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Monthly Archives: November 2011

Gifts for Writers Part II

The Twelve Days of  the Season

by Tam Albright

 

Of all the many gifts you could give the writer in your life this holiday, there is really only one thing that writers want.

 

On the first day of the season,

Oh yeah. You are SO going into my novel for this.

my loved ones asked of me:

“Are there enough ideas for your WIP?”

 

So, on the second day of the season,

my loved ones gifted me, with

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

On the third day of the season,

my loved ones helped some more, with

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

On the fourth day of the season,

the blinking cursor mocked:

(Many four-letter swear words,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

But mom, it was all my work from NaNoWriMo this year!

On the fifth day of the season,

my loved ones distracted me:

Five times I forgot to hit “SAVE!”

(More four-letter swear words,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

On the sixth day of the season,

I wrote my loved ones in:

Six doomed characters,

Five times I forgot to hit “SAVE!”

(F-dash-dash-dash word,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

On the seventh day of the season,

I vented to the Net:

Seven writing #hash-tags,

Six doomed characters,

Five times I forgot to hit “SAVE!”

(Still swearing swear words,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

On the eighth day of the season,

We'll see who needs to keep their day job, Aunt Melba.

my loved ones gave me advice:

Eight clichéd phrases,

Seven writing #hash-tags,

Six doomed characters,

Five times I forgot to hit “SAVE!”

(*eye-roll* Four-letter swear words,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

On the ninth day of the season,

my “hobby” was discussed:

Yeah, nine old trunked novels,

Eight clichéd phrases,

Seven writing #hash-tags,

Six doomed characters,

Five times I forgot to hit “SAVE!”

(“I’m a sailor” swear words,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

Then they'll quest for the seven magical keys of Ventoozler. Hey, I can make it a series!

On the tenth day of the season,

I became quite desperate:

Ten magical McGuffins,

Nine old trunked novels,

Eight clichéd phrases,

Seven writing #hash-tags,

Six doomed characters,

Five times I forgot to hit “SAVE!”

(Swear words just to say them,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

On the eleventh day of the season,

with my loved ones fast asleep, I had

Eleven cups a-coffee,

Ten magical McGuffins,

Nine old trunked novels,

Eight clichéd phrases,

Seven writing #hash-tags,

Six doomed characters,

Five times I forgot to hit “SAVE!”

(Four-letter swear words,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP.

 

On the twelfth day of the season,

Finally, peace and quiet. Now for my next dilemma--WIP or Facebook?

my loved ones got the drift:

Twelve uninterrupted hours,

Eleven cups a-coffee,

Ten magical McGuffins,

Nine old trunked novels,

Eight clichéd phrases,

Seven writing #hash-tags,

Six doomed characters,

Five times I forgot to hit “SAVE!”

(I still can’t believe I did that,)

Three unrelated plot bunnies,

Two back up hard drives,

And enough ideas for my WIP!

 

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Gifts For Writers Part I

by Ditrie Sanchez

 

Have you ever found yourself struggling to remember which notepad, receipt or napkin you once scribbled a really cool idea on? Maybe, like me, you have a collection of notebooks of various sizes, shapes, bindings and colorings strewn all about the house. Or maybe you’ve noticed the ideas in one of your notebooks are too scattered and unorganized to make any sense of them.

As a writer, you find that much of your world is constantly changing. One minute you’re researching World War II era American military clothing, the next you’re trying to pick the perfect color for your next unholy dragon. Organizing all of these fantastic but disparate ideas while not wreaking havoc on the naturally random creative flow is a skill every author needs to hone. Thankfully, now there is a tool to help.  The revolver journal, which is much less violent than it sounds, is basically a Transformer (lasers sold separately).



Now, let’s say that you’re busy working on your military drama piece but out of the blue you think, egads! Coral blue is the perfect color for my giant metallic dragon of doom! With the revolver journal, all you have to do is fold it into your fantasy journal and copy it down. You don’t even need to leave the couch! Consider it the Rubik’s cube of journaling. It’s color coded, switchable and makes you look really cool at parties. Or nerdy. Same thing, really.

 

In the writing world, we are expected to write what we know. This means that if you’re writing about a subject and you don’t know anything about it, it’s time to do some research. Now, research can be done in quiet libraries whilst poring over various tomes of knowledge, or it can be conducted at home through the comfortable, if somewhat detached resources of the world wide web. However, the most effective research comes from hands-on experiences. Live interviews, taking tours of story locations, learning to use the tools of the trade that a character should know.

Of course, this puts a certain group of writers at a researching disadvantage right off the bat. Science fiction and fantasy writers are no more able to visit their worlds or shoot their laser blasters than I’m able to sprout beans out of my nose (believe me, I’ve tried). However, I’ve discovered the one thing that can be a game changer for this poor, disadvantaged group of writers. And it comes in the form of a pen. A ray gun pen, to be more specific.

(pyew, pyew, pyew!)

Now science fiction and fantasy writers alike can revel in the chrome and lacquered goodness that befits any proper hero or super villain. Stop and ask yourself for a moment: is the pen truly mightier than the sword? This one is! Blast away the writer’s block blues and get one today.

Don’t Hide From Your Story!

It wakes you up in the middle of the night. It nudges you on the drive to work. Inside of you, somewhere in the dusty recesses of your mind, an idea is itching to be brought to life. You have a story waiting to be told, a story the world needs to hear.

So why are you sitting here reading this post? In the time you’ve been Tweeting, updating Facebook statuses and surfing the internet, you could have written the first paragraph of your next best-selling novel.

This is the problem all writers face at one time in their lives. Having the chutzpah to write every day come rain, snow, sunshine or zombie invasion is no small order. When it comes down to it, you’ve got to learn how to psyche yourself up to write. Here are a few ways you can do that:

1.) You will never have the time to write. Make the time. Pencil it in your calendar. Set an alarm. Stick a post-it note to your bathroom mirror. Do whatever it takes to get it done.

2.) It’s okay to write crap. That’s what first drafts are for. Even Stephen King writes first drafts. Say what you need to say and get it out. You can clean it up on the rewrite.

3.) Reward yourself. Writing is hard work. Recognize your accomplishments and use that as motivation to move forward.

4.) One day at a time. You will not write the best American novel in a day. Break down the project into smaller, bite-sized bits that you can achieve a day at a time. Don’t try to swallow an elephant.

5.) Build community. Stay in regular communication with writers and other creatives that motivate and inspire you. Feed off of each other’s energy. Spur each other on to greatness. (But remember, spending five hours chatting and zero time writing does not count. That, my friends, can be filed under procrastination.)