Worderella Writes

Another one off the schedule

Man, I’ve been jumping all over my blog posting schedule this week.

I’ve written a guest column at Graham Carter’s blog, just a little tongue-in-cheek reflection on the English accent. To read it yourself, check out the May 29 post at grahamcarter.net. As always, Graham is exceedingly complimentary. Please read his other posts; they’re a collection personal reflections from the British perspective, both enlightening and funny, though tempered with real life predicaments.

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Thursday Fifteen: Book/Fiction Marketing

Today’s theme for my Thursday Thirteen is book marketing, something many of us assume our publisher will handle. Wrong-o! In fact, if you pitch a book with a complete marketing plan, you’ll have a better chance at getting an agent/publisher. The book biz is hard work for everyone involved, so an author who shows foresight into the process gets brownie points. So here is my list to help you rack up those points!

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Villain Month

Since I cheated my usual schedule and made my real post yesterday about finishing First Draft B, I’m dedicating this post to a fellow writer-blogger, Eliza W, who’s dedicating her blog to a month of developing villains in fiction.

Jump over, take a look, join in!

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First Draft B Complete

The title of the post says it all, but here are some details.

Saturday night, I couldn’t focus on homework. So instead, I daydreamed about my novel.

At midnight, I decided I would tape the show I had been staying up to watch so I could write, instead.

By three in the morning, I had a draft of the last chapter that I liked better than the six other half-starts I’d saved in the file, and the other almost fully-drafted chapter that I had in my paper journal.

Sunday morning, I woke up to re-read the chapter and found I still liked it. A good sign.

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Thursday Thirteen: Exercises to Prevent Carpal Tunnel

As writers, we tend to spend a lot of time in front of the computer. As a computer scientist, my time in front of the computer is magnified, because it’s my livelihood and my hobby. Over the past year-and-a-half, I’ve come to regret that sort of dedication to the machine, as I’ve suffered back injuries, and continued leg pain if I don’t stretch and move away from the computer regularly. And I’m not even 25, yet! This is a good thing, however. I’ve rediscovered the joy of writing in a paper journal (I hope to post some of my scribbles soon), reconnected with yoga, learned t’ai chi, and I am a much happier person all-around.

So here are the thirteen exercises and bits of information to keep in mind. Please print this list and do try the exercises yourself. I’d sincerely not wish my own back/wrist troubles on my worst enemy.

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WIP: A New Beginning

A little over a week ago, I added a new scene to the beginning of the WIP. It shifts the moment when the reader joins the story from the original scene to fifteen minutes earlier. Amazing, what a quarter of an hour can do, right? This new scene completely changes the tone of the opening chapter, yet still is in keeping with the tone of the entire work. My problem is that I feel the original scene also sets the story and tone correctly. Which should I choose?

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Thursday Thirteen: Tools to Research Setting

I often find interesting bits of information that don’t necessarily correspond to an entire blogpost. To compensate, sometimes I’ll have a Thursday Thirteen to collect and spread the knowledge-love around, which was the original point of Worderella Writes. But I reserve the right to have a Thursday Seven, Thursday Two, Thursday Whatever-Number-I-Manage-to-Get-To… even though they don’t sound as good. Today’s theme is tools to help you research and/or write your setting.

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Book: Neverwhere

Stuck in a relationship and job where he is a whipping boy, Richard Mayhew breaks free of his daily not-caring ritual when a bloodied girl dressed in rags literally drops at his feet. By helping her, he loses track of his entire existence (literally), and must embark on a journey through “this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London he knew.”

If you like Doctor Who or Monty Python, this is a book for you. If you write fiction that takes any hint whatsoever from fairy tales, mythology, or legends, Gaiman is an excellent example to read to get a feel for what other writers are doing. (Another good example would be Marquez, but I’ll save that for when I review Of Love and Other Demons.)

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Guest Post: Stay the Course

A guest post from my friend Graham Carter, a reporter and editor from across the pond. He writes to answer the cries of us writers who have let our doubts get the better of us, and not a moment too soon. So read on, and feel inspired!

Let’s talk drumming.

Yes, I know this is supposed to be all about writing, but there is an analogy here that I think all writers should be aware of, so stick with it (pun intended).

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