Madge's Weblog

NaNoWriMo -- Day late and a dollar short

I've had a really hard time getting going with NaNoWriMo this year.  Right now I'm almost caught up.  I'm about a day behind on my word count goal.  Below are a few tips that have helped me try to keep pace.  Normally I'd refer to the forums, but the website is so ridiculously slow that those aren't much help this year.  Not sure what happened, last year the format of the site was much more involved and it was fairly fast.  The page load times make me think that their server is in a basement somewhere with smoke pouring out of every crevice.

My word count right is now is a little over 6,000 words.  I need to be at 8,334 words tonight to be on pace for 50,000 words.

Tips:

Word wars on the forums - see how many words you can write in 30 minutes.  Just let it flow and don't think.

Rewards - bribe yourself with your favorite food or drink.

Get up and move around - after a half hour of word wars make yourself get up and do something active.

Time yourself -- start writing on the hour and tell yourself that after you write a thousand words you can take the rest of the hour off.  I once wrote 10,000 words in a day using this technique.

NaNoWriMo 2007

I am gearing up for the 2007 edition of NaNoWriMo.  Last year I didn't do any prep for my novel.  Things didn't flow as well as the year before so for this year's novel I'm going to do a plot outline.  I am also going to make my novel a fantasy story so that I don't need to do any specific research.  We will see how that goes this year.  Things have been incredibly busy with work so I only have a few days left to plot before the chaos begins. 

Wishing everyone a successful round of noveling!

Writer's Guideline Pet Peeve -- From a Writer's Viewpoint

I'm looking for places to submit a new science fiction story.  The first two were a given for me, they are the two places I always submit my best short science fiction work -- Asimov's and Fantasy & Science Fiction.  My philosophy is that if I'm serious about my writing I always need to start at the top and work my way down the list of possible outlets based on reputation and payscale.

Here's where the pet peeve comes in.  In researching the next outlet I came across writers guideline from a publication that says:

" Unless you are convinced that your work is of a top-shelf, global standard – the sort of excellent fiction published by, for example, Asimov’s – please don’t bother."

Wait, I'm confused, if you're an author convinced that your short story is good enough for Asimov's shouldn't that be where you send it?  Why would you send it to this unknown publication instead?

Seriously people, it can't be that hard to write your guidelines that you have to resort to things like "Only take what should be published in 'World Renowned Publication XYZ'."   I've actually seen this sort of wording before and it has become a BIG pet peeve of mine.  I never send my work for consideration to any outlet that says stuff like this.  I'm positive that lack of my short stories to reject has never harmed one of these outlets :-)  but it makes me feel better to not support an outlet that resorts to lazy guidelines.

Resources for Character and Story Ideas

I have two resources that I use regularly for character and story ideas.  One is a fairly new resource, or rather its fairly new that it is free.  I use the archives of the New York Times for historical data points to make my fantasy stories more real.  This information was just freed up from behind a paywall.  I am beyond excited about having it as a free resource. 

I also use the Dear Abby and Dear Margo columns in the newspaper for inspiration.  For instance there was a great letter yesterday in Dear Abby where a woman was writing in to say that her husband wouldn't let her lock the doors to their house.  This is a great "why" and "what-if" scenario for a short story or even a novel. It is especially useful for me because the one area where I struggle is in the character arc.  I have trouble making my characters change by the end of the story.  The Dear Abby and Dear Margo letters set-up fabulous opportunities to build character arcs.

Drabble: Alektorophobia

Here's an odd little Drabble I wrote recently.  Caution: Not for those with a fear of chicken.

Stanley was a simple man with simple tastes.  Simple like fried chicken.  Mmmm, it was his favorite.  Not with mashed potatos or a side of coleslaw, he liked his Sunday fried chicken with a side of fried chicken.

That sleepy Sunday morning started the same as any other.  The pullets clucking in the yard, Stanley eating his breakfast.  Stanley walking out the door, the roosters.. wait.. the roosters sharpening their knives?

Too bad for Stanley that the chickens had simple tastes too.  For weeks now they had been looking forward to some fried Stanley with a side of mashed Stanley

.

Field Guide to SF Muni -- Muni Karma

Muni Karma is a lot like parking karma.  It comes and goes on it's own whim.  If you don't have any Muni Karma built up you'll find yourself standing at the bus stop waiting for a 33 for half an hour only to find that as soon as you start to walk away one roars by without stopping.  One way to build up your Muni Karma is to thank your bus driver.  You put your life in their hands every day -- think about how many times you have crossed in front of a bus without thinking twice not to mention how many times you ride in one -- so saying thank you now and again isn't too much to ask.

Time Management for Writers -- The Waiting Room

Get out a piece of paper and a pen.  List the places where you have to sit and wait during the course of a week or month.  These aren't things that could be considered activities like 'eating dinner with the family' or 'sitting in church' these are places and times when you are in between activies.  Think sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office, commuting or sitting in the car to pick the kids up from school.  Do you have your list?  Now write down next to each thing how long you spend waiting in each scenario.  It might be a lot of time or just a few minutes, but when added all up the number is pretty significant, especially when you think of it in terms of months or years.

Next time you have to go to the doctor or pick the kids up from school take a notebook and a pen with you.  Even if you just get down one paragraph or one idea, you're writing and that's what counts.  If you drive to work I would suggest using a tape recorder rather than a pen and paper :-) but I'm sure you get the idea.  Make every little second count and you might find yourself arriving a little early for that dentist's appointment just so you can have a few extra minutes to write.

One interesting benefit of trying this out is that you can see how different environments affect your writing.  You might write dialogue better while you are sitting on the bus to go to work or perhaps be better at descriptions when you have the windows on the van rolled down while you're waiting for the kids.  The best thing about writing is that you don't have to write your story from beginning to end so you can use your newly discovered preferences to strengthen what you do.

Field Guide to SF Muni -- Cell Phone Etiquette

While riding on Muni it is acceptable to have quick cell phone conversations to coordinate meeting locations, timing, directions, etc. HOWEVER don't confuse Muni with your living room or for that matter any room in your house.  I know, you're thinking to yourself, how in the world would someone get that confused?  I've seen people in that condition.  They sit on Muni and discuss their personal lives, their bank accounts, how much money they owe credit card companies.  I once even learned, in grossly graphic detail, about a man's hernia and heard a woman give out her routing number and checking account number.  Seriously people, do you really want the half-naked homeless guy two rows over from you to know that much about your personal life and your finances? I have decided that from now on cell phone conversations I hear while riding the bus will be posted here.  I will remove any information that might be harmful, such as people's full names and/or financial information, but the rest will be up here in black and white for the world to see.  I think you guys are going to find it pretty surprising what people will talk about while on the bus.

Best Food in North Beach -- Update

I thought I'd do a little update to a post I did awhile ago on food in North Beach.  The Helmand, my favorite restaurant in North Beach, has been closed since a landslide in the spring.  My second favorite is a little spot called House.  They serve asian fusion and its a great place to go for lunch during the week.  Try the Lychee ice tea and the warm soba noodles with salmon. 

Drabble

I've been writing drabble lately.  I don't seem to have the attention span for anything else. Drabble is a story that is less than 100 words.  I've found that writing these pieces has helped immensely with my descriptions and pacing in longer works.  If you only have 100 words to work with every word has to be essential.