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Why didn't anybody remind me that NaNo started today? *glares at ![[livejournal.com profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
paranoidangel_*
*ahem*
Progess: 0/50,000
*sigh*
paranoidangel_**ahem*
Progess: 0/50,000
*sigh*
(no subject)
Feb. 15th, 2005 01:15 amRandom discovery: an almost-finished Trek story sitting around on my hard drive. Not touched since at least last July. Wish I'd remembered, so I could've spent that half-hour finishing it before last year's SNW ended. :p
(Ah, well, it was an Enterprise story anyways. :p)
(Ah, well, it was an Enterprise story anyways. :p)
(no subject)
Feb. 14th, 2005 05:54 pmSnurched from me_weird:
You are a GRAMMAR GOD!
Congratulations! If your mission in life
is not already to preserve the English tongue,
it should be. You can smell a grammtical
inaccuracy from fifty yards. Your speech is
revered by the underlings, though some may
blaspheme and call you a snob. They're just
jealous. Go out there and change the world.
How grammatically correct are you? (Revised with answer key)
brought to you by Quizilla
Surprised, this self-proclaimed grammarwhore fanatic is not. (And yes, writing that last sentence pained me.)
Trying to come up with a story to work on. Question for ye writer types: when submitting "blind" to a market (like Strange New Worlds, or Analog) do you usually find it easier to just send off a story once you believe that you're done, or do you find it better to sit on it for a week or so, and take one more look? I've been submitting immediately, simply because I'm afraid that my (lack of) self-confidence will lead me to never send it in if I sit on it. But I'm curious as to what some of the more... successful have done. (And I realize that this is going to vary from person to person, most likely. It's more for curiosity's sake than anything else.)
me_weird:You are a GRAMMAR GOD!
Congratulations! If your mission in life
is not already to preserve the English tongue,
it should be. You can smell a grammtical
inaccuracy from fifty yards. Your speech is
revered by the underlings, though some may
blaspheme and call you a snob. They're just
jealous. Go out there and change the world.
How grammatically correct are you? (Revised with answer key)
brought to you by Quizilla
Surprised, this self-proclaimed grammar
Trying to come up with a story to work on. Question for ye writer types: when submitting "blind" to a market (like Strange New Worlds, or Analog) do you usually find it easier to just send off a story once you believe that you're done, or do you find it better to sit on it for a week or so, and take one more look? I've been submitting immediately, simply because I'm afraid that my (lack of) self-confidence will lead me to never send it in if I sit on it. But I'm curious as to what some of the more... successful have done. (And I realize that this is going to vary from person to person, most likely. It's more for curiosity's sake than anything else.)
(no subject)
Feb. 13th, 2005 12:21 amOn the bright side, I'm finally almost done with this story that I've been working on sporadically since December. (It's amazing how losing significant portions due to tech issues can demoralize you, and how schoolwork can completely remove "free time" from the schedule. :p) And if all goes well, it'll go out on Monday (to the currently much-overworked editor, so I don't expect the rejection to come as promptly as my first two did, alas).
On the not-so-bright-side, I need to reread a certain novel (as research) before I can write the last scene, and to make sure I didn't screw something up else along the way. But at least it's a good book. :)
Sleep first, though.
On the not-so-bright-side, I need to reread a certain novel (as research) before I can write the last scene, and to make sure I didn't screw something up else along the way. But at least it's a good book. :)
Sleep first, though.
Chapter length
Nov. 8th, 2004 04:35 pmIs there any general guidelines as to chapter length? Because so far chapters 1 and 2 are both less than 2k words, while chapter 3 is over 4k. It just seems odd....
Like several others on my friends list, I'm participating in NaNoWriMo. Unlike what I assume they're doing, I'm writing it by hand.
*Andrew would be waiting for paranoidangel_'s jaw to hit the floor, except she already knows.*
Now, why am I participating in this nuttery in a low-tech fashion? A couple of reasons:
- It's faster than writing on my PDA while I'm in class or caffeinating myself at a restaurant (or in the dining hall).
- Given my PDA's "issues" at the moment, it's also a much safer method than keeping it on there.
- It's a lot harder to waste time doing stuff like visiting LiveJournal when I'm halfway across the room, using my computer only for music, instead of sitting right at it, a mouse-click away.
Speaking of point #3, it's time for me to skedaddle. :) At the moment, I'm a bit behind (only ~1500 words), but I'll be ahead shortly. I'll probably spend time on the weekends retyping. Or I might just write up a C++ program to fake a text file that's the same length as my approximate wordcount....
Bad Andrew! Get back to writing! *cracks whip*
Odd writing exercise
Oct. 5th, 2004 07:51 pmInspired by David Mack (the Trek author, not the comics artist):
Pick a song (score or other orchestral music probably works best, but "normal" music might work too), and try to write a short story or part of a larger work to accompany it.
I covered a 2:00 track in about 600 words, or 300 words per minute of music; David Mack covered a 6:35 track in about 3700 words (chapter 1 of A Time to Heal), or 565 words per minute of music. *shrug* Then again, the events in what I wrote occur at a much faster pace than his piece. :)
Pick a song (score or other orchestral music probably works best, but "normal" music might work too), and try to write a short story or part of a larger work to accompany it.
I covered a 2:00 track in about 600 words, or 300 words per minute of music; David Mack covered a 6:35 track in about 3700 words (chapter 1 of A Time to Heal), or 565 words per minute of music. *shrug* Then again, the events in what I wrote occur at a much faster pace than his piece. :)
To each writer there is a way
Oct. 5th, 2004 12:23 amWith apologies to Ecclesiastes:
To each writer there is a way:
a way to introduce, and a way to say goodbye;
a way of foreshadowing, and a way to use it;
a way to kill, and a way to resurrect;
a way to destroy, and a way to build;
a way with drama, and a way with comedy;
a way to inspire sorrow, and a way to inspire joy;
a way to wage war, and a way to build the weapons;
a way with romance, and a way to end it;
a way to search to details, and a way to fudge them;
a way to involve more, and a way to edit out;
a way to sunder lives, and a way to rejoin them;
a way with action, and a way with dialogue;
a way for readers, and a way for editors;
a way to write, and a way to read.
To each writer there is a way:
a way to introduce, and a way to say goodbye;
a way of foreshadowing, and a way to use it;
a way to kill, and a way to resurrect;
a way to destroy, and a way to build;
a way with drama, and a way with comedy;
a way to inspire sorrow, and a way to inspire joy;
a way to wage war, and a way to build the weapons;
a way with romance, and a way to end it;
a way to search to details, and a way to fudge them;
a way to involve more, and a way to edit out;
a way to sunder lives, and a way to rejoin them;
a way with action, and a way with dialogue;
a way for readers, and a way for editors;
a way to write, and a way to read.
(no subject)
Sep. 20th, 2004 12:47 am"Go, then. There are other worlds than these."
Even two books later, that line still sticks with me. I know that I want to do something with it; I just haven't been able to get my mind into "writing mode" today. Too busy with calc homework and such. :(
I think that after I'm done with The Dark Tower I need to go back and reread some Diane Duane novels--for some reason, they tend to jumpstart my muse (such as it is). Only problem is, I don't have any here at the moment. Yet another thing to take care of this weekend....
Even two books later, that line still sticks with me. I know that I want to do something with it; I just haven't been able to get my mind into "writing mode" today. Too busy with calc homework and such. :(
I think that after I'm done with The Dark Tower I need to go back and reread some Diane Duane novels--for some reason, they tend to jumpstart my muse (such as it is). Only problem is, I don't have any here at the moment. Yet another thing to take care of this weekend....
Meh. Only seven hundred words tonight. I could do more, except I have to get up early tomorrow, so caffeinating myself as per my usual procedure would be a bad idea. :-/
On the bright side, it turns out that The Bourne Supremacy was a heck of a lot better than I'd expected. I thought it was almost as good as the original; the only low point was that it felt like they reused about half the music from Identity. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't like the original's music as much as I do, though....
And also, it turns out that I won't have to work Saturday like I'd thought I would, so that should give me lots of time to write. I know I need to go back through and expand a couple of things, like background; while I'm working with preexisting characters (this is for SNW), I need to work in details of exactly how my thorough screwing of T'Rul occurred. :)
On the bright side, it turns out that The Bourne Supremacy was a heck of a lot better than I'd expected. I thought it was almost as good as the original; the only low point was that it felt like they reused about half the music from Identity. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't like the original's music as much as I do, though....
And also, it turns out that I won't have to work Saturday like I'd thought I would, so that should give me lots of time to write. I know I need to go back through and expand a couple of things, like background; while I'm working with preexisting characters (this is for SNW), I need to work in details of exactly how my thorough screwing of T'Rul occurred. :)
*glares at brain*
Jul. 27th, 2004 12:11 amNothing all that interesting to add.... I managed to crank out about 1300 words on a short story last night/this morning (it was 1 A.M. when I started), and I know where I want to go with it, but when I went back to it this afternoon I choked with regards to usable content; I'm having issues channeling Weyoun, and am ending up with Harriman Grey instead. :-/
Maybe I'll get some more done tomorrow, when I'm working on installing Windows XP onto three machines—plenty of wait time involved there. I'll also probably work on the end instead of the middle, since it'll much more straightforward to write....
Maybe I'll get some more done tomorrow, when I'm working on installing Windows XP onto three machines—plenty of wait time involved there. I'll also probably work on the end instead of the middle, since it'll much more straightforward to write....
