?  And what is the most efficient way to get the nutrients of the dead into the living--by the use of their remains to feed the hydroponics of your spaceship, or to eat the dead and feed your wastes to the hydroponics?  Or what if there was some sort of nutrient lack and cannibalism was an instinctual response to a lack of a certain brain chemical (actually a true hypothesis in a scientific study I heard about.)

And as a slightly tangential note, Bone Song, the last book I recommended and a fine read, is essentially metaphorical cannibalism in that the bones of the dead are used to create the power that keeps civilization running (as well as zombies and other creatures.) Metaphorical cannibalism is a bit easier on the squick factor, IMO.

McKoala challenge update

I wrote approximately 600 words yesterday. That means I have 3400 to go by the 31st. If I continue at this rate the Koala will not be precisely pleased, but will forgo the clawing. (You ever wonder if she's really a werekoala? Or perhaps a vampire koala? Because the bloodthirstiness of this normally-benign marsupial is quite marked...)

And seeing as I need a means of keeping track of my endeavors, I have added a progress meter in the list to the left.  4k per month is all she asks demands, and it really is doable.  And let's be honest: I can use the motivation.

Writing!

Got an hour's writing in this evening.  I've grabbed the reins once again on Magus of Athlinar, which I really like and want to get finished.  What I really really like about it is the world I'm building.  I've had a story in mind for a while, but when I sat down to take the idea (a living, parasitic item that becomes a problem for the protagonist who accidentally becomes bonded to it) and the context (post-apocalyptic world, about a thousand years past what then-Christians called the Rapture) where magic reappears, laws of physics are no longer quite the same, and there are beings around who are maybe gods and/or angels.  It's over a thousand years post the Assonance Event as I term it, and the once-industrial nations have given way to the Near and Far East.  Our story takes place in what was once India.

To give you an idea of my worldbuilding process, let me share the ideas I had in the order I had them. I had an image of the protagonist picking up a cloak and putting it on for convenience's sake after she's robbed a mage.  Turns out that's a mistake...  From there I came up with her history, which is a former acolyte who, when being initiated as a priestess of her dieties, the angelae (who claim they are come to raise mankind up after God abandoned us) finds herself horrified and no longer able to believe in them.  She becomes a thief, assassin and magical practitioner, and eventually is commissioned to pull a job in Athlinar, where our story takes place.  Thing is, more is going on with this job than she anticipates, and the player may just be the one who is played...

And to give you the basis of the world change, here's my take on the events that changed the world:

The Assonance Theory:  Assonance is essentially "the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words" and I extrapolate the term to refer to 'vibrational similarity'-- an explanation for how the natural laws of the world could have suddenly altered and of 4/5 of the population go missing (the Rapture, of course!).  Because, according to moi, what occurs is a collision of universes that results in a complex result:  Two universes merging to change ours into a composite; and other 'baby-verses' splitting off (with, it's hoped, the missing people, because consciousness--'mental vibrations' or some such--has an affect on where one ends up. This point is still hotly debated at the time of the story, as you can imagine.) Overall, I'm relying on the present M-theory that's being debated among the theoretical physicists as the basis for the concept, as well as my own hunch that translation from one universe to another would result in changed natural laws.

I think it's very beneficial to make a statement, even if just for yourself, that clarifies teh basis of the world's rules you are dealing with.  It gives you parameters, helps you keep from straying too far from plausible in your fictional world's framework.

Out-of-order tense or causation

"Good, linear prose takes the reader directly from event to event in sequence through time. Yes, sometimes we break that line on purpose, as with a flashback. But in general, we want events to proceed in a direct line through the chronology of events."  Theresa (guest blogging from Edit Torrent)

Romance University blog had an article last week regarding out-of-order actions or causation in description.  I thought I'd share, as this is something I've found when critiquing the writing of other writers.  I don't know why, but I don't think I've ever had a problem with this, barring the occasional oversight.  But newish writers in particular seem blind to this problem and do it over and over. 

I won't reinvent the wheel when the article is so clear and concise, but the basic idea is this:  You need to place the elements of description or action in either chronological or logical order.  Consider the timing, consider what causes what, what must happen first (e.g. cause precedes reaction, slipping precedes falling down, etc.), and check to see that things that can't be done before something else is perceived or done follow instead of lead.  You must do this, or the reader will have to either go back and reread or puzzle over what you meant.  It is a bit jarring, pulls them from the story, and this is not a good thing. 

Check out the Ask An Editor articles on the Romance University's site.  No matter what genre you write, there's something to learn.  Also, you might read Edit Torrent blog for daily reminders and information on grammar and writing skills.

Apparently, I'm a werewolf...

Funny, given my druthers I'd either be a vampire or a  kelpie. (Luring innocent travelers to ride on my back and drown them?  Why, yes!  What fun!)

 

What Mythical Creature are you? Your Result: Werewolf Werewolves are part human, part beast. They reside in human form until the presence of the full moon, and then transform into a primal beast, that will destroy and ingest anyone and anything in its path. Because of this dual existence, werewolves are often thought of as an entity containing a dual personality. Because of the trauma that is induced from such a treumendous physical change, the human part of the werewolf often does not remember the change or even the events that have passed, and only suffer something of a "hang over" the next day. Some werewolves even live in complete ignorance of their disorder until the very day that they die.
Vampire
Elf
Nymph
Siren
What Mythical Creature are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

And since we're on the topic:  What mythological, fictional, paranormal, or science fiction inspired critter or being would you like to be?

NOT SAFE FOR WORK!
But you need to see the picture at the link, appropriately titled, "I am very disturbed by this..." (Especially the little girl's actions, which her parents are ignoring.)

http://pictureisunrelated.com/2009/07/20/i-am-very-disturbed-by-this/

Possible virus?

I keep getting email from addresses I don't know saying my mail delivery failed. Looks like a real message header except for the strange email addy. So I don't open the attached message, and neither should you all if you get one. It might be a virus.

First lines: make the right impression

Having grabbed a semi-random bunch of books (okay, they were topmost in the large pile of Not Yet Shelved recent reads) I thought I'd share a bunch of first lines.  The first lines do tend to be important, and seeing a bunch of them together provides an interesting contrast...rather like wearing stripes with plaid and polka dots, but let's not discuss it too deeply, okay?

"Donal sketched a fingertip salute to the shadows beyond the stone steps."  Bone Song, John Meany
On its own this isn't as mood and scene setting as the rest of the paragraph, but it's good, solid wordsmithing.  We know Donal is the pov person, that this is 3rd person pov, and that he salutes something that lurks in the shadows.  This last does make you a very important thing, which is to ask a question: what's in the shadows? And that's a good thing.  Questions and answers pull readers along into the opening of the story, which is precisely what you want.  Keep 'em interested, keep 'em mesmerized.  (I loved this book, btw.)

"Stalking a time traveler is hard work, even if you are one."   Curse the Dawn, Karen Chance
Well, you definitely know you are not in Kansas any more!  Paranormal story alert in that opening line.  Also, it establishes the speaker is likely a proactive type (she's stalking this unnamed time traveler, not watching) and it does make you want to know about this time traveler business and who are these people and why is one stalking the other.  Lastly, for me at least, this implies an action-oriented story.  That's due to the nature of openings: They make a promise to the reader.  And this opening line promises action and that the book is either fantasy or science fiction due to the time travelling mention.  If that's what your reader wants, and this is what they get...you are doing good.

"Molly and the kids and I were eating a big lunch when the lightning hit."  Blood Cross, Jane Yellowrock #2, Faith Hunter
This start is (literally) shocking and possibly dangerous.  Readers are going to ask what happens next. Does the lightning strike anyone? Destroy anything?  What? What happens??!!  And the scene is established, at least in the form of a vivid visual--kitchen table with people around it and a lightning bolt.  Also, as this is a sequel, readers learn immediately that Jane's friend Molly and her kids are still visiting her.   This places the book in time as relatively close to the end of the first book in the series, and implies to those in the know that Jane is still in New Orleans, still in the same house.

"Two rules live by: Never admit to being a shapeshifter on a first, second, or third date with a human."  Deadtown, Nancy Holzner
The interesting structural trick of this first line is that the thought isn't finished.  You as reader need the second sentence to finish it, so you are naturally pulled forward to read the next line.  This line also establishes this is a paranormal fantasy of some flavor, and it at this point might or might not be romance or urban fantasy.  But you know it's likely either of those two.  Also, we get a feel for the voice of the main character at once via the first-person point of view.

"There was no sign above the abandoned church, but someone had scribbled, "Let us prey" above the main doors."  Death's Mistress, Karen Chance
A bit of dark humor sets the tone for the first-person voice, establishing character and, to some extent, setting.  I liked the joke, and it leads into the situation which follows, which is a vampire nightclub in an abandoned church.  Nicely ironic.  This follows a similar pattern to the Deadtown first sentence, because while we understand the joke, we don't know--yet--why it's amusing, and that acts similarly to the half-completed thought in the Deadtown example.  I like that.  It's subtle and very good at making readers want to know more.

"I'd die for him."  Faefever, Karen Marie Moning
Huh what?  We need to know what this is all about, right?  So that startling statement gets the reader's attention.  The next sentence backs the story up in time by having the main character explain that first line is the wrong place to start; but the odd, extreme statement does the job of getting readers to wonder what's going on here.  I'm not overly fond of the technique used, but it does startle and get the attention of readers. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So those are a few example of openers to recently released urban, dark or paranormal romance fantasy.  Can you tell which is which?  Can you discern a pattern or patterns frequently used to get the reader curious and make them want to keep reading?  Take a look at some of your favorite reads and some you dislike and see what their openings look like.  Check out openings for genres you normally do not read.  Google something on "bad opening lines" or check out the Edgar Bulwer Lytton contest for examples that are accidentally-on-purpose funny.  Perhaps you might dig out some of your own dust-gathering false starts and see why you gave up on them, why you lost interest.  Maybe they lacked something to provide impetus to readers' curiosity, or maybe you can see something else that makes them not work for you?

I find that the first line on its own is not always the thing that hooks a reader, but it's like that first glance between lovers: their eyes meet and something sparks between them, and they KNOW they are interested, if not yet in love.  Love comes later, after a bit of getting to know you and all that stuff.  And it's the same way when you read and when you write to get readers interested.  You seduce them with your prose.  

The lines that follow the opener must continue that interest, build upon it, build the scene and genre--and the interest of the reader, too, until they're convinced they want to stay in your fictional world for a time.  In short, the opening of your story is a covenant with the reader, and you must keep that promise or you will anger or disappoint them. 

So it pays to be aware what opening lines are implying and what they are telling.  It's the first impression, and  you want to make the right one.

Liana Brooks shares the linky love by recommending we check out the Science Fiction Thesaurus, a post by Bookshelf Muse.
Bookshelf Muse article here: http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2010/01/setting-thesaurus-entry-spaceport.html
Liana Brooks' post here: http://lianabrooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/dont-lick-walls.html

Helpful ways to avoid being published

Gremlin over at Electric Spec blog thoughtfully shared ways and means to prevent your story becoming published.  Article here.

Fear is the motivator

I do call this a writing blog and myself a writer, but of late (okay, most of the past year) I haven't been actually writing much.  So I joined the McKoala challenge this year.  Now fear movtivates me--pure adrenaline rush and fear!  [see previous post] If properly motivated, I should be able to bang out the short story a month the cruel Koala demands.  (Well, I can make the 4k requirement, anyhow.)

So, with sharp marsupial claws in mind, I picked up The Magus of Athlinar, decided I didn't wanna, and opened up The Redemption, a high fantasy that I set aside over a year ago.  I keep getting stuck on this one, mostly because I based it originally on a scene I had planned for an epic fantasy series I've been thinking about for at least 30 years.

However, as usually happens when you start in the middle of a plot AND you're a seat-of-the-pants writer like moi, you don't get what you were thinking for the arc; you get what the new story demands. 

So I had to set this baby aside until I could think of it as it's own individual story with no requirement of being true to the original arc and idea.

Oddly, the approximate 4800 word starting word count has already decreased to 4438.  I'm slashing the beginning at the moment, and will slash a bunch of the existing text before I move on.  There's too much.  I've also gone back to the original opening, which omits a lot of stuff. 

My mantra for today is "when in doubt, throw it out."  Doesn't seem to be hurting this piece at all.  And while the opening isn't that great at the moment, it's better than it was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the halls of the Emperor’s Flower Court the Imperial Consort walked, her figure cloaked in yards of pale and drifting silk so that she appeared a willowy cloud. Not even the toe of a slipper was visible as she progressed, nor the soft petals of her fingers. She was the White Lady, and to look upon her was dangerous to mortal eyes.  Had she not cracked the earth so it swallowed an army? Did she not command the winds and the waters and thus kept the bloody barbarians at bay in the recent wars?

Voices stilled and heads bowed as the White Lady passed through the Lower Courts.  These were the petitioners--guildsmen, smallholders, and peasantry--their eyes filled by the glint of starsteel weaponry and bloody reflections cast by the crimson breastplates of the Emperor’s personal guard.  Behind them, she felt the weight of gazes, of speculation.  There would be whispers, and, no matter the outcome of this meeting, that was good.

Enshrined in her veil, the Lady in no wise acknowledged her surroundings. They could never know or even guess the truth of the situation:  Their great Lady and symbol of the Goddess' approval and protection was an accident and a lie.

[Yes, that 2nd paragraph has continuity issues, has vague references and is not working to say what I want.  I'm struggling with it.]

The Koala Challenge commences!

Perhaps you haven't heard about the McKoala shred fest aka the 2010 Koala Challenge?  Last year, McKoala hosted a motivational challenge where various blogging writers all agreed to meet her unreasonable demanding ridiculous, um, realistic and wise monthly production requirements. 

To whit,

One point for every short story, poem, article or other short submission. This is one point per publication, so check out the ones that allow multiples, and race up the Koala Love charts. Your blog does not count as a submission, nor does a friend's. However, blog competitions such as Jason Evans' Clarity of Night do count as a submission.

One point for achieving The Koala's perfectly reasonable writing/editing target of 4000 words a month.

One point for beta reading a fellow writer's novel and providing feedback. (Nothing shorter than a novel is eligible for this category).

Big points: whatever level you are on, a novel submission takes you straight up to Koala Approves. (In Paca's case, a dissertation submission will have the same effect, see special furry rules below). While waiting for a response you must keep writing/editing/submitting short stories. Anyone sitting on their laurels drops down a stage.

However, if an agent asks you to make changes to a novel, you get to stay on Koala Approves for the duration of your editing and negotiations, provided you get those changes to him/her in time and remember your manners. Ask for an extension or moan about your potential agent and you drop down a stage.

Report in at the end of every month. The Koala tots up the points. Points cannot be held over for a following month. The Koala wants consistent effort. The Koala is always right.

Each person is allowed one month off in the year - you decide if you want a summer holiday or a Christmas break or to have a baby or get your appendix out.

And I'm already in trouble, because January counts and I haven't written a lick except an excessive amount of blogging and blog commenting...

Cool site: Notes On The Art Of Writing

I thought I'd share a link with a blog site I found today, Notes On The Art Of Writing.  The author, Bellavida, has a lot of great and helpful links in the sidebar.  In particular, I liked her list of writing definitions here.  (But I disagree with some of them.)

Interesting discussion on ideas.
Over at Bevie's blog, we're having an interesting discussion in the comments about ideas and where they come from.

http://thegreatsea.blogspot.com/2010/01/ideas-are-vapors-in-my-mind.html

Aaaaah!

I'm number four on a google search for "gastric bypass surgery pictures!"  Aaaaaah! 

Why this bothers me, I don't know.  But it does.  :/

UPDATE 1/16/10:  Whew!  The crisis has resolved itself.  Can't find me at all with the search now.  This blog must be pages down from the beginning now.

Today, a fistful of links

"The reason to use a subplot isn’t as important as ensuring there is at least one subplot in a manuscript. Otherwise, the novel will read more like a long short story, instead of a multi-layered book like those readers are accustomed to buying."  Lynnette Labelle

Here are some great articles to read for you all:

First, we have the Rejectionist, who has a gathering of links on writing people of color.  This is a discussion that I've been having with myself ever since last year's racefail webstorm.  Or should I call that a twitterfest?  Dunno.  Irrelevant.

Vampire Chix blog (a Cool Site you might want to bookmark) has a blog about how the various subgenres of vampire books are being falsely labeled.  (Don't you just hate it when you think you have an urban fantasy and it turns out to be a romance, or when a supposed romance turns out to be horror or UF?) 

Blood Red Pencil's guest blogger, Shon Bacon, has two excellent posts on Using Characters & Scenes to Trim the Fat from Your Story, parts one and two at the links. 

Magicalworlds.net, another WAY cool site, has a great reminder:  Did you save?  (Please, go save NOW.)

Orbit Books blog has a useful post on How A  Story Works.  Lots of food for thought there.

And Lynnette Labelle has a great short post on why you might consider using subplots. 

Anthology opportunities

This time, I am fulfilling my Opportunity Thursday commitment, but I'm being lazy.  Check out Angie's excellent round of of market opportunities here.  (Thanks, Angie!)

Okay, before and after pictures...or is that before and partway through?

I don't know if I have the nerve to leave these up for long (I tend to take pictures of me down) but here is the before*

and here is the after. (Same smirk, different day.  Hardly looks the same though, does it?)

That's 80 pounds difference, people! (And check out my new glasses.  Aren't they cool?)

40 more to lose so I am back at this weight:

Sigh.  If only I could be that AGE again! (And dark brown hair would be nice!)

There are a few bonus shots on my Facebook page, too. (Sorry, you have to be my friend to view them.  Just request it and if I've heard of you I'll confirm the request.)

*For those of you new to the blog, I had gastric bypass surgery on 9/3/09, and I've lost approximately 80 pounds since I entered the surgical weight loss program almost exactly a year ago.  Some was by dint of crazy effort and exercise, but the majority was 1) presurgical liquid diet, and 2) post surgical diet and bodily changes.  And man am I ever grateful for the surgery.  No diet or exercise program worked, no matter how diligent or perfect I was. 

Story lengths and editing

Liana Brooks has an excellent article on length and editing so your work's word count fits your genre.