CornerScribe

Archive for November, 2006

Well, NaNoWriMo ends this evening, and as you can see, I hit 50,000 words last night.

Whew.

I had to do quite a bit of rushing and writing in order to make up lost ground and finish on time, which got me to thinking about writing deadlines in general and techniques for meeting them. Here are a few I used to finish this year.

1. When you’re tired, frustrated, or tempted to quit for any reason, force yourself to write for five more minutes. If nothing else, you get five minutes’ worth of work. Usually, and even better, you work through the frustrating bit and get back into the work. (more…)

   

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I have precious little blog time. As you can see, I’m still very behind in my NaNo word count. Anyone want to take bets on how much I can write over Thanksgiving? I’m betting that gluttony and productivity are not good bedfellows, how about you?

Sorry, but this post is in no particular order.

I was just skimming an old post, and I was thinking about how my spelling and (gasp!) even my grammar has taken a turn for the worst. I’m not sure what it is, but I seem to make more mistakes lately. Maybe I’m getting old? (more…)

Well, I’m making progress on the NaNo novel. As you can see in the chart below, I’m still painfully behind, but I am catching up. That’s something, isn’t it?

I thought it might be useful to talk about how I’ve approached this year’s NaNo, and how it’s working. For those of you already well underway, I know it’s too late to change course, but this may be useful for your general noveling pleasure. (more…)

Yes, I’m still plugging away, as you can see from the word count chart on the right. Of course, you’ll also see that I’m running terribly, horribly, painfully behind. Tonight was a good night though, so I’ll focus on that.

The novel is also coming along nicely; I’m quite please so far with the results, if not the progress. (yep, probably jinxed myself there!)

This week has been very busy, and stressful, so writing has had to take a bit of a back seat. Let’s hope that things smooth out a bit for a while, and I can get caught up on my word count. It’s been discouraging, but I’m not giving up.

I promise a more in-depth post over the weekend. It’s late, and I’m exhausted.

I also have a couple administrative notes about the blog. I see from my web stats that I’m picking up more visitors lately; unfortunately only the occasional person comments (thanks, Lydia!). I’d like to encourage participation in the blog. Any ideas?

Here are a few links you might find useful.

New Novelist This software looks interesting, maybe. The screenshots aren’t very good, so it’s difficult to tell much about it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a place to download a free trial.

Story Mind They offer some free articles and classes, but also free trial downloads of several writing program. If you’ve been thinking of buying something, you might find a trial version here. (more…)

Yes, I’m roughly 2000 words behind where I wanted to be by this point, but I did spend a good amount of time yesterday planning and outlining, so it’s not as bad as it might seem. Expect another word count update tomorrow morning; I’m rising and shining and getting my butt in gear first thing.

We were supposed to head out of town this weekend, but it turns out that hubby is on call. That’s okay, it’ll give me a change to write and get some much needed girl time between me and my mom.

Stay tuned, I’m putting together some links on outlining and planning a novel that I hope to get posted within the next few days. Keep writing!!

Here’s an article about Fox running a special this weekend about radical Islam and its desire to attack the US. The twist here is that this serves, in the author’s mind, as “proof” that Fox isn’t objective.

Does anyone still believe any media outlet IS objective?

Some, of course, will argue that they try to maintain objectivity, but the reality is that it’s pretty easy to tell which side a reporter and/or news organization falls on. The questions asked, the questions unasked, even the tone of voice and facial expressions give it away. I doubt that many people are so naive as to believe in media objectivity any longer.

So why don’t the major media outlets just “fess up” and declare their allegiances?

I think it’s more honest and ethical to state your biases up front. That allows listeners to weigh what you report, and don’t report, in light of what your beliefs and agenda are. Of course, I’m not naive enough to believe that will happen any time soon.

But what if it did?

What if all media outlets admitted their bias? What would that do to and for viewers/listeners/readers? Would we consume only what agrees with our beliefs, or would we seek out the opposing viewpoint? I don’t know about you, but I think I know the answer to that one; we’d read and listen to and watch the reporting that made us feel right.

And what does that say about us, as a society?

Yes, yes, I’m on a bit of a rant, but this year’s NaNo novel touches on some of these ideas, albeit loosely, so this type of article really jumps out at me now.

By the way, if you’re interested in reading a very humorous (and thought provoking) blog, take a look at the Dilbert Blog. Scott Adams has a knack for making everything controversial, and he really enjoys tweaking his readers.

Well, NaNo has begun. The novel will be loosely based on The Betrayed, which is available for download below.

I didn’t make my goal word count yesterday (2000 words/day). I twisted my back and it was misery just to sit still for any length of time. Wish me better luck today. For the first time, I’m entering NaNo with a rough outline, including knowing the ending of the novel up front. This is a first for me; I usually enjoy the spontaneity of writing sans outline, but this plot really cries out for more organization. I’m eager, and a little anxious, to see how that works out for me.

Good luck to all those doing NaNo this year!

NaNo starts today, and I have an interesting dilemma.

No, I’m not without a plot. I’m with TWO plots, and that’s what makes it an interesting dilemma. I need to get busy and get to work, so decision time is now.

The first option is a novel based very loosely on The Betrayed, which is available for download now. I’ve been mulling over what it would be like to live in a society that attempts to control morality, whether it be clothes, dating, drinking, media, or whatever. So, I’m contemplating a novel about what the US would be like if we became such a country.

The second option is a more straightforward horror, specifically zombies. As I might have mentioned, I am a zombie fan, and I think a novel about them would be lots of fun to write.

So far, I have one vote for a continuation of The Betrayed (mom) and one for zombie-hordes (hubby). Can you tell who my readers are?