Monday update

I had planned a fun post for today, but instead decided to spend my creative efforts on a final nitpick edit run. Not that I finished the edits, but I did get several chapters done and since it's been a little while since my six hundred and twelth time reading this thing, I was enjoying myself. All right, maybe I exaggerate slightly, but I've read it a lot.

My fractured ankle is starting to bother me less. I'm officially off my crutches and down to hobbling in my walking cast. Which is nice because I'm falling woefully behind on my flowerbed cleanup project that I'd begun before misfortune caught up with me.

To further overload myself, I've picked right now as the time to paint and redecorate my living room. Why on earth would I do that now? Our tv blew up. Seriously. Tiny flames and several puffs of smoke and all. Which means a new tv is required to view few shows we do watch. Which means we have to get the newest tv, the kind that doesn't require our current mammoth entertainment center. Which means dismantling said mammoth entertainment center and finding new homes for the far too many knick knacks that it has become the home for over the past eleven years. And while this is all going away, what better time to paint than before the much smaller entertainment center and new tv arrive?

I'm also in the midst of rethinking a short story that needs revising before going back out into the world and coming up with better blurbs for all my work than I currently have so I can post it on my new page writing page here.

You know, if there ever came a point in life where I only had one project going on, I think I'd self-combust out of boredom.

Motivation

Nothing makes me all warm and fuzzy inside quite the same way as chatting on the phone with a fellow mom and hearing that her child is still plugging away at their NaNo Novel even six months after our school NaNoWriMo Young Writers program has ended.

Contented sigh. Another kid turned on to the joys of writing.

I've run into several of my writing program kids in the past weeks while doing volunteer work in both the elementary school and middle school where I run the writing program. Several of them are still writing, others are looking forward to next November. On days when I feel down about my own writing, I think of these moments and feel successful.

I'm not a teacher. I'm not an awesome public speaker. In most social cases, I'd rather be in my writing cave, but doing this program for the last three years has been a very gratifying experience. It has driven me to start submitting my work so I have something to show for my efforts and to set an example of success. I'm very excited to have something to show them this year, and by November, I hope to have a couple more.

Ah, goals and a deadline, they are a powerful motivation.

An interesting way to waste time

I'm innocently critiquing a story last night during Lost's commercial breaks when my husband says, "Go check this website out. The pictures of Dubai are amazing."

So I do. It's both cool and a little disturbing. At least I think so. Sure makes me think twice about doing any gardening in a bikini, that's for sure. Yeah, I know, that sounds weird already, but I'm not one of those people who can just sit and sunbathe. That lasts for five minutes (unless I'm in the midst of a really good book), and then I start looking around at all the things that need doing in the yard. I might as well do two things at once.

But someone somewhere could be unknowingly capturing that unflattering pose and posting it for all to find.

On the other hand, there have got to be a million story ideas hidden among these photos. What could those two people at the theme park be doing? Who is the woman talking to on her cell phone as she walks down the street? And my personal favorite, why is there a man standing in his underpants in what looks to be a construction site?

Looking back

After I 'finished' my first novel -- turns out I was far from finished, but at that time I did manage to finally write 'the end' to the long-winded, backstory-ridden, learning experience that it was -- I needed a break. I needed to step out from under my rock and learn about craft. To begin this journey, I wandered into fanfic territory. It seemed a little less intimidating than joining an actual writer's group.

Playing with existing characters in an established world helped me to learn to write in various points of view and learn to get a character's voice right, to keep them seperate and keep them acting consistantly. Because if I didn't, whoa boy, did I hear about it from other fans! I had to do some research. Me and Google got real familar with one another. I learned how to give and take critism. And I met some great people. (Hey Gracie!)

I've been on a nostolgic kick lately, likely spurred by digging back into the sequel -- which was the second big thing that I'd written -- so I reached into my archived files and pulled out my fan fic novella, my first forray into writing something completely different. A western.

Honestly, I had been entertaining the thought of stripping out all the fanfic bits and rewriting it into something original, maybe a fantasy short.

I remembered the bumbling romance story as a little corny with a side of cheese and a bit awkward in a few places, but it had been well received by readers. Egads, memories really gloss things over.

Things I've learned since then, as illustrated on the first page:

1. Paragraphs should not be huge blocks of text that take up a quarter of a page. Maybe one here and there, but not every. single. one.

2. Proper formating. Double spaced with indents everyone?

3. Adverb control. Round those villians up and shoot them. Except that cute one with the big brown eyes. One or two can remain alive for flavor.

4. Omni is not my best choice for pov. *cringes*

5. Dialogue tags are not needed every single time someone speaks.

6. People that are getting beaten usually react in some way other than (or at least along with) glaring daggers at their assailant.

7. All you critiquers that complain that I don't describe enough would be squealing with glee in the midst of the description overload in this monstrosity.

8. Commas are my friends when used correctly.

9. A story is better shown than told. But it was startling and bizarre, I tell you!

10. A lot of blood doesn't mean someone is automatically dead. Feel for a pulse, you idiots.

After recovering from the dizzy spell brought on by all the head shaking and ironing my forehead from all the brow scrunching, I'm not sure I can do anything with this other than call it a learning experience, but it was gratifying to see how much I've learned since diving into this writing thing more seriously.

I don't know if I can make it through page two. But really, how much worse could it get?

Tagged: Seven awesome things

Thanks to Spammy, my planned post will have to take the back burner while I ponder the seven most 'really awesome' things I've read about in any book.

1.Dune's sand worms that create spice to make people live longer. Really Awesome. We just won't mention how they create it.

2. Again from Dune: The Bene Gesserit litany against fear.

3. And again: Weirding modules. When a word has real power, look out!

4. From the Taltos series: Morganti weapons - they don't just kill you, they kill your soul too.

5. From the same: assasssins that kill your body for money but if you have enough money and are found quick enough, you can be revived from the dead. Say it with me: I'm not dead yet!

6. Thieves' World: for introducing a M/M character relationship to their mix back when they were not so publically accepted or widely written about.

7. Bill the Galactic Hero: For just being silly and making me laugh. How can a solidier who literally has two right arms, be wrong?

And now what I've revealed my awesome things, I'm to tag four people. These lovely four people will then have to ponder seven things of my chosen topic: Seven most interesting ways a character has died in a novel you've written or read.

Bontanist - I know you have plenty of dead characters to work with

Marion Sipe - Here's a topic for you and your shiny new blog. :)

Penelope Barber - You've been quiet lately. Hopefully that means you're busy writing.

Owllady at Letter Go - Have you managed to work 'death by drumsticks' into a story yet?

Have fun.