So...um...yeah.

Greetings!

I know I've fallen off the internet for a while...there's an explanation for that. It mostly involves living, but...yeah.

Anyway, everyone knows NaNo's staring in a a week or two, which is exciting...and I have no idea what I'm going to be writing for it. Maybe I'm out of practice, or maybe it's writer's block, but...I really haven't got a clue what to write, and every idea I come up with...doesn't work.

Now, I'm not whining...much. One of the biggest reasons I haven't come up with anything is time. You see, I've gone and acquired myself a husbandboyfriend and a stepson who's 8 now, and this month I've been embroiled in helping him to construct a Halo Spartan costume out of old shin guards, knee pads, etc, spraypaint, duct tape and cardboard. I got promoted in August to HR Manager at the hotel I work for, which is a much more hectic position for not too much more money than I was getting before, and I'm often there later than I would like to be...but the upside (no more night audit for me!) is also something of a downside, because it means I can't write at work.

I've barely even crocheted anything.

Now, I'm not whining because I'm being all growed up and doing my job and being step-mum when one has no real experience being a mum is...different (and not something I'll ever give up), but...I miss writing. NaNoWriMo would be the best time to get back into writing, except for the one, pesky detail that I can't escape:

What The Hell Am I Going To Write?

The Summer NaNo Post, Writer's Block and the Importance of Characters

I know NaNoWriMo is three months away, yet and we're all trying to enjoy our summers and relax (at least, I hope we're all trying to enjoy our summers and relax), but as I said last year*, August is when I always seem to have NaNoWriMo on the brain.

I have no idea what I'm going to write this year. None. I've been stuck in a perpetual state of writer's block since I finished 2010's NaNo - and even that needs a lot of polishing before it'll be anywhere near ready for public or semi-public consumption.

Just a reminder: three of us won NaNoWriMo in 2010. Therefore, we rock!

Out of everything I've written, Aigaion Girl has to be my favourite long piece (it incorporates my favourite piece of short fiction), so, lately, I've been trying to figure out why I like it so much more than my other work. I think what it comes down to is characters. A/G was relatively easy and extremely enjoyable to write (rewriting is another story) because I was in love with my characters. Even now, I keep trying to come up with an idea for a sequel so that I'll have an excuse to keep writing them. But I think maybe that's the secret - at least for me. I have another story I've been working on, 200 Pages which has a really good (IMO) concept, but I can't get the characters nailed down and it's killing the story. So I guess what I need, before I start trying to come up with a plot and an original idea and all of that, is a group of truly kick-ass characters.

So, NaNoWriMo - will you be participating this year? Do you have any idea what you'll be writing if you decide to participate? What do you think your chances of winning are?

And my bigger, kind of discussion questiony question: how will you find/create your story? will you work out a plot and create characters to fill it, or create characters and build a plot around them, or do it at once, or in bits and pieces as it comes to you - or is your process completely different?

*Can you believe that was a year ago?

Three Days 'Till NaNoWriMo 2010

...

O_O

Who's ready? Because I know I'm not...

Eep.

Ten Rules...

I was poking around Neil Gaiman's blog today, as I am wont to do, and in the recent past he posted a link to an article called Ten Rules For Writing Fiction.

There are more than ten rules/commandments. Actually, there are ten from several different authors. Some of them are complete bunk. Some of them are gems of wisdom. I haven't (yet) come across the one that essentially reads: "Break the Rules", or "Tell the Rule Makers to STFU", but I'm hoping they're in there.

Elmore Leonard (of whom I have never heard, but now I have someone to look up) has two rules of especial note:

3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But "said" is far less intrusive than "grumbled", "gasped", "cautioned", "lied". I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated" and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary.

and,

4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances "full of rape and adverbs".

Now, I can somewhat see what he's getting at there - there are definitely those who go overboard. At the same time, I fail to see why I can't use adverbs if I damn well feel like it. I've always used adverbs, to one degree or another. I try to keep them simple, just because I want dialogue to flow properly, but eradicating them entirely just seems...stupid. Plus, it's probably a personal foible, but I've noticed that, in the midst of books that follow those two rules, I find myself wondering what emotions I'm supposed to be feeling.

(One of) the most important thing(s) about writing is to find your own voice, that thread of style and phrasing and diction that screams to everyone that this work is yours, and no other's. Part of my 'voice' is the use of adverbs. So Elmore Leonard can lump it. He also writes westerns. So hah.

Seriously, though...the best rules about writing to follow are the ones you come up with after long years of practice. Everything else is merely a suggestion, and can therefore be treated as such.

Here's A Thought...

How would people feel about having a series of prompts for short stories/long stories/novellas/whatever?

For instance, I (or whoever) would post a picture or a phrase or a link to a song, and whoever wants to can write something to go with it...any length, any genre, any rating, all that. And, when the stories/whatever are complete, whoever finishes first posts the next prompt...

Or we can do it another way, if you'd rather. Or not, if you rather that too.

Just a thought...

Oooo...and the prompts can be used for pre-existing stories too, if you have a WIP and are stuck on a scene. I won't limit your creativity ;)

XD!!!

I never see that as a face. I always just see it as an X and a D, and in my mind, it's a short form for eXciteD.

I finished Aigaion Girl. I had a long and fun day involving floating down the river on an air mattress, came home, napped, then wrote for nearly four hours straight. And I'm done!!!!!! I haven't posted it on FictionPress yet because I have to write my Author's Notes still and because I'm a bit of an attention whore, so I want to post it at a time that will maximize new readers. If you're just dying to find out how it ends, though, you can read it on its blog.

I'm sort of horribly tempted to start editing tomorrow, but I think that might rank among the top of dumb ideas I've had lately, so I'm going to stick to my original plan and wait until July before I look at it again.

Anyway, that's all from me for now. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep.

PS, the rain cloud has nothing to do with anything; I just thought it would look cute. (XD)

Ugh.

I've been trying to write the last chapter of Aigaion Girl for ten days now, and I'm completely blocked. I even started writing a numberless chapterette, so my fictionpress readers would have something to read while I'm getting out of this funk - and even that is giving me trouble.

I think it's just because of the build up. I've written things this long before, and I've written for fictionpress, with next-to-live updates, but I've never written anything that I worked on and updated so consistantly - or anything that's gotten as many good reactions from people - or anything that I myself have liked this much. I feel an inordinant amount of pressure to get the ending perfect, and I'm terrified it won't live up to anyone's (including my own) expectations.

I honestly am not sure what to do about it. I've written the whole thing thus far gin-free, and it would be a shame to start relying on my trusted writing aid now - but at the same time, if I don't post the last chapter for ever and ever, I'm going to lose the interest this story has generated, not to mention delay editing it for publication.

Anyway, I don't mean to whine. I guess it will come to me when it comes to me and until then, about all I can do is keep my mind fresh and clear. That being said, if anyone has any advice, I'd be more than happy to hear it.

That's it for me. Time to go work out (*ambivalent aski face*)