Life in progress

Tag Archives: writers


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A Special Thank You

A fool once told me, after I started blogging, that it was useless to think the ‘like’ button on WordPress was anything but a way for others to make me read their work. She told me that the comments I received were worthless. Drivel. Dishonest. That I couldn’t believe anything but that which was brutal, because praise was purely selfish. Her disdain for those she wishes to attract to her own blog is indefensible. It’s no wonder she allows no comments on her site.

This is how I first learned to blog.

I’m overjoyed to have learned the opposite of what I was told. I have made some true friends on WordPress, since I began writing here. I’ve found kindness and acceptance. I’ve found people with whom I share things in common. I’ve laughed with you, I’ve cried for you; I’ve found more honesty here at WordPress than I could possibly have hoped for. I’ve found brilliant insight, read fantastic rants, and taken in beautifully creative fiction and poetry.

Each and every one of you are so dear to me. You’ve helped me find confidence in myself, and many of you have allowed me into your lives. I am so very grateful.

Thank you, so very much to all my readers. WordPress has gifted me with a truly valuable community. I don’t know what I’d do without you all.

Thank you.

Linda


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EDDD 12 – It’s Official

I’ve finished the five courses I needed to take, so as soon as it arrives in the mail I will officially be the proud owner of a college certificate in Writing for Publication.

Then I will be able to certifiably hit the “Publish” button on WordPress!

Now all I need is a job. Anyone out there interested in hiring a slightly worn out but enthusiastic, stay-at-home mom/compulsive scribbler? I work for peanuts (preferably chocolate covered). Just ask my kids. Hell, I pay them!

 

 
Blog post of December 12th, in honour of Every Damn Day December. Check it out!


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On Printing a Manuscript

I’m so frustrated! All morning I put off printing off my manuscript (the older one, not my new NaNoWriMo project) which is 503 pages long. I’ve been going through WordPress themes, delivering newspapers, eating… generally doing everything I could to procrastinate. Finally, I said, ‘That’s it! I’m going to do it!’ (Yes, I talk to myself when I’m alone.)

So I went into the room where the printer is, and got started. Two hundred and fifty pages and I ran out of ink in an almost brand new cartridge. 250 pages! This thing is going to cost me $70 to print… and that’s just a draft!!

Who knew writing could be so bloody expensive?

So, my novelist buddies out there in WordPress land, and anyone else who prints vast amounts of text for whatever reason, do you take care of your own printing needs on your home printer? Or do you take it to a professional?

And either way, how do you afford to write?
Ugh.

Blog post of December 3rd, in honour of Every Damn Day December. Check it out! It’s not too late to join in!

 


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Every Damned Day December

In honour of my new friend, Dylan Dailey, I am going to attempt to write a blog post every day in December. It’s not going to be easy, what with Christmas coming and having the family to take care of, but what the heck. If I can make it through NaNoWriMo, why not EvDaDaDec?

Who else is with me?

You can find Dylan’s blog here : http://treatmentofvisions.com/

Let’s do this thing!


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Finished!

I just finished NaNoWriMo! 😀

For the record the novel did, indeed, end with a bang. Did everyone die? You’ll have to read it to find out.

*cue evil laughter*

Okay, time for a happy dance!

2013-Winner-Facebook-Cover


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Na – Nooooooo!

Is it a good sign that I want to blow up everyone in my NaNoWriMo novel? I’m thinking a nice gas explosion would come in handy right about now. Unfortunately that would mean killing off the narrator. I doubt that would go over well in most literary circles.

I think the most creative way I’ve written for anyone to die has to be my story of the unluckiest man alive:

http://neverendingstorydepository.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/unluckiest-man-alive-dies/

What’s yours?


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Nature vs Nurture in Fiction

Twins. Part of the plot in my NaNoWriMo project required a case of mistaken identity, so instead of having one protagonist, I’m writing one and a half. I call the twins “one and a half” protagonists because I’m writing in the first person – so I’m getting all of what one of them thinks and only half of what the other does. They’re both good guys, Marcel and Max are. Decent men from a good family – very much the same in many ways.

As usual, something happened in real life which made me contemplate the differences between siblings. In this case it was a  conversation with the lady who manages the dry cleaner on my paper route.  She has two granddaughters who she loves to talk about. She was telling me how unalike they are, even though they’re very close in age. This is a subject (among many) that has always fascinated me, being an only child. My own children didn’t grow up as siblings usually do, since they all have such physical differences,  so it’s something I must study from a distance.

The difficulty I’m experiencing in my novel is that the twins, Marcel and Max, sound the same when they speak. It makes sense to me that they should, but they end up coming out like these guys:

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Not all that polite mind you, but they speak exactly alike.

Once NaNo is done and I can put some thought into it, I’ll work on finding something unique about the two, which will come out in their speech. But in the meantime, I’m wondering what about their natures, and not their nurture, can help my readers to tell them apart.

Have you ever written siblings and come across this problem? Let’s learn from each other!


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What’s in your Main Character’s Fridge?

I’ve been seriously thinking about how much my own tastes influence my fiction. The other day, my characters were in a restaurant and I purposely made them order something I, personally, wouldn’t eat.

It occurred to me that maybe I’m thinking about this too much – micromanaging my story. But the fact is, they’ve gotta eat. And I find it boring and not really credible that they’d like ALL the same things I do. If for no other reason than every character in every story I ever write always eats the same group of foods, I feel like I have to change it up once in a while.

Is this something you’ve put any thought to? If you’re a vegetarian, do you ever have your characters eating a nice juicy steak?

How else do your characters not reflect your tastes?  (Human characters, that is.)


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Write What You Know

Write what you know; write what you know; yes, yes, okay we get it already. But have you ever wanted to write who you know? Fictionally that is.

When I write, I write characters. Plots in my stories, are secondary. I take, for instance, a scenario, ask ‘what if?’ and off I go. Once I have a character in place, they decide what happens in the circumstance I put them in.

I know a few people very well. Family, friends – I can’t help but know them. The people I don’t know very well, I study. I watch the way their expressions change when they talk about certain topics that they love or which scare them… you get the picture, right?

But there’s that saying again. That rule. Write what you know.

Now say, for instance, I was to write about someone I adore. They probably wouldn’t mind. They’d be able to hold my bestseller up high and say, ‘This is about me!’ and they’d be proud to do it. But what if I wrote about someone who I don’t respect? Or someone whose personality is less than scrupulous? I wouldn’t use their real name, of course. And the story would not be the one they lived in real life. But they’d know. And I’d know that they knew. And then I’d have to wonder; are they planning to do something devious to smite me? After all, they aren’t the most the most pleasant person to deal with in the first place. How far will they go?

Write what you know. I know very little about ‘things,’ but I know a lot about people. About characters and what makes people tick.

Have you ever ‘written’ someone you know, fictionally? How would you feel if someone ‘wrote’ you?

Tick tick tick… boom!


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Getting views is like pulling teeth

Has anyone else noticed that their view count has gone down? I’m blaming it on the new pop-up window in the reader that allows people to read a post without going to the site.

While this new feature is sometimes handy, it discourages other WordPress users from clicking on the actual post. When they don’t look at the post, they don’t see our site, and when they don’t go to our site, they don’t see what else is on our site.

Just think about it this way:  One of the people you follow may have found the cure for the clap yesterday, but if you only read about how his or her cat looked cute rifling through the cantankerous neighbours trash bin today, you’ll never know! That’s valuable information there you’ve missed out on!

So tell me, is it just me? Or has your view count gone down too?