Recycled Mondays: A Blog Event and Free Story Ideas

UPDATE: due to the fact that 'Linky' now wants money for what was once free, Recycled Mondays has been cancelled.



 

A poetry blog I read has a weekly event with a Linky in which you can post a link to your own blog post. I've decided to do the same, and do it on Mondays. (I'm starting early this week because this event is new. Here are the rules:

1. Find an older blog post of yours and do a revised/updated version of it as a new post. You may in addition tell a little about how the original post came to be written. Writing related posts are particularly enjoyed, but anything that isn't death threats, bomb making instructions, porn or spam is OK.
2. Include the Nifty Recycled Mondays graphic if you can. 3. Include the Linky code.
3.5. I forgot to say, include these Recycled Monday rules in your post as well.
4. Post your post, then add the link of that post to the Linky.
5. Visit at least three of the other blogs on the Linky list. Comment on at least one. Politely.  

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This is one of the earliest blog posts that I wrote for this blog.

Are you planning to write a short story or novel but don't have any ideas? Here are a few concocted by the boys in my basement. Use as many as you need.

1. Main character is a blind, deaf or wheelchair-bound werewolf (vampire, fairy, elf, gaki). Extra points if your character DOESN'T want to die rather than living ('undying') with a disability.

2. Scientists are involved in a genetic study of sociopathic killers. They find a gene which causes this. A group of blood samples of prison inmates is exchanged for blood samples of preschool children. Three children test positive for the sociopath-killer gene. What happens next?

3. A presidential candidate is about to win the nomination, in large part due to her or his support of a certain issue. The candidate is visited by an actual angel who says that the candidate must switch position on this issue, and shows why this is important. Will the candidate ignore the warning to get elected? Or change her-or-his position on the issue?

4. A family finds a gateway to: a) another dimension b) fairyland or c) hell in their basement. What do they do about it? And will it lower the resale value of their home when it comes time to sell?

5. A being with superhero-type powers fights the criminal element in a large city. The cops must find a way to capture the superhero and put him on trial for vigilante-action.

6. Panini rolls are actually alien life forms plotting to destroy the human race. This idea is actually true. Hero of this story should be a heroic Zorba roll.

7. A vampire is appointed to the Supreme Court and makes his fellow justices into vampires too. (Remember Supreme Court justices are appointed for life, and can rule forever.) I think the hero of this one will have a big stake.

8. A man plants trees, each one named after a friend, family member, or a famous living person. When a person's tree dies, the person dies. Some one finds out and kills the tree of a popular US president. (Does that count as assassination???)

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Asperger Syndrome doesn't mean Sociopathy

As a person with Asperger Sydrome, I face certain challenges--- just like you do if you have bipolar or diabetes or ADHD or cerebral palsy or five kids. Today my challenge was the talking heads on my favorite news channel reporting that the school shooter was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and spreading misinformation about what that means.

They were saying that people with Asperger Syndrome were weird, odd and no one wanted to be around them, that they have no friends, ever. And they said that people with Asperger Syndrome were like sociopaths in that they lacked empathy--- they could hurt or kill others because they weren't capable of caring how other people feel.  WRONG!!!

Empathy means to feel what another person feels. If your sister's baby is stillborn and she feels grief, you feel grief too. When people say a sociopath lacks empathy, they picture someone who could look at his sister, crying over her dead child, and feel nothing. Or laugh.

Empathy also involves the ability to pick up certain non-verbal cues to tell you what another person is feeling. People with Asperger's have a harder time noticing these cues, and don't necessarily trust their own ability to interpret them when they do notice.

Other people look at aspies like me and say 'how could they behave like that when it's obvious that I'm angry/sad/happy?' Well, it's not obvious to us.

And when we aspies do notice the emotions of others, we don't know how to react in the way other people expect. So when we act in ways that show empathy, more judgmental people look at us and say we didn't really care because they don't like the precise form in which we expressed the sympathy. I think that shows a lack of empathy on the part of those judgmental people.

So: people with Asperger Syndrome DO care about others. We feel bad when our friends are sad. We cry at the ending of sad movies. We only lack INFORMED empathy--- we may not detect how others are feeling. And we may not express our empathy in a way that other people can detect--- which is their problem, not ours. People must not be so socially rigid that they cannot perceive an expression of empathy and fellow-feeling unless it is done in exactly the right way (in their opinion).

Here is the reality: all of us are different. All of us need to learn to accept the differences of other people. My friend Pete often offers to come to my house and fix stuff for me. He never does. I've learned to accept that about Pete--- I no longer expect him to keep such promises, but just take them as expressions of kindness from him.

My friend Magda has a temper. When she directs it at me, I go away. I wish she would seek mental health help to see if it is more than just temper, but she won't. So I just accept that this is the way she is.

People need to accept the differences of those with Asperger Syndrome. You need to accept that your aspie friend doesn't make eye contact well. You need to accept that your aspie friend has problems with social interaction--- it may be up to you to initiate doing things together every single time, or the aspie may be calling you or dropping by your house too often and you will have to set some limits--- kindly.

When you need a hug, you will have to tell your aspie friend that in words, and your aspie friend may not be a hugger. Your aspie friend may not be able to tell you when he needs a hug, so if you are able to detect their non-verbal cues.

In addition, aspies are different from one another. I myself don't like mathematics but other aspies are brilliant at it. Some aspies have large circles of friends, while I don't have much in the way of real-world friends (which is why I love the internet). Some aspies also have anger issues or maybe even a rage disorder, I'm often calm when normal people would be freaking out.

In case you missed the verbal and non-verbal cues, now is a good time to show off your own ability to show empathy and say something nice to someone with Asperger Syndrome or autism, or to reassure the parents of same. It's tough enough without media 'experts' getting everything wrong.

Writing assignment, especially for aspies: Write down words about your feelings and experience relating to others misunderstanding Asperger Syndrome. Write them as a poem ( or a short story or novel or novel series, but those will take longer.) Share the poem with others by some means or other (submitting it to poetry zines counts as sharing.)

Writing Diary: Automatic Writing

Today I started out working with a technique Lawrence Block calls automatic writing*. (Write for Your Life, Lawrence Block) It's also called fast writing or free writing. Rachel Ballon calls it the Fast Flow Writing Method. (The Writer's Portable Therapist: 25 Sessions to a Creativity Cure, Rachel Ballon, Ph. D.)

This is what it is: you sit down at your keyboard and type fast. You don't stop to make corrections. You don't censor yourself. You don't rewrite anything. You just keep moving forward. If all you can think of writing is 'this is stupid, I can't do this', that's what you type--- right in the middle of something if you have to.

The point is to keep the words flowing. Most people find that at some point they are going full speed ahead with the best and most authentic writing of their lives.

When I tried it today I followed the specific instructions in Rachel Ballon's book, which call for some relaxation techniques beforehand, and also ask you to write everything in first person and present tense to put 'you' into your writing.

I did that. I was amazed at the spelling errors and typos I made. I had no clue I was doing that so often. One result--- after the session I downloaded a typing-teaching software to work on my accuracy.

I decided to work on a writing project--- I picked an older one I'd been thinking about recently. I made up a new YWriter file which I entitled 'current writing projects'. (What I intend to do is to start projects here. When they grow to a certain word count and look like they are going toward completion, I'll take them off into a new YWriter file. While in this file, each novel or story will be a chapter and the different parts of it are going to be scene files.)

Rachel Ballon recommends doing automatic writing for 20 minutes. I did 3 sessions of 20 minutes, with 10 minute breaks in between.

My results: I got more words than I usually do in 3 sessions of 30 minutes. The first scene featured one character (as yet unnamed) and I wrote her story in the first person. The second scene had a different character, but following the instructions I wrote him also in first person.

In spite of the massive number of typos it went well, it was very strong writing. I will have to go back through it to make corrections of the spelling, change to third person narration, and give characters their proper names. But considering how much work I got done in my writing time, I don't mind having to do that.

Having tried automatic writing, I think I will be doing it for my major writing work this month. Even though I didn't feel like I was really writing in the zone, in the flow, passionately and intuitively, it was a lot closer to that kind of writing experience than I am used to. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Should you try automatic writing? It might be a useful exercise, especially if your writing feels inhibited or dull at times. Or if you just have a hard time making your word count goal. If you do try it, you might come back to this blog and drop me a comment, tell me how it went.

* automatic writing--- this is also a name for an occult/spiritualist technique, also called channeling, which is sort of like a Ouija board using pen and paper (or, these days, keyboard). Most people believe that the entities that write the messages in automatic writing are just something from the writer's subconscious, and not real ghosts or demons or anything. Back when I was a Pagan, I did the occulty kind of automatic writing and it seemed like subconscious stuff to me. But the automatic writing that is the subject of this blog post is not similar to the occulty kind in any way--- it's you at work and you are allowed to know it's you.

Wanted: Writers with Writer's Block (and Asperger Syndrome or ADHD)

As research for a current writing project of mine*, I'd like to hear from writers who have experienced writer's block, writer's procrastination and similar issues. Since I have Asperger Syndrome myself, I'm particularly interested in hearing from blocked/formerly blocked writers who have Asperger's and other autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit disorder, bipolar, obsessive/compulsive, Down Syndrome or any other difference/disorder. What do I want to know from you? Well, mostly what you feel free to share with a random internet stranger like me. I could do with some general info about you and the kind of writing you do (or try to do), your diagnosis, if you have one, and treatments for said diagnosis, if any are worth mentioning. Then: what does writer's block mean to you? How do you define it? What color and shape is it? What do you do about it? Are there any good methods that work for you? How long have you had it? Do you ever feel you were born with writer's block? What, in your opinion, cause your writer's block issues? One thing I am wondering about is if certain differences/disabilities make a person more prone to writer's block and similar issues. And perhaps if different fixes for the problem are in order, depending on the person's difference/disability. If you are willing to help, you can send me a private message on Facebook: I'm at http://www.facebook.com/nissa.amas.katoj The next best thing is to email me at linalamontfanclub@gmail.com, but I don't check my email there much. Doing it on Facebook is really better if you can. (You don't have to be my Facebook friend to send me a private message, I think. However, feel free to send me a friend request, just mention in your private message that you are doing it so I know who you are.) *my writing project is expanding my book of poetry that I self-published in 2010 by adding ten to twenty chapters on the subject of using poetry writing for dealing with writer's block. The current working title is: "Where the Opium Cactus Grows: Poetry Writing Self-Therapy for Writer's Block." (I'm working on making the title longer.) ;-) The poems which were once the point of the book are now mere illustrations.

advice to the shopworn

the truli modern poet will
always!!! carry a beeper
///in case/// of poetry emergencies
GLeeMing down the stairs at 3 am
      *to insert a radon paradox
      (or) delete a rude cauliflower*

(c) Nissa Annakindt, never you mind what year.

A poem from Where the Opium Cactus Grows, which is soon to go out of print.  This was written during a phase of my life as a poet in which I did a lot of monkeying around with peculiarities of typesetting and spelling. Some of my poems from this period have to be altered before posting online because they turned out to do weird things to HTML.

This poem was shared at Poets United's Poetry Pantry #127.

Hold Out for a Hero

Nanowriter series, post #3

In a previous post in this series, I state that the best way to organize your writing idea into a plot for nanowriting is to consider it as a Quest. Your main character is out to obtain some treasure--- the Holy Grail, the Maltese Falcon--- or perhaps the love of a good man or the capture of the real killer.

Who should the main character of your Quest be? For easiest nanowriting, I'd suggest holding out for a Hero. By 'Hero' I don't mean that your Hero has to be a muscular warrior type like Conan the Barbarian or Hercules of the Legendary Journeys. You have to have just the right kind of Hero for the Quest at hand. Conan may be a tough guy, but Scarlett O'Hara has a much better skill set for winning the love of Ashley Wilkes.

What does your fictional Hero need? Strength, for one thing. It need not be physical strength if the Quest does not require it. Miss Jane Marple doesn't wrestle alligators as a hobby, but she has the right kind of strength--- inner strength--- for the Quest she is on.

Heroes can have varying levels of physical strength, but they must have enough for the Quest at hand. Imagine a sword-and-sorcery tale in which the Hero is a weakling
who must entirely rely on hired swordsmen and mages to fend off physical and magical attack. Such a Hero would not be strong enough. Imagine Scarlett O'Hara of Gone With The Wind as so physically fragile she most usually spends her day on a fainting couch in a darkened room. We might feel sorry for her, but would we follow her through the many pages of the novel to see if she what happened? No, because she would have been entirely passive.

Mental strength is also something a Hero needs. Imagine a large, muscle-bound swordsman who believed everything he was told--- even the things that the Villain's agents told him. Would he be a good Quest Hero? No--- by page 15 he'd be in the Villain's pocket, or dead.

Moral strength is something else your Hero will need in some degree. Imagine if Frodo in Lord of the Rings happily sent off all his loyal friends into deadly peril in order to protect his own precious life. Imagine if Scarlett O'Hara at the start of Gone with the Wind responded to the news of Ashley's engagement to Melanie by purchasing some arsenic-based rat poison. Would you have been willing to root for a character like that?

What about a character like Dexter Morgan in the Dexter series of novels? He is a serial killer. But the author makes it clear that he was condemned to be  some  kind of killer by his early childhood trauma, and the fact that Dexter only kills other serial killers gives him the minimum level of moral strength needed to be accepted as a fictional Hero. Therefore the reader doesn't have an uncomfortable moment visualizing Dexter killing their own spouse, parent or child.


A Hero must be strong, but not too strong. Imagine if Scarlett O'Hara was such a raving beauty that she had only to say the word and Ashley Wilkes would break it off with Melanie, and Rhett Butler would find he was indeed a marrying man after all. Every challenge Scarlett met with, as least the ones involving human males, would have been conquered far too easily.

A too-strong Hero kills a story as surely as a too-weak one does. In the Superman comics, they quickly saw they had to make their invulnerable Hero vulnerable sometimes, and so they invented kryptonite. A Hero should be just strong enough to complete the Quest, with great effort.\par
What about replacing the Hero with an anti-hero? That doesn't make much difference. An anti-hero is just a Hero made out of antimatter. If he touches a Hero the universe might explode, but other than that....

Seriously, an anti-hero is just name for a Hero that lacks a high level of moral strength. He must have a touch of moral strength--- he might be a hit man, but he can't spend his spare time robbing widows, taking the insulin from diabetics, and cutting the arms off babies. His Quest, likewise, ought not be wholly evil--- not in fiction for the mass audience, anyway. There is no real market for novels about the Quest of a death camp technician to find ways to kill innocents more efficiently.

For nanowriting, a more traditional hero is easier to pull off than one that dips too far into anti-hero territory. In fact, a good Hero is at least a wee bit larger than life, at least by the end of the Quest. Think Frodo at the end of Lord of the Rings--- he has been transformed from a humble hobbit into something larger and grander by his experiences, so much so that he has to leave Middle Earth along with the elves.

Exercise: think of the main characters of three novels you have recently read and enjoyed. In what way does the main character have physical, mental and/or moral strength that might be seen as Hero-like? What weaknesses does he have that prevent his Quest from being all too easy?

How Holly Lisle gets her Books Reviewed

This is what Holly Lisle does to get some reviews of her books on venues like Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

She asks, on her very lively and well-commented blog, for a group of reviewers who will receive a free PDF copy of her book. They read it and, Holly hopes, review it.

They send to Holly a link to the review and she checks it out. If they don't trash the book or indulge in personal vitriol against her, they are eligible for a free PDF copy the next time around.

She's hoping, in this way, to have a stable group of 25 reviewers to help her promote her books.

You can read more at: Nine Reviewer Openings for Warpaint. | Holly Lisle: Official Author Homepage. In fact, I recommend you stay and read a lot of things from Holly's blog, and become a regular reader of it, since Holly good at mentoring beginning writers through the information she provides there.

What is the lesson for the many of you out there who have a book out there--- self-published, traditionally published, small press, Lulu.com--- and need to get the word out?

Gather some reviewers by offering a free PDF copy of your book. I know that with my WP software, Open Office, it's pretty easy to make a PDF file.

Ask your readers, if they can, to post reviews in Amazon.com and like places. Ask them to contact you with the link to where they posted. Those who do can be the start of your own little inner circle of readers/reviewers.

One of my writer friends, Amanda Borenstadt, first contacted me when she found my blog, and she offered to let me have a free e-book copy of her book 'Syzygy' if I would review it. I accepted it, but I dreaded reading it because I was sure that a self-published book would be quite bad.

It turned out to be a great read and one I would recommend to others. And Amanda stayed on to be a regular reader of my blog and my number one commenter here. We've also become friends, which is kind of strange for me, since I have Asperger Syndrome, I don't have much experience with having friends.

Reading about Holly's reviewer-roundup method, it makes me wish I'd done that when my Lulu.com book came out. I may still do that, since I've long wanted to withdraw 'Opium Cactus' because of a few typos in it I didn't catch, and add some new poems, three short stories, and some articles on writing poetry from this blog.

I'm open to suggestions from my blog readers on what all will go in 'Opium Cactus: Bigger, Longer and Uncut' (or whatever I call it), and I'm also looking for a few volunteers who might like a free PDF copy and might be willing to write a review for me.

Writer Beware Blogs!: Archway Publishing: Simon & Schuster Adds a Self-Publishing Division

Writer Beware blog writes:

"Yesterday, venerable trade publisher (and one of the Big 5) Simon & Schuster announced the launch of Archway Publishing, a self-publishing services provider." Read more at: Writer Beware Blogs!: Archway Publishing: Simon & Schuster Adds a Self-Publishing Division

OK, writers, to get published you don't have to pay one thin dime. The publisher pays you.

If you've submitted to all the royalty-paying publishers and been turned down for that particular book, and you'd like to see it in print, you still don't have to pay. Go to Lulu.com for print books or Smashwords for e-books, and you can share your work among friends and to your mother for free.

Publishing for a vanity press or subsidy press is NOT 'the way all the real pros got started'. It isn't 'the way you have to go to get started these days'. If you mention your vanity press novel as a writing credit, you show yourself as a clueless amateur.

Plus, vanity/subsidy press books don't sell. When was the last time you bought a self-published book that wasn't written by your cousin or someone in your writers group?

The article above mentions that there is a current trend for respectable publishing houses to create these 'self-publishing' divisions, names some names of these vanity press divisions (including a Christian publisher), and gives more info.

I wonder how that will work out in the real world of writing. For the publishers that still accept some unsolicited manuscripts, will they be sending the rejected writers a flyer about their vanity press division. Worse, will they tell the clueless writer that their novel, while rejected by the publisher, has been 'accepted' by the vanity press? And the hapless would-be author is suckered in to paying the bill because Simon & Schuster told them to.

Why be a Nanowriter?

This is actually the first article for the Nanowriter series. I wrote and published the second article first. 

Have you ever participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November? This is an event, started by amateur writers, in which one attempts to write a 50000 word novel in 30 days. This requires working at a pace of 1667 words per day, or a little under seven pages per day. (Writers from the typewriter age tend to express their output in typewritten pages per day--- the standard conversion rate is 250 words per page.)

While writing at this pace is often described by the amateur participants as 'madness', this writing pace is actually not at all unfamiliar to the career novelist.

Michael Moorcock, in the early days of his career, wrote a great number of his
sword-and-sorcery books in 3 to 10 days. This includes his most famous books about the tormented hero Elric--- books that are still sought after and read today.

Lawrence Block, during his earliest writing years, wrote soft-core pornographic novels at a rate of one a month just to keep paying the rent. These books, though full of naughtiness, still had one-half of each chapter which could be used as practice for things like plotting, characterization and other things one can use in real novels. Block wrote the pornography books in 10 working days, taking the weekends off, and then had the rest of the month to work on his mystery short stories. He also sometimes worked with Donald Westlake as co-author--- the two men alternated chapters.

Many other prolific authors have at some point written at the seven pages per day pace or better. For novels longer than 50000 words--- and most genres today demand a minimum of 60000-80000 words--- this pace will demand close to two months before you type 'The End'.

This writing pace is often adopted for bread-and-butter reasons. For the lowest-paying sorts of fiction, only the fast writer can make enough money to write full time or to subsist with a low-paying day job.

There are other advantages to writing at this pace. If you are dealing with an executive function deficit or attention deficit, as is the norm in Asperger Syndrome or Attention Deficit Disorder, dragging out the writing process increases the chance that you will become so distracted that you will drop the current novel altogether six months or a year down the road.

The fast clip also keeps you in the story. You don't have to start each day's session consulting your notes as to the major characters' first names and significant characteristics, because you've been working intensely with them every day.

My name for this kind of fast-pace writing is nanowriting--- not just in reference to the nickname of National Novel Writing Month, but because, compared to the kind of writing in which an author takes five to ten years to write a novel, the nanowriter seems to get done 'in a nanosecond'.

Who should consider becoming a nanowriter? The unpublished beginning author, for one. There is a danger in the beginning writer's becoming too caught up in a first novel, endlessly polishing it, rewriting it, sending it out to publishers and waiting to start a second novel until the first novel's fate has been decided.

This is a kind of poverty of the writer's mind--- you stick to that first novel because you are afraid there are not going to be any others. Nanowriting can cure that. Once you prove to yourself that you can do it, you know that you are only 10 or 20 or 30 or 45 days away from having a whole new novel in first draft. You'll know you have riches of novels in your head and you can get them out.

So if you, like Stephen King, have to write four or five novels before you write one that can find a publisher, you can cope. Because you know you are producing them at a good pace. The early-career published writer also might consider being a nanowriter.

According to literary agent Donald Maass in 'The Career Novelist', it takes 5 novels in one genre to establish yourself as a writer. These five novels must be written rapidly enough that the first one is still in print when the fifth comes out.

Writing at a fast clip ensures you can publish at the minimum required pace to establish yourself. In addition, writing rapidly gives you a better chance to make a living as a writer. You may end up writing one type of novels for one publisher, and a second type for another, perhaps under another name. If you can do this competently, you make yourself much more attractive to the best literary agents.

The article series 'Nanowriter' is meant to help you learn to write at a beneficial fast pace--- not just to earn bragging rights at the National Novel Writing Month's forums, but to help you achieve your dream of not only getting published, but of becoming a career novelist.

Baby Faces Blogfest

Writing Off the Edge blog is participating in the Baby Faces Blogfest, and in case you want to go and do likewise, here are the rules.

1. Between Dec. 2nd and 3rd, post a picture of yourself as a baby, and/or
2. Tell us a story about when you were a baby. (No doubt you can't quite remember it yourself, but you've probably heard some stories from other members of your family.

It's hosted by Trisha at WORD +STUFF blog. Go and sign up if you don't believe me!

Here is my contribution:

When I was a baby, I made my mom miss her sister's wedding. You see, when my mom knew I was on the way, she had her sister delay the wedding until Oct. 4th to ensure I would have already arrived.

She did not expect that I would be a procrastinator right from the start. She had to miss the wedding because she was otherwise engaged in having me. I was born at 5 am on the 5th of October (and haven't got up that early since.)

I have also heard that the original delay to my aunt's wedding caused my cousin to be born early--- less than nine months after his parents' wedding. But that's another story.

In the interests of national security, I'm not posting my baby picture. So here is a gratuitous kitten picture.

Charting your December Writing Progress

November is over, and the writing goals we had for that month have either been achieved or.... not. We have won or lost NaNoWriMo, perhaps.

But this is a new month and time for a new writing challenge: writing steadily and daily at a more modest minimum pace of 1000 words per day, which works out to about 4 pages per day if you are comparing it to the writing paces announced by old-time writers like Lawrence Block, who claimed to average 5 words per day.

I like to chart my month's work on a nice clean document I created on my OpenOffice word processing software. Illustrated above is this month's version. (If you would like to use mine rather than make your own, you can download a PDF version.) I pin the current month's chart on the frame of my desk so it's to the left of my work area and at eye level. Other month's charts are stored--- well, pinned in a stack on a bulletin board--- to remind me of how I've worked when I'm being harsh with myself.

For each day you have a daily word count goal, and a running total, to enter. I compose my fiction using the free YWriter software, which at the bottom of the screen tells you not only the running word count of your project, but how many words you wrote that day. (The software also has you sorting out your work into chapters and scenes, and so if you get stuck you can skip ahead to some other scene you feel more ready to write.)

These days many authors consider keeping up with their author blog a part of their working day. I have put in a section called 'Blogging WC', to give myself credit for that. I write many of my blog posts offline in my YWriter software and so know the word count. You can write the number of blog posts instead.

There is also a section for notes. I'm not quite sure what I'm using mine for. Perhaps for check marks for the number of writing sessions in a day, since I'm trying to get in the habit of dipping-in to my novel more often during each day. I'm a morning writer, and when I get caught up in other activity in the morning, it usually means my writing session doesn't happen. That must change!

The important thing is to set goals for yourself that are a challenge, but ones you can meet. NaNoWriMo is a challenge that gives us a set word count of 1667 words per day (around 7 pages). If you don't normally produce that kind of output, it can be a good challenge.

But for a non-NaNo month, you are free to set yourself an easier goal. I chose 4 pages a day because I often don't have it all that easy getting to 1000 words, but it's not as difficult as 1667. I may choose slower paces yet in a future month, as well as having more challenging months.

For me, this year's NaNo was a struggle. I started a novel, got some better ideas, and deleted the few thousand words I had to start again. The second version only got to about 5000 pages--- and it needed to be scrapped and begun a third time. I still hope to get to it. Just not this month. I want to give it some time to percolate in my head for a while.

Starting fresh this month feels right. As you can see from the worksheet which presumes starting with a new novel in the running total WC goal column. (If you are creating a worksheet for a month of continuing an already-begun novel, just add your already existing word count in for the total WC goal column.)

I've been making up these charts for a while now. I think I make more progress by setting a goal each month and making a chart reflecting that. It helps keep me on-task, and the thrill of putting in my WC each day is a tiny reward.

Have you set your December writing goals yet? What in particular are you planning to work on? Do you have a good method to record your daily progress?

Writing-World.com: A Field Guide to Genre Fiction Writers' Organizations

A number of the major genres have their own writers' organizations. In addition, there are general organizations like the Authors Guild. Below is a link to an excellent article which gives you more info on these organizations. Do read!

A Field Guide to Genre Fiction Writers' Organizations

Five Top Lists of Best Author Blogs

Write an author blog? Or do you just plan to start one someday? It's a good idea to look around at some other writers' blogs--- especially the ones that stand out.

It's also essential, I think, to have a good link list (blogroll) or two in your sidebar. Having a link list just for published authors blogs you find to be outstanding is a good help for your readers--- as you will ALSO have a link list which has a lot of friendly writerish bloggers that may not be very good at blogging yet. 

To help you find some outstanding author blogs outside my own published author blog list, I'm doing some internet searching, not for top author blogs, but for top author blog lists. I'm sharing these lists with you today in the hope that you can perhaps find some new author blogs to admire, perhaps to start reading regularly. Here is the list, in no particular order:
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Author Media: Top Ten Author Blogs of 2011 The web site Author Media seems to be dedicated to helping authors build their platform, and their list is composed of ten author blogs they think have been doing that well.

Top Blog on the Author Media list is A Holy Experience by Christian author Ann Voskamp. This blog is the origin of the 'One Thousand Gift' challenge which has inspired hundreds of bloggers to participate in Thankful Thursday. Recent Post is: When You're Looking for a Christmas Miracle.  This blog does have some audio when you visit, which I find annoying, but evidently some people like it.
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Completely Novel: Author Blog Awards 2010 This is an author blog award with categories for published authors, unpublished authors and microblogs. I think this is a UK oriented list.

Winning blog in the Published Author category is Shop Girl Diaries by Emily Benet.  Current post is an author interview with Paul Bassett Davies.
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The Top Author Blogs is something to which you can add your own web site in a vain grab for new readers for your blog. While I wouldn't recommend adding your blog, this might be a place to find new author blogs you haven't seen before and make some new connections.

Number One blog on the list is that of Debi Alper, writer of thrillers. She has not been very active blogging this year, only nine posts so far, the most recent in September.
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InternetWritingJournal: The Best Author Blogs. This is more a best-known-author than a best-quality-author-blog list. It's alphabetical, so no one winner. It includes Holly Lisle, Neil Gaiman, Bruce Sterling, and Poppy Z. Brite.

An interesting blog is No rules, Just write by Christian romance author Brenda Coulter. It has a recent post about her romance book being on sale. Far more essential, however, is another post featuring an emergency brownie recipe.
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SF Signal: The 10 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Author blogs.  SF Signal is a group blog for discussing SF and Fantasy in books, TV and other media. Another alphabetical list.

Charlie's Diary by Charles Stross has in its most recent post this line:"I am still trying to stake this damn novel at the crossroads with a mouthful of garlic, but it refuses to lie down and die." So his blog got singled out in spite of being at something called antipope.org which probably means some one out there is bigoted against folks like me.
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If none of these lists links you up with any new, interesting author blogs, try doing a Google search on 'top fantasy author blogs' or 'best mystery author blogs'--- whatever genres you work in. Or search for a few of your favorite authors to see if they have blogs. Check the sidebars of any author blogs you may already read.

If you come up with any cool new author blogs, or you know of an author blog worth recommending, please drop a comment to that effect so I can check it out, too.

What is metaphysical fiction? | Tahlia Newland, author

"Metaphysical fiction is a growing, but little-known, genre that blends stories about the inner, incorporeal, supernatural, or transcendent aspects of human experience with some form of philosophy. Readers may gain insight into, or be stimulated to reflect on, such things as the nature of existence, the mind, the soul, the psyche, psychology, the spiritual journey and so on."

If you are seeking info on genres/types of fiction, here is a useful article (see link below). Thanks to Krisi Keley of On The Soul blog for sharing. While metaphysical fiction can't serve as your publishing genre--- there are no 'metaphysical fiction' aisles in bookstores--- it may be a way to organize your thoughts about what it is that you are writing, and that can be equally important.

What is metaphysical fiction? | Tahlia Newland, author

Where have all the blog posts gone?

This blog is shrinking! There are about 200 fewer posts on this blog than there were yesterday. But don't panic! The missing blog posts are available in full at http://linalamont2.blogspot.com, also known as the Lina Lamont Fan Club.

Astute readers may remember that the Lina Lamont Fan Club is the former name of this blog. During this blog's existence under that name, mostly this was a blog about everything--- from Doctor Who to Korean soap operas to cat obituaries, both of my own cats and of celeb cats such as Socks Clinton Currie, India Bush, and Miss Kitty, cat actress from The Closer.

Lina Lamont's Write Club is a more focused blog. It's about writing--- mostly fiction writing, with side trips into poetry, and a special interest (hee, hee!) in writers with autism/Asperger Syndrome. (I also have other blogs on other topics, some of which may appear in my sidebar some day soon.)

I am in the process of deleting all my blog posts on this blog that are not relevant to the topic at hand. I'm also deleting posts related to blog hops and blog tours that I participated in as The Lina Lamont Fan Club.  As I've said, these posts are still available on the archive blog.

Probably a better way to have gone about this would have been to just abandon the Lina Lamont blog and start a fresh blog for my writing blog, but I did have the 56 followers, most of whom were blogging about writing/authorship on their own blogs.

I took the easy way out which turns out to be amazingly difficult since mine host, Blogger, does not care for brand-new blogs that post 500 new posts in one day as one does when importing a blog you've saved to your own computer. I was stuck in word verification hell for awhile being given visual word verification I couldn't read and audio WV I couldn't hear. It may be a while before I get THAT fully sorted out. But once I do, my old posts will all be available, and my new blogs will have less that is off-topic.

A Writer's To-Done List

If you are a disorganized writer, perhaps you've been advised, by people who just don't get it, to use a To-Do list. And you try it and every day you leave things undone, and now you have a WRITTEN RECORD of how lazy, bad and unworthy you are.

Do your negative beliefs about yourself really need that kind of reinforcement? I didn't think so.

What I've started using is what I call a To-Done list. I keep it in a steno notebook. I put the date at the top of the page. On the left column, I put the heading 'Writing'. On the right column, I put 'Life'. And then I write down not things I plan to do, but things I've actually done.

On my right column today I put down that I've watched the EWTN daily Mass, I've baked some low-carb biscuits and made today's batch of a low-carb drink.

On the left column, I put down that I've done my writing meditation and morning affirmation work, and then I've outlined the first 1/4 of my novel in progress--- 3 chapters, eleven scenes.

I've also added those scenes and chapters to my YWriter version of the novel. YWriter, in case you haven't discovered it, is FREE novel-writing software. It makes it easy to set up your scenes and chapters. Once you have that set up, you can write the third scene first and the first scene after you've finished the eighth. It also tells you the word count at the bottom of the screen so you don't get distracted checking it. The way I got distracted from the topic at hand to tell you about YWriter.

Back on topic. The advantage of the To-Done list is that you end up, at the end of each day, with a list of things you can feel positive about. Plus, when real life intervenes, you can get credit for things you did that you hadn't planned on, without being locked in regret over things you planned to do that you didn't get to, or perhaps that you are not ready to get to.

Because the fact is that rigidly following a plan you drew up that morning--- or at the beginning of the week--- often isn't the most efficient way to get things done. Maybe instead of writing that chapter one, what you do is research a few things that will make writing that chapter swifter, when you get to it.

Or perhaps you will write a first chapter when you had more research on the schedule. Or you had an emergency with a family member, dealt with it, and now don't have to worry about it for awhile.

What if you feel like you need to list things you plan to do? If it is a series of tasks for a certain writing project, you might put the list with the rest of the papers that project has generated--- without mapping out certain dates for the tasks to be done.

You might also write reminders on post-it notes for more urgent tasks, or put them on a wall calendar if they are things like deadlines imposed by others, or appointments which cannot be missed. When you accomplish these things, add them to your To-Done list.

The steno notebook I now use for my To-Done list was originally used for a more conventional To-Do list. I perhaps do the same amount of productive stuff with both systems. But with a To-Done list, I don't have a guilt-producing list of undone tasks facing me every day. Or, equally bad, a tiny list of planned tasks to make sure lazy old me can get the day's tasks done every day.

Have you ever tried to use a To-Do list? Was it a success? Did the things you DIDN'T get done bother you, or make you feel you were lazy or unworthy? Do you think a To-Done list might work for you?

Can Unpublished Writers Get Writer's Block?

 Sometimes  real  writers--- published  writers--- deny there is any such thing as writer's block. Plumbers don't get plumber's block, they argue. They just go to work in the morning when it is time to go to work. Writers need to get over themselves and go to work writing every morning the way plumbers do, and it will all work out.

Other published writers have experienced writer's block themselves. These writers sometimes say that a beginning writer, a would-be writer, an unpublished writer, cannot say 'I have writer's block'. How do we even know these people can write at all, blocked or not, they argue. It can be nothing at all like what I, a writer who is published, who writes for a living, experiences as writer's block.

But some published writers--- the ones I agree with--- believe that even inexperienced writers can have writer's block. The experienced professional writer may have a somewhat different experience of it, since he has learned many tips and tricks to move the writing forward. And the anxiety level will be greater in the writer who currently writes for a living than in a writer who has yet to make money at the trade.

My own experience is that I have been plagued since childhood with writer's block, or something like it. Sometimes it can be overcome for awhile with willpower and determination. Other times enthusiasm for some new writing trick or technique makes the dragon go away for awhile.

The most basic sign of writer's block is to sit down at the keyboard, and find the words won't come. Other people report staring at a blank screen for a long period of time. With me, I can get a few words out, then I stop, not able to think of what comes next. (It's happening right now, as I write these words.) A few more words come, then I am stuck again. I end the writing session after an hour with a word count that on better days could have been accumulated in seven minutes.

Another sign is perfectionism. I sit around and kvetch to myself about needing the exactly right word to use in this next sentence. The more important the word is to my story as a whole--- as in a word for a magical gift in a fantasy novel--- the more I give myself permission to halt until just the right word is found. I leaf through my dictionaries and my thesaurus, I look through the novels of other writers to see how they handled it, and get determined to do something very different. And though I know, intellectually, that the right way is to pick a good-enough word to use for now, and be confident something better will come to me in time, I still stay stuck.

A different sign of writer's block is when I spend a day or two or three at the keyboard, my fingers flying and my story advancing. Then I decide that something in those pages just won't do, and start over. I may end up writing two or three beginnings for the same novel. Then I decide that the whole project isn't any good--- or perhaps that it is so good I will have to read a half-dozen books for research and spend a month on outlining and planning before I begin the novel yet again. So far, what happens every time is a hopelessly stalled novel, and more negative thoughts about me-as-writer.

These bad experiences lead me to avoid the keyboard altogether for days and weeks on end. Then I tell myself I'm bad, I'm a procrastinator, I'm not a hard worker but a lazy bum, I never finish anything I start and don't do anything the right way anyhow... And then I can tell myself I don't  really  have writer's block because procrastination and writer's block are different things.

That may be so--- but it only stands to reason that if you have writer's block and have been having bad experiences at your keyboard, you will learn to avoid the source of those bad experiences, writing. In the same way a child who touches a hot stove and gets burned learns to avoid touching the stove again.

The avoidance habit can go back very far. When you wrote something in school as a child, you may have had your paper come back covered in corrections. Or, in some schools, you may have gotten the same insincere praise every child got, to build up your self-esteem. And then you discovered on your own how full of mistakes your writing was, as you learned more about spelling and grammar. 

You may also have teachers who misunderstood or disliked what you were trying to say in your writing and let you know about it. You may have been singled out for correction in front of other children and been embarrassed by it. Come to that, you may have been singled out for praise and have experienced that form of being singled out as an embarrassment, or even a humiliation. The praise involved you might not even have been able to internalize, since you may have seen it as just one more bit of the insincere teacherly praise that all children get in many schools for any work they do, regardless of the quality of that work.

The avoidance that may be a part of your writer's block may be made stronger by another factor--- distractability. If you have ADHD, or if you have an autism spectrum disorder, such as Asperger Syndrome, and executive function deficit is part of that, If you have an image of yourself as a procrastinator, distractability from such causes may also play a part, and must be dealt with.\par
Many writers find that when they are blocked as regards one kind of writing, they can still do another. If you can't write the next scene in your novel, perhaps you can write an essay about your story's world, or a character in it. You might turn your attention to writing a good post for your blog, or an article for a magazine. If nothing else, compose a status update for a social media site, or a grocery list. Every bit of writing you can do will be a help.

Both writers and psychologists have ideas about what may cause writer's block. It may be caused by overwork, or factors in your life such as financial worries, health issues, and fights with family members. It may mean that you are not yet ready to work on the particular piece of writing that you are dealing with. Perhaps you need to do a bit more pre-planning or research. Or perhaps you need to organize your writing area into a less distracting place, or make changes in your writing routine to help you concentrate and produce more.

One thing that may cause very many writers to experience a block is the almost universal negative belief, 'I'm not good enough'. This false belief may be almost paralyzing in certain areas of your life. Is writing one of them? If 'I'm not good enough' is something you have internalized, made part of your picture of the world, you may not be able to make much headway against some of your problems until you deal with it. You might deal with it by means of therapy, or by means of the power of positive thinking, or in other ways. The important thing is to start to internalize ideas such as 'I  am  good enough' and 'I  am  a talented writer' to counteract the negative beliefs that hinder you.

Have you ever experienced writer's block? How did that make you feel about yourself as a writer? How did you cope with it? If you are experiencing writer's block right now, what can you do, today, to deal with it?

Do You Deserve Success?

 "I deserve success as a writer."  Say those words to yourself. Write them down. How does that make you feel? For most writers, you will have negative thoughts popping into your head. "I'm not a very good writer." "I don't work hard enough at my writing." "I may WANT success but I don't DESERVE it."

Let's think about the sentence. What does it mean to deserve something? Perhaps the first thing that you think of is a negative example. If you drive recklessly, you deserve a traffic ticket. If you, as a child, hit your baby sister, you deserved a spanking. A bank robber deserves to go to jail.

Think about examples of deserving positive things. A worker who does the amount of work agreed upon deserves to be paid his wage. A person who does volunteer work at the local food bank deserves thanks. A mother who has tended her children lovingly when they were small and helpless deserves, when she is old and sick, to be tended by her children in turn.

But what about you? You sit down at your keyboard day by day, spending hours every week to create new worlds of fiction. Is the work you do worthless? You may feel that way most of the time. When a writer sends out his very first writing efforts to publishers, the publishers may not believe that particular work is worth rewarding with money. But is it worthless? Or is it more like the effort made in a vocational school class--- it doesn't earn a paycheck, but it leads to earning a paycheck.

No matter how weak your very first writing effort was, as you write, day after day, you will write things that people are willing to read--- that they might PAY to read. If you write a short story worthy of being included in an anthology, and people have to pay money for the anthology, do you deserve the payment you received for the story in the same way as you'd deserve the paycheck you would get if you worked for a week at Walmart? Or is the payment just charity?

I think we would agree that the payment for the short story is like the payment for a week clerking at Walmart. You put in some work, and that work deserves payment. The hard part is that the short story work is work that is uniquely YOU. People tend to have internalized negative thoughts distilled from all the critical thoughts they have heard from others over the years. If, deep inside, you think YOU are not as good as other people, you might feel that while your Walmart work is good enough to actually DESERVE a paycheck, your you-revealing writing is less so.

"I deserve success as a writer." What does 'success' mean to you? Success clerking at Walmart means that you work hard enough, and well enough, that your boss is pleased with you. He will have no problem giving you a raise as time goes on, or keeping you employed during hard times when other workers are getting laid off. You probably have little difficulty believing that you'd deserve that kind of success if you worked hard as a store clerk.

What about success as a writer? The wider world sometimes views success as a writer as being a James Patterson or a Stephen King--- hitting the best-seller lists and becoming wealthy. That's why some people who don't even like to read books sometimes declare that they want to become writers.

But a would-be writer who has done his homework--- who has looked at a few how-to-write books to see how the job of being a writer really works--- knows that expecting the career path of a James Patterson is like spending your last dollar on a lottery ticket expecting that your winnings will enable you to pay the rent and the grocery bill. NOT a wise move.

The vast-riches definition of writing success is taking things too far. Many would-be writers don't take the idea of success far enough. They don't dare anticipate more than a few publications in non-paying markets. Some even become victims of subsidy publishing scams, because in their hearts they believe they OUGHT to expect to have to pay money to get their book published rather than get paid for their book.

I suggest that your first definition of 'success' for your writing be similar to that of success as a store clerk. It's a job. Something you can pay the bills with. Think of a number of writers such as Lawrence Block or Marion Zimmer Bradley who spent many years writing genre novels to pay their bills. In time, their writing skills grew, they got recognition, and they became more than mere entry-level genre writers. Aim for that, not for the moon.

"The laborer is worthy of his hire." Every time you think of the sentence above, also think those words. You are not puffing yourself up, being proud, or asking for more than is fair when you say "I deserve success as a writer." It's just another way of saying "The laborer is worthy of his hire." Keep these thoughts in mind as you write this week. Say them to yourself, or write them down, ten times each, every day. Let them sink in.

Positive thinking:
The laborer is worthy of his hire.
A writer is a laborer.
A writer is worthy of his hire.
A writer deserves his hire.
A writer deserves success.
I am a writer.
I work hard at my writing.
I deserve success as a writer.

This is the first post in a series called 'The Inner Life of a Writer.' It will deal with issues of low self-esteem, self-doubt, self-hatred, negative mental programming, and how to overcome them. Your reactions and comments about this first post in our series are ESSENTIAL. Did you find anything in this article you could relate to? What topics might you want to see covered in this series? Have you ever had trouble believing you deserved to succeed as a writer?

Nanowriter: The Quest as Plot

Nanowriter, part 1

Can one write a novel in thirty days, in a week, in three days? National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and other similar writing challenges show it's possible.

Can that novel be publishable? Well, yes. Author Michael Moorcock in the early days of his career wrote fantasy novels in three to ten days. He later gave interviews about his method, which were included in the book Michael Moorcock: Death is no Obstacle.

The plot type used by Moorcock was The Quest. This plot is found in stories about the Holy Grail, the Maltese Falcon, the great white whale, the lost treasure, and so on.

The story is about a Quest Object, which many people want. The Hero thus faces frequent challenges from the others who also seek the Quest Object.

The Quest story also includes other challenges for the Hero--- attacks from those NOT seeking the Quest Object, such as an Indian attack in a western or an attack by elves or aliens or zombies, challenges posed by the forces of nature, challenges from friends and family who don't understand why the Hero's on the Quest.

The advantage for the Nanowriter is that the Quest plot gives the writer a focus to build the story around. Every event you might think of putting into the novel, you must think--- how does this help or hinder my Hero's Quest?

Another advantage is that it rules out a lot of stories that are more complex to write, and appeal to a smaller audience. For example, the dreaded Coming of Age novel that every would-be writer who's taken a college English class feels he has to write.

Have you ever gone to a bookstore which had a Coming of Age novel section? Are there organizations of Coming of Age authors which give annual Coming of Age fiction prizes? Are there Coming of Age novel fan conventions? Well, no.

The problem of the Coming of Age novel is that the main character's goal is not concrete and measurable. No matter what your seventeen-year-old hero does, if he waits long enough and doesn't die, he will turn eighteen. And that's what makes pretty much every Coming of Age novel by a neophyte writer unpublishable, and unlikely to attract readers.

The Quest keeps the words coming--- and later, the pages turning--- because the goal is something you can see and touch, and writer and reader will know if the Quest Object has, in the end, been found.

The Quest can be adapted to nearly every genre and type of fiction. In a mystery, the Quest Object may be The Real Killer, carefully hidden among a wide range of suspects. In a romance, the Quest Object may be the Romantic Object--- the desirable man that the Romance Heroine really wants. Or, the romance novel might feature a Romance Heroine and a dreadful man trying to obtain the same Quest Object--- the deed to grandpa's ranch, say--- and falling in love on the way.

The reason the Quest is so adaptable is that in every form of fiction people actually read on purpose, the main character has a story goal. The Quest Object is a symbol of that story goal, if not the goal itself.

Some stories with the Quest as plot:

Moby Dick: Captain Ahab's quest for the White Whale.
Raiders of the Lost Ark: Indiana Jones seeks the Ark of the Covenant, which melts Nazis.
Lord of the Rings: A reverse Quest, Frodo must destroy the One Ring he already possesses.
Gone with the Wind: Scarlett O'Hara's Quest for the love of Ashley Wilkes.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: Enterprise crew seeks fallen comrade Spock

In my current NaNo, my heroine is searching for her brother and the valuable object he stole, a statue called the Blue Infant, which she must return to its owner to prevent that owner from taking her family's ranch.

How might you use a Quest plot for a current or future writing project? How might adopting a Quest plot simplify or clarify a plot idea you have? Can you name any other stories with a Quest plot? 

Writing: It's all about the money....

Lawyers get paid to law, plumbers get paid to plumb. But writers?  Money is a dirty word, and expecting to get paid for your work proves you are no good, at best a hack.

But this is the thing: if you work for hundreds of hours on a book and don't even think about getting paid for it, you are telling yourself your time was worth nothing. Because your writing is worth nothing. And even a hack-work novel if written correctly is worth SOMETHING.

If part of your self-identity is being a writer, one thing you have to do is write. We all know that. Talking about writing, blogging about writing, that's all well and good. But the actual writing is where your writer self-identity becomes more real than your Klingon warrior identity.

But the other part of making the writer self-identity real is getting paid for your work. That may make you uncomfortable. But if you knew a guy who said he was a lawyer, and he never once had gotten paid for doing any lawyer work but got his income working at Kmart, would you take him seriously as a lawyer?  Getting paid--- or at least, doing writing for which you can anticipate being paid--- tells you that your writer identity has a basis in the real world.

So, starting today, resolve this: you are a writer. Your writing time is working time. Your writing is worth something in a dollars-and-cents sense. If you are a beginning writer, perhaps the worth of your current WIP will prove to be as basic training for a future work that is salable. But perhaps not. Write every word as a professional writer writing to put a bit of money in the bank, not as a hobbyist who can get away with any old thing so long as it feels good, or a dreamer who wants every word to drip literary quality and non-commercialism.

In other words, take yourself and your writing seriously.


Blog notes: I was going to discontinue this blog in favor of my new blog Let's Kill Hitler, but it looks like I'm not. That blog is going to be about science fiction, fantasy and western books and TV shows. (Western? It's my new obsession. I'm working on a Western/zombie novel.) This blog is about writing. Another blog is going to be about politics, religion, prolife, and gay chaste stuff. I need a new name for that one and am open to suggestions.

The End is Near.....

No, not the end of the world. Just the end of this blog.

You see, I think a blog can only go so long before it's weighted down by its history. And this blog has reached that point. When my previous blog, Moreover the Dog went With Them, got to that point, I deleted the whole thing, which I regret. I'm not going to do that with this blog.

This is what is going to happen. In about 2 weeks, I am going to change the URL of this blog from linalamont.blogspot.com to linalamont2.blogspot.com. Then, at some point, I'm going to start a new blog with the old URL, but a new name and outlook. Haven't decided on the name yet. Any suggestions? I prefer the cryptic and offbeat (as if you didn't suspect.)

This is a good, upbeat thing, I think. New beginnings are always exciting. And my old blog will still be out there for anyone who wants to read the old posts.

And, to contribute to The-End-Is-Near theme, here is a song. Supposedly it's a sad song, but I like it because it plays a part in the opening scene of my current WIP.

Dropping Out, Or, Some Days I'd Rather Be A Cowboy

This morning I realized it was time for me to drop out of the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour. Realizing that, I also realized it's time for me to drop out of keeping up this blog, and perhaps to drop out of attempted novelling--- or at least out of admitting to attempted novelling--- altogether.

It's a matter of shame, really. Lately every time I think about writing for this blog--- or for a blog tour--- I just realize how inadequate my blogging is. Shamefully inadequate, it seems to me. I'm sure that this is not an objective opinion. But still, it affects how I approach--- or avoid approaching--- this blog.

I've read a lot about how a writer has to have a platform, and this blog was meant for that. But it hasn't achieved much of a following, in part because I haven't known what I'm building a platform for. I also have been too self-revealing, I think. I have a problem with that, perhaps because of my Asperger Syndrome.

I suppose I will get back into blogging at some point. Perhaps even back into attempted writing--- though I won't admit to it. But for now, I'm going to be spending some quality time wrassling with my sheep--- it's time to sort out the for-sale lambs.

Eye of the Sword blog tour, right here!

This is my blog, I built this!

Eye of the Sword by Karyn Henley, the subject of this month's blog tour, seems to be everything I want in reading material, a nice fantasy, by a Christian author so the likelihood of anti-Christian bigotry-rants is reduced to zero, and it starts out promisingly....

But for whatever reason I could not bring myself to read on, reading a number of other books, including my first-ever Western genre novel, instead (The Goodnight Trail by Ralph Compton). That happens to me sometimes when I have a book I'm expected to read in a certain amount of time--- I just don't get in the mood to let the book hook me, no matter how good the beginning is. Has that ever happened to you?

One symptom that this book is not for me right now is the way I keep obsessing about the book's title. Swords don't have eyes. Needles have eyes. Cyclopses have eyes--- one per customer. But swords? No eyes.

Want to know what Eye of the Sword is about from some people who actually know? Try some of these links. (Caution, one of these links is connected to a wormhole leading to a zombie apocalypse, so if you aren't careful you may get your brain eaten.)


Julie Bihn Thomas Fletcher Booher Keanan Brand Beckie Burnham Jackie Castle Brenda Castro Jeff Chapman Christine Theresa Dunlap Cynthia Dyer Victor Gentile Ryan Heart Janeen Ippolito Jason Joyner Carol Keen Emileigh Latham Rebekah Loper Shannon McDermott Karen McSpadden Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Anna Mittower Mirriam Neal Nissa Faye Oygard Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Kathleen Smith Donna Swanson Jessica Thomas Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler

And now, before I get back to wrangling a passel of wild new-weaned lambs into pens, here is some essential information about Eye of the Sword and its author:
 
Book link - http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Sword-Novel-Angelaeon-Circle/dp/030773014X/ (or some other link of your choice) Author’s Web site - http://www.karynhenleyfiction.com/Karyn_Henley_Fiction/welcome.html Author Blog - http://www.maybeso.wordpress.com/ Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karyn-Henley/140411189331787?v=wall

Watching Western Shows as Old as I Am

Lately I've been spending wasting a lot of time watching really old Western tv series on the Encore Western channel. Which is kind of a funny thing.

Although I'm told that as a tiny girl I was enthusiastic about the Roy Rogers show and wore a red cowboy hat, by the time in my childhood where I actually remember things I wasn't a Western fan. Which was sad because it was about the only thing on television in those days.

I remember the routine when my mom, dad and brother would be downstairs watching Gunsmoke or some such show, while I was upstairs in my parents' bedroom watching old movies or The Avengers on the small black-and-white tv.

There were a couple of Western shows I did have a use for back then: The Wild Wild West, Alias Smith and Jones, The Rifleman, and, of course, Star Trek. (Star Trek? Well, Gene Roddenberry did allegedly think of calling the show 'Wagon Train to the Stars')

But now the world of television has changed. Besides the reality TV horror, the dramatic shows that remain tend to not be aimed at general audiences, but only at angry Leftists who enjoy anti-conservative and anti-Christian hate worked into their entertainment. Like that Law & Order episode that accused conservative commentators Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilley of condoning the murder of babies born to illegal immigrants. (Anyone who's actually watched Beck or O'Reilley knows they are notoriously against baby-killing, even the legal kind.)

So I haven't got attracted to many current television dramas other than those in Korean (subtitled) on KBS America. And these old Westerns came as a very pleasant surprise.

The ones I have been watching lately include Have Gun, Will Travel, Wagon Train, Rawhide, and Marshal Dillon (later renamed Gunsmoke.) And one I hadn't heard of before, Lawman.

Lawman, the story of Marshal Dan Troop and his young deputy sidekick Johnny McKay, was an excellent half-hour show which ran from 1958-1962. It premiered October 5th, 1958, the very day I premiered was born.

I like to spend time in this different world in which preachers are the good guys and not the killers, where men are gallant enough to treat women like ladies even when they are only saloon girls (hookers).

And there is some similarity in storytelling values between these old Westerns and the original Star Trek, which is a story about humanity's expansion into space, like settlers from Back East expanded into the Western territories.

My current WIP, a spaceship-based SF story, is turning out to be that kind of Western-in-Space thing, and I'm encouraging it. I've even looked up an article on how to write Westerns, 'Writing Western Novels Requires Specific Rules'.  I think most of these rules are adaptable to the writing science fiction and fantasy as well, particularly if you write from a Christian perspective. They are:

1. Point of view is limited to one or at most two main characters.
2. Foul language is impermissible.
3. Excessive sexuality is not OK. The Western hero and his lady remain largely virtuous.

Another good point that authors of other genres might borrow is the fact that a Western male hero is a man's man, not a woman's fantasy of a perfect, sensitive mate. The Western hero doesn't spend hours talking about his feelings, or taking his gal on shopping trips to upgrade their wardrobes. He doesn't cook for her, do the dishes, or mind the baby while the gal goes out to climb a corporate ladder. He's a strong, silent type who'll put his life on the line to save the lives of those who are vulnerable.

Watching Western Shows as Old as I Am

Lately I've been spending wasting a lot of time watching really old Western tv series on the Encore Western channel. Which is kind of a funny thing.

Although I'm told that as a tiny girl I was enthusiastic about the Roy Rogers show and wore a red cowboy hat, by the time in my childhood where I actually remember things I wasn't a Western fan. Which was sad because it was about the only thing on television in those days.

I remember the routine when my mom, dad and brother would be downstairs watching Gunsmoke or some such show, while I was upstairs in my parents' bedroom watching old movies or The Avengers on the small black-and-white tv.

There were a couple of Western shows I did have a use for back then: The Wild Wild West, Alias Smith and Jones, The Rifleman, and, of course, Star Trek. (Star Trek? Well, Gene Roddenberry did allegedly think of calling the show 'Wagon Train to the Stars')

But now the world of television has changed. Besides the reality TV horror, the dramatic shows that remain tend to not be aimed at general audiences, but only at angry Leftists who enjoy anti-conservative and anti-Christian hate worked into their entertainment. Like that Law & Order episode that accused conservative commentators Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilley of condoning the murder of babies born to illegal immigrants. (Anyone who's actually watched Beck or O'Reilley knows they are notoriously against baby-killing, even the legal kind.)

So I haven't got attracted to many current television dramas other than those in Korean (subtitled) on KBS America. And these old Westerns came as a very pleasant surprise.

The ones I have been watching lately include Have Gun, Will Travel, Wagon Train, Rawhide, and Marshal Dillon (later renamed Gunsmoke.) And one I hadn't heard of before, Lawman.

Lawman, the story of Marshal Dan Troop and his young deputy sidekick Johnny McKay, was an excellent half-hour show which ran from 1958-1962. It premiered October 5th, 1958, the very day I premiered was born.

I like to spend time in this different world in which preachers are the good guys and not the killers, where men are gallant enough to treat women like ladies even when they are only saloon girls (hookers).

And there is some similarity in storytelling values between these old Westerns and the original Star Trek, which is a story about humanity's expansion into space, like settlers from Back East expanded into the Western territories.

My current WIP, a spaceship-based SF story, is turning out to be that kind of Western-in-Space thing, and I'm encouraging it. I've even looked up an article on how to write Westerns, 'Writing Western Novels Requires Specific Rules'.  I think most of these rules are adaptable to the writing science fiction and fantasy as well, particularly if you write from a Christian perspective. They are:

1. Point of view is limited to one or at most two main characters.
2. Foul language is impermissible.
3. Excessive sexuality is not OK. The Western hero and his lady remain largely virtuous.

Another good point that authors of other genres might borrow is the fact that a Western male hero is a man's man, not a woman's fantasy of a perfect, sensitive mate. The Western hero doesn't spend hours talking about his feelings, or taking his gal on shopping trips to upgrade their wardrobes. He doesn't cook for her, do the dishes, or mind the baby while the gal goes out to climb a corporate ladder. He's a strong, silent type who'll put his life on the line to save the lives of those who are vulnerable.

July Summary, August Goals

At the beginning of July I set for myself a number of writing and other goals. This is how I did with them.

1. I planned to finish my June Camp Nanowrimo novel, Esperanza/Zombie Dawn. I added some words, but then decided the whole thing needed to be reimagined yet again. I had only a few good working days the whole month.
2. I planned to work on learning Korean, particularly how to read the Korean alphabet. I have learned 144 words using BYKI (free language software). I also took up learning a bit of Latin as a break from the Korean.
3. I planned to get more exercise. I got a pedometer and write down my number of steps every night before I go to bed. I think I am increasing my activity level.
4. I planned to work on housecleaning and barn cleaning daily, and also to read Bible and Catechism more frequently. I did not do very well on these goals at all.

It was kind of a disappointing writing month, perhaps post-Nano letdown. The good news is that this morning I had some fresh enthusiasm for a writing project, and signed up for Camp Nanowrimo in August. My nickname there is nissalovescats, if you participate you might be able to request me as a cabin mate.

For July I had two worksheets I used to keep track of my many goals, one for writing goals and one for other goals. Given my poor performance, I decided to reduce my goals for August and keep track of them all on one sheet. Here are my August goals.

1. Work on Camp Nanowrimo with my novella, The Song of Making People Die. I got the idea from a TV show which mentioned a 1933 Hungarian song, Gloomy Sunday, implicated in a number of suicides. After I finish the novella, I will begin another novella or short story featuring the same main character as the first, a young woman who owns a spaceship and runs a transport/trading business among the planets. I plan to continue my ritual from last time of posting my word count daily at the Nano site, and also on a word count meter here, to keep me motivated.
2. Continue to learn Korean words, reaching a goal of 200 known words. 
3. Learn Latin words--- goal of 100 words total, and listen to the ecclesiastical Latin audios I've downloaded for my chosen Latin book, Lingua Latina.
4. Continue with the exercise thing, recording my daily paces and trying to keep it up to a good level. (I hope that my desire to keep my number of paces high will motivate me on the whole house and barn cleaning thing.)
5. NOT worry about daily blogging and other internet distractions.

So, what about you? Have you met the goals you set for July? Are you planning goals for August? How do you keep track of your month's work and how do you keep yourself motivated?

Remember, a zombie apocalypse does not excuse you from meeting your daily word count goal!

July Summary, August Goals

At the beginning of July I set for myself a number of writing and other goals. This is how I did with them.

1. I planned to finish my June Camp Nanowrimo novel, Esperanza/Zombie Dawn. I added some words, but then decided the whole thing needed to be reimagined yet again. I had only a few good working days the whole month.
2. I planned to work on learning Korean, particularly how to read the Korean alphabet. I have learned 144 words using BYKI (free language software). I also took up learning a bit of Latin as a break from the Korean.
3. I planned to get more exercise. I got a pedometer and write down my number of steps every night before I go to bed. I think I am increasing my activity level.
4. I planned to work on housecleaning and barn cleaning daily, and also to read Bible and Catechism more frequently. I did not do very well on these goals at all.

It was kind of a disappointing writing month, perhaps post-Nano letdown. The good news is that this morning I had some fresh enthusiasm for a writing project, and signed up for Camp Nanowrimo in August. My nickname there is nissalovescats, if you participate you might be able to request me as a cabin mate.

For July I had two worksheets I used to keep track of my many goals, one for writing goals and one for other goals. Given my poor performance, I decided to reduce my goals for August and keep track of them all on one sheet. Here are my August goals.

1. Work on Camp Nanowrimo with my novella, The Song of Making People Die. I got the idea from a TV show which mentioned a 1933 Hungarian song, Gloomy Sunday, implicated in a number of suicides. After I finish the novella, I will begin another novella or short story featuring the same main character as the first, a young woman who owns a spaceship and runs a transport/trading business among the planets. I plan to continue my ritual from last time of posting my word count daily at the Nano site, and also on a word count meter here, to keep me motivated.
2. Continue to learn Korean words, reaching a goal of 200 known words. 
3. Learn Latin words--- goal of 100 words total, and listen to the ecclesiastical Latin audios I've downloaded for my chosen Latin book, Lingua Latina.
4. Continue with the exercise thing, recording my daily paces and trying to keep it up to a good level. (I hope that my desire to keep my number of paces high will motivate me on the whole house and barn cleaning thing.)
5. NOT worry about daily blogging and other internet distractions.

So, what about you? Have you met the goals you set for July? Are you planning goals for August? How do you keep track of your month's work and how do you keep yourself motivated?

Remember, a zombie apocalypse does not excuse you from meeting your daily word count goal!

Christian Writers and The Little Way

In the secular writing world, one often hears that a writer must believe in himself and his work, believe it's good, worthy, going to be published and receive good reviews. That's how a writer goes about being encouraged enough to finish writing the first draft.

From a Christian perspective, there might be a concern that all this believing in yourself might cause you to become puffed up, egotistical, and filled with the sin of pride. Perhaps Christian writers need to follow another way. A little way.

Saint Thérèse of Liseaux was a young French woman who entered a convent at a young age. She knew that the life in the convent would not allow her to do great things. So she found for herself The Little Way.

The Little Way means becoming as a little child, and relying on Jesus to make you holy. It means making little sacrifices rather than seeking to do heroic great things for the Kingdom.

What does The Little Way mean for a writer? It means that instead of believing in yourself as a great writer, you believe in Jesus as a great Savior. You continue your writing not because it is great, but because our great Savior will be pleased by even our humble writing efforts so long as we do it for Him.

After all, God is sovereign over all. If you have a burning desire to be a writer in your heart, God not only knows about it, He knew about it before He created you. He has a divine purpose for it, if you will only dedicate it to Him.

This doesn't mean, I think, that all Christian writers have to write only Christian works for Christian publishers. We can write for secular publication, provided we write in a way pleasing to God.

Saint  Thérèse, in her humble life in the convent, was asked by her Mother Superior, her older sister Pauline, to write down some of her early memories of the blessed life that their devout family had shared. Because Thérèse was sickly, it was one of the few things she could do.

She knew she was not a writer. But, following The Little Way, she wrote a book, The Story of a Soul, which moved people around the world. Based on this simple book, Thérèse, who died at a young age, became known to the world and became canonized as a saint.

Question: do you think that Saint Thérèse can be an example for the Christian writer?

Christian Writers and The Little Way

In the secular writing world, one often hears that a writer must believe in himself and his work, believe it's good, worthy, going to be published and receive good reviews. That's how a writer goes about being encouraged enough to finish writing the first draft.

From a Christian perspective, there might be a concern that all this believing in yourself might cause you to become puffed up, egotistical, and filled with the sin of pride. Perhaps Christian writers need to follow another way. A little way.

Saint Thérèse of Liseaux was a young French woman who entered a convent at a young age. She knew that the life in the convent would not allow her to do great things. So she found for herself The Little Way.

The Little Way means becoming as a little child, and relying on Jesus to make you holy. It means making little sacrifices rather than seeking to do heroic great things for the Kingdom.

What does The Little Way mean for a writer? It means that instead of believing in yourself as a great writer, you believe in Jesus as a great Savior. You continue your writing not because it is great, but because our great Savior will be pleased by even our humble writing efforts so long as we do it for Him.

After all, God is sovereign over all. If you have a burning desire to be a writer in your heart, God not only knows about it, He knew about it before He created you. He has a divine purpose for it, if you will only dedicate it to Him.

This doesn't mean, I think, that all Christian writers have to write only Christian works for Christian publishers. We can write for secular publication, provided we write in a way pleasing to God.

Saint  Thérèse, in her humble life in the convent, was asked by her Mother Superior, her older sister Pauline, to write down some of her early memories of the blessed life that their devout family had shared. Because Thérèse was sickly, it was one of the few things she could do.

She knew she was not a writer. But, following The Little Way, she wrote a book, The Story of a Soul, which moved people around the world. Based on this simple book, Thérèse, who died at a young age, became known to the world and became canonized as a saint.

Question: do you think that Saint Thérèse can be an example for the Christian writer?