Noun-specific Verbs

Just taking a quick break from WIP's Rough Draft 2.0 to share with you a quick tip about verbs. Sometimes when a scene feels uninspired in respect to word-selection, I will make a list of noun-specific verbs by focusing on a subject.

On First Drafts

A few weeks ago I finished the first draft for my current WIP. It was ugly. It was painful. But--you know what?--it was finished! And it felt GOOD.

I had racked up a healthy word count, characters were taking shape nicely and it FINALLY felt like I was getting a good grip on the story. But with the ugly, painful, finished first draft came the first round of self-edits.

I love to edit. And, folks, I don't take prisoners. Never have, never will. Not even with myself. ESPECIALLY not with myself. And 'no prisoners' in THIS instance meant ripping out half the words, rehashing plot issues and deleting several characters.

Making Things

Readers! Fellow writers! And all the other, more rational beings!

So, you may or may not have noticed a wee gap in my blog. Okay, fine... a MASSIVE gap. It's been, what? Over a year. But hey, I've been busy. And I promise it won't be that bad ever again.

The reason is two-fold, and yet... the reason is the same.

I've made things.

First of all, I stopped that whole office-working-nonsense. In the infamous words of Taylor Swift "Weeee-EEEEE are never ever ever ever getting back together." Okay, that may not be entirely true. I do miss some parts of working in an office and in publishing, but for the time being I am no longer doing that sort of work.

Guilt and Motivation

It's been a while. A long while. But, in fairness, I have never professed to be this wonderful blogger that brings you enlightening posts on a regular basis, despite the fact that  that is sort of the purpose of a blog. Alas, every time I sit down to do a blog post I feel guilty.

Guilty because I'm still just about half way done with a manuscript I wanted to have finished months ago.
Guilty because, if I'm struggling with my story, I should be reading or researching, not blogging.
Guilty because some days--too many days--I have a severe case of What-the-hell-am-I-doing-osis*.

Scrivener: Snapshots and Setting Targets

For those of you who don't know, Scrivener is a word processor that offers great tools and easy organization for some of the really messy bits of novel writing. I'm sure it's perfect for other writing, but as I've only used it for writing novels, that's all I know.

A couple weeks ago, Erin Bowman did a piece on Scrivener's outlining features. Though while I add flourishes like articles, document, and pictures to mine, I happen to use the corkboard in much the same way as she does. I recommend you hop on over and watch her video, you just might find it helpful.

Now, let me tell you about what are presently two of my favourite Scrivener features: Snapshots and Setting Targets.

Gremlins

So I'm plowing through my first draft of--what I'm temporarily calling--The One With Lots of Kissing and Lots of Sand (or Towlokalos... hey, that's actually pronounceable). *insert proud smile here*

It's an interesting project which is made more interesting...

Let me explain.

So what's this story about?

I sincerely hope the following videos will help shed some light into what my project is about.

Cushions, Fluff and Beef... Oh my!

I was reading some of the forums on NaNoWriMo late last night (read: I was distracted) and I read something that really got to me...

Some of the participants were talking about ways to, I believe the phrase was, "cushion [their] word count". Meaning, ways to simply add more words to their manuscript, furthering their way towards their 50,000 word goal.

NaNoWriMo, Inner Editor Pulverisation and Character Interrogations

Some of you may remember last November, as I set off to conquer NaNoWriMo and how seriously pissed off I got (1) because I felt out of control (I may or may not have a compulsive need to edit) and (2) because I got ill and couldn't open my eyes for about a week.

Anyway, my biggest struggle this month (read: every month, ie: all the time) is to kick Inner Editor in the face so she bleeds, neglected, in the corner of the room until draft one is out of my fingers. *straps on karate belt*

House-cleaning & Tree-climbing

Writing a book is like... cleaning the house.

It's a mess. Socks hang off the lamps, last week's take out is still on the counter, there's a pile of laundry the size of a beluga at the foot of the bed and I think there's something growing under the sofa. I told you, it's a mess. The book, not my house. Well... no that's a lie, my house is a mess too. But before it can get tidy, it's going to get messier.

I don't like the initial mess. It's gross and smells I and wish I could magic it away with a *flick and swish*. It's horrible to begin with, so this whole getting messier bit... well, let's just say I wouldn't be having him around for tea anytime soon. In fact, I'm quite inclined to throw hammers at him and shove him out the window, because the messy getting messier bit makes me like this:

So... About That Time Machine

A while ago I flashed-back to one of my many journeys from my Kings Road dorms to South Kensington tube station, where I found on an empty platform and a time machine disguised as a Cadbury's chocolates dispenser.

And that got me thinking... thinking about something we all know is immensely true, but probably don't think about enough: time has a lot to do with setting and has a great influence on a story.

Where to set a story within the space of TIME?

There's so much choice! I could go from 'Ancient History' (let's say, 3000BC) to anywhere in the future (how about 3000AD, just to put a limit on it).

How Characters Change

Let me start off by saying I'm a bad blogger. I mean a REALLY bad blogger. I think this is namely because when I start blogging, I start thinking I should be doing something else: writing some chapters, deleting some words or moving scenes around--something, anything to make The Manuscript better.

That said, I want to blog... I need to blog. I need share a little about what I've been working on with The Manuscript. Today I've been working on how character's change.

So what happens is that the narrator and her family go through The Really Horrible Experience (ie the inciting incident), which, I'm pleased announce, thanks to a little editing magic, now happens in the second chapter instead of the sixth. PHEW! Let's hear it for editing magic. It's my fave.

The Picture + Words Prompt

Sometimes we all need a little inspiration. Below is a writing prompt or story starter. Use it in whatever way works best for you—develop a story, character or a scene. And so let me know if you come across anything particularly interesting.

Click here and use the first picture on this page.

Ask the Editor: What's the best way to get published?

QUESTION:
I would like to ask a question! I have written a children's picture book, amongst others. What is the best way to get it published? Who would you recommend to contact? I don't know why other books get out but I can't. Please let me know.

ANSWER:
Unfortunately, there is no short answer to this. Most importantly, I want to stress that just because you've finished writing your book, doesn't mean your work is done. You're really only about half way there.

WHAT, you say. Half way? But I've just written, edited, rewritten (wash, rinse, repeat, multiply by 30) a freaking BOOK!

Yes, well. Truth hurts, sunshine. There's still LOT of reading and research on different agents and publishers. Also, be prepared to work on your query/submission letter until it is bang on.

Poems, Pancakes and the Zombie Apocalypse

I do a section on my blog that trawls through my web history, because I'm a writer, I generally end up perusing the web at some point during the day looking for information, inspiration or procrastination. The websites are random, sometimes morbid, sometimes bizarre, but always interesting.

A selection of my web history this week:

Before I settle down to start writing or researching, I need some grub to get me going. I really must say that Nigella Lawson's American Breakfast Pancakes are a winner. Pancakes are like my favourite breakfast food and Nigella's are the best! They're really easy to make and they always turn out wonderfully.

If you want to learn how to survive the 2011 Zombie Apocalypse, head on over to Nancy Coffey's Agency Blog, where they detail everything from how to spot zombie-ism to how to fend off a rabid zombie attack.

Dear Blog, I'm Sorry

Dear Blog:

Thank you for visiting, but I seem to be out. You see, it's the end of the year and there are 296 deadlines charging straight at me like a herd of very angry cougars (and I'm not even confident that cougars herd or charge). My Dearest Blog, and you know what makes matters worse, my one and only, Mac-Book Hard-Drive (people thought we were cruel when we named her because of the double double-barrel, but we thought it was cute) has passed away. This wouldn't be so bad if we weren't so attached. It was scary, how'd well she knew me. And her ability to recall every secret I ever told her means that she will sorely missed, indeed.

This Week's Web History (29/11 - 3/12)

I do a section on my blog that trawls through my web history, because I'm a writer, I generally end up perusing the web at some point during the day looking for information, inspiration or procrastination. The websites are random, sometimes morbid, sometimes bizarre, but always interesting.

A selection of my history this week:

Some of my friends from back home are trying to beat winter boredom and have thus embarked on the great search for Michigan's Best Burger. I look forward to eventually reaping the benefits from this epic research.

How NaNoWriMo Ruined My Day

Yesterday I posted about taking a swing at the NaNoWriMo challenge. Today I sat seething at the computer. Tonight I cried to my husband, a big blubbering mess. Let me tell you why.

Yesterday I wrote a nice big chunk of prose. It was all planned out beforehand and I was even quite pleased with some parts. Yesterday was a very good day and I woke up this morning, ready to write more. But then I didn't. I'm not just an author, but a trained editor who shudders at anything less than perfection. So what did I do today? I deleted. I moved things around. I rewrote stuff. And not just a little bit.