CornerScribe

Archive for January, 2005

If you enjoy going to the theater, then check out the Contemporary American Theater Festival.

We live in the general area, so we’ll probably make it out to at least one of the plays this year. The plays are put on at Shepherd University  in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. It’s a beautiful, quaint little historic town. If you have a few days, stay on one of the bed and breakfasts in the area and do some shopping as well. There are lots of unique shops where you can buy great gifts.

Remember, you’re close to D.C. so maybe you’d like to take in some museums and other sights in the city while you’re at it.

Link: Get Fuzzy.

Just a note and a quick recommendation.

I have a dog and cat, so I can really relate to a lot of the silliness in this comic strip. I highly recommend it!

Link: Do You Want to Live Forever?.

Okay, so this has been the topic of many a sci-fi story. For sake of argument, let’s say it’s feasible in your lifetime. You can live forever, or a lot longer than what’s a normal life span now.

Okay, you may have your own set of problems, like when to retire, helping raise great-great-great….great-grandchildren, and simply what to do with yourself all those years.

I think a more interesting problem is what society will face. Resources is an obvious one. We all can’t go around having children if adults don’t die off. It won’t take long for the most overcrowded country to look positively roomy by comparison. There are two obvious solutions: drastically limit childbearing or routinely eliminate the elderly. Neither sounds particularly appealing, does it?

Of course, if you live to be 1000 or more, you’ll probably not be able to retire at 65 or so. In all likelihood, you’ll have many careers over your life. Will there be enough jobs for this exploding population? How can a relative youngster compete with you in the job market?

What about the types of jobs and how they’ll change? People will want more entertainment if they’re living longer, so what kinds of leisure activities can we expect? Will people stay married for life (even when it’s centuries)? I could go on and on….

Not bad for some story ideas, huh?

I’ve been working on editing my novel, and I thought I might share the process I go through to do so.

First, I break the novel down into scenes. Each chapter might be one or (more often) several scenes. I make a quick note of each scene in each chapter, which yields a rudimentary outline. Of course, if you write from outline in the first place, this step should be pretty quick.

Then, I evaluate each scene and decide if it stays or goes. Does the scene contribute to the overall plot?  Does the scene accomplish something that no other scene does?

Then, I decide if I need to add any scenes. Since I write without an outline, sometimes I want to work in a scene or two to foreshadow an event later in the novel.

After I have an outline of all the scenes that will be in the novel, then I begin reworking scene by scene. One of the first things I do is evaluate the level of conflict in the scene. What kind of conflict is it? Can I show the conflict that’s going on in a better way?

Then, I look at the setting, descriptions, etc. I tend to be a little sparse on setting during the rough draft, so I need to make a conscious effort to work that in.

After reworking all the scenes, then I begin to tackle dialogue. I want my characters to have their own voices, but often those unique voices don’t fully develop until well into the novel. I use a highligher and mark each of the main characters’ dialogue in a different color. Then, I read each character’s dialogue on its own and make any changes that I feel are needed.

Finally, when that’s finished, I correct any grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

Sound time consuming? It is.

For those of you who are wondering, I’m still at step one. I’m outlining and evaluating which scenes will stay in the novel. I have a long way to go!

I finished the rough draft this evening. Word count is nearly 73,000.

Next step, get a free rough draft printed up from Lulu . They’re offering a free book to all NaNo winners.

Then, editing! I’ll be spending the next few days dividing the book up into scenes and creating an outline. I’ll be submitting this to Wizards of the Coast by mid-February, so I have a lot of work to do.

If you write horror, science fiction, or fantasy, I have a critique group for you!

Critters

I’ve been a member off and on for about a year, and I think they’re absolutely terrific. I’ve tried other writing groups, and many are more socializing and little critiquing. That’s fine, if that’s what you’re looking for, but critters is a serious critique group.

Here are the rules in a nutshell. You do one crit a week (actually about 75% of that) and you get the opportunity to submit your own work into the queue. It will take about 4-5 weeks for your work to come out for review, and when it does, you can expect to get as many as 15 or 20 critiques. Not bad, huh?

If you’re writing a novel, you can also ask for RFDR (request for dedicated readers). These are readers who’ll review the novel without your having to put it through the queue in pieces (which would take quite some time).

The critiques I’ve gotten from other critters have been terrific. Did I mention many of the writers in the group are published? Even professionals? Believe me, you can’t go wrong here.

Do you ever feel the need to be reminded of why you write? Why you pour out so much of yourself when publishing and (gasp! pay) is only a far-away dream? Here are a few of the things I do to keep myself motivated when I start to wonder why I bother.

I tend to be very visual, so I keep a picture or two that represent what I want out of my writing nearby. Maybe you want to work from home, buy your dream home, or see your name on a book cover. Keep a picture close at hand that represents what you want out of your writing.

Design a cover for your book and print it out. Hang it where you work so you can see it every day.

Take a copy of a bestseller list (like the New York Times) and add your book to the top of the list. Hey, dream big, right?

Post your writing goals somewhere near your work space. Use them to remind yourself of what you’re working toward, and what you’ve committed to.

Post your favorite motivational quotes around your work area, or turn them into a screensaver for your computer. Every time you stop writing long enough, one is sure to remind you to get back at it.

This is the time of year when many of us take time to reevaluate what we’ve been doing and make goals for the coming year. Why not think about how you can motivate yourself to achieve even more this year?

Is getting organized one of your resolutions? If you’re like me, you suffer from a bit of disorganization from time to time — and sometimes a lot more than a bit!

I highly recommend the flylady site. She has over 250,000 subscribers, and I am one of them (flybabies, we’re called).

Although the site is primarily geared toward managing your home (cleaning, organizing, bill paying, etc.), the principles she uses can be applied to your writing as well.  Her method is built on some basic principles that really work wonders.

Routines. The flylady insists that you develop a morning and evening routine for your home. You can also develop a daily writing routine as well.

Baby steps. You’ll see admonitions to take baby steps all over the site. Another common reminder is "you can do anyting for 15 minutes." When I’m too tired to write, or just too blocked, I take that literally. I set my kitchen timer for 15 minutes and write. When the time is up, whatever writer’s block I had is usually gone. How do you think I finished NaNo?!

You’ll find that many of her subscribers have an almost fanatical devotion to her method, and I have to confess that I’m amongst them. When I first browsed the site and subscribed, I thought everything was a bit corny. E-mail reminders come out several times a day, as well as motivational essays.

No matter what other organization system you might have tried, give this one a chance. Stick with it for a month, and follow her plan just as she teaches. You’ll be surprised at what a difference it can make!