Weekly Round-up: 1/27/12

Monday:

• Writer Unboxed: Do You Need Multiple Agents If You Write in Different Genres?: At least let your agent know.
• Elle Strauss: Monday Musings - All the Plates in the Air: Acclaim for Clockwise.

Tuesday:

• TalkToYoUniverse: When do we need to know what a character looks like?: Don't whip out that mirror.
• Daily Writing Tips: 15 Big Little Words: Ram, ram, ram!
• Veronica Roth: What Project Runway Taught Me About Explanations: Better explain that butterfly swimsuit in the book, as you won't be able to personally explain to your readers.
• Writer Unboxed: On Quirky Character Names: As this writer said, "balance, balance, balance".
• YA Highway: Alternative Desk Ideas: A treadmill desk?
• Adventures in YA and Children's Publishing: WIP Writing Exercises to Recharge Your Creativity: Read the list at the bottom.
• TalkToYoUniverse: TTYU Retro: Superpowers of the Grammatical Subject: Sometimes, the simplest of sentences have their purpose.

Wednesday:

• Time to Write: Could you use the Agile Publishing Model to self-publish your ebook?: Basically, letting your readers follow along with the writing process.
• Mystery Writing is Murder: Outgoing vs. Incoming: Perhaps focusing on writing first things first as opposed to checking TV Tropes is a better idea.
• The Other Side of the Story: Leave the Breadcrumbs Behind: Are You Asking -- and Answering -- the Right Story Questions?: Admit it, you ask questions while reading.
• The Sharp Angle: Connecting Your Opposite Turning Points In Story Structure - Part Two

Thursday:

• Time to Write: The solution to writer's block may be right in front of you: Blogging about major characters if a blogger?
• The Other Side of the Story: Work It, Work It: Breaking the Writing Rules: How four books defied traditional POV rules—and get away with it.
• TalkToYoUniverse: Guest Post: Myke Cole on "Military Culture": Remember, it's "characters in the military", not "military characters".

Friday:

• Writer Unboxed: 5 Attitudes Toward Publishing You Should Avoid: Rushing is bad.

Writer's Update: 1/25/12

The first act of Manifestation Files has been written. At its current length, it's fifty-two pages (out of a possible 200-300 pages) and I already did a few revisions. Starting tomorrow, I'm thinking about jumping around and writing some of the key scenes. Once finished, I'll fill up the gaps.

My writing momentum is still waning, but I'm slowly making a more efficient routine. For example, reading Blogger posts first thing in the morning. What I still need to do, however, is to start writing at 7:00, and not waste an hour checking stuff right after school. That time would probably turn into homework time, to possibly build up momentum too.

Also, no more sitting with knees against desk eating ice cream at the computer. Good way to become lazy.

Good news though. Remember how I won a twenty-page critique? I'm about to send it. I'm going to do on last look through. I'm jumping in and facing any criticism imposed by the agent. Hopefully, she will give tips on a macro level which will benefit me in the long-run.

Meanwhile, I'm still building up my buffer. For now, the "Daily" part of this blog will be untrue. But once I develop a reasonable buffer and gather enough material, I'll build up my posting frequency slowly. First, three posts per week (this one, Weekly Round-up, one Thoughts). And then four. And then finally five.

Keep an eye on this.

Weekly Round-up: 1/20/12

SOPA background is staying up until the vote.


And I figured out how to remove the high-lighting: Edit the HTML. For good measure, I removed those annoying images.


Monday:

• Mystery Writing is Murder: Eliminating Echoes in Our Writing: Another reason why to love your copyeditor—once you get one.
• Seeking the Write Life: Self-Editing—Seek & Destroy List #1 and #2: Although done before, it comes with some detailed explanations and reasoning.
• The Other Side of the Story: Have You Met Ted? Introducing Characters: "Hey, how's Janice?" "Oh, just waiting to actually appear in the story".
• Veronica Roth: A Peek Behind the Publishing Curtain: Simple, but a nice peek for beginners.

Tuesday:

• Ghostwriter Dad: LMFAO: Context is EVERYTHING: I repeat. Everything.
• Adventures in Children's Publishing: Writerly Inspiration and Aha Moments

Wednesday:

• Lit Reactor: Why You Should Care That Today Is SOPA Shutdown Day: Not as extensive as I thought it would be, but sufficient.
• YA Highway Is Against Internet Censorship
• Superhero Nation: How to Write a Successful Cover Letter: More of a reminder post, but: Be civil.
• Time to Write: What's the perfect writing format for the internet age? Could it be...: Poetry? Insufficient evidence.
• Seeking the Write Life: Self Editing - Seek & Destroy Word List #3

Thursday:

• The Character Therapist: Review and Giveaway of Coming Undone by Staci Stallings: A therapist and her client? Comment to have a chance to win a book.
• Writer Unboxed: Making a Comeback in the Digital Age: How a traditionally published author returned to novel writing.
• Elle Strauss: Free for the Next Five Days!: Time to find a way to read Kindle books on a non-Kindle!

Friday:

• Is Identifying a Person’s Age Necessary?: Rather, ways to identify a person's age.
• The Writer's Bureau: Adverbs: They’re Really Not All Bad: From an editing's perspective, anyways.

Writer's Update: Ch-ch-changes

Since it's late, I'll make this as quick as possible.

If you had been keeping track of this blog, you may have noticed I skipped one Writer's Update and one Weekly Round-up.

The reason is that I encountered a period of writer's block. I think I'm easing out of it, but I'm trying to find ways to counter-act it. So this blog isn't high on my list of priorities. I have several ideas for articles, and I'm still going to do the Weekly Updates, but don't expect the "Daily" part to kick in for a long, long time.

Oh, and I changed the title. "Daily Life" isn't very accurate. "Daily Thoughts"? More so.

Once I create a buffer, then this blog truly starts.

Stop SOPA

Okay, from the moment I submit this post until sometime tomorrow night, the background of this blog will be replaced with a "Stop SOPA" image.

The only thing keeping me from using a complete blackout is a) I don't know how to fiddle with the HTML and b) I'm going to write a Writer's Update tomorrow.

So, enjoy this simple banner.

Oh, I forgot. I found this comic quite amusing. It's going to be in a school project (open in new tab for full size):

Remember kids, in the end, pirates win, everyone else loses.

Weekly Round-up: 1/13/12

First round-up of the year!

If anyone can tell me how to delete the white highlighting, let me know. Thank you.

Monday:

• Seeking the Write Life: Mighty Heroes REQUIRE Mighty Villains
• Mystery Writing is Murder: Commenting On Reviews: A Different Type of Author Intrusion
• Ghostwriter Dad: Social Sharing Sites in 15 Minutes a Day
• The Other Side of the Story: The Line Forms Where? Knowing Where to Start Your Novel

Writer's Update: Winter's "Brake"

Okay, I'm back in school. The transition went smoothly, but I had switched out my Creative Arts class for an Visual Art one. I'm not sure if the former would be useful for me, and I want to expand my interests. Can't overspecialize too much. (Redundancy noted).

I'm happy that's school's back--for more than one reason: I suffered some pitfalls in terms of writing over the Winter's Break. Actually sitting down and typing down my novel got way more difficult, without the constraints that a weekday have. Although 750 Words is now my only "deadline", I'm still considering what course to take. For now, I skipped a section of Manifestation Files and shifted my focus on the more exciting parts of the story. Right now, in my manila folder, there's a break down scene ready to be typed out. Let's say that one character's emotions finally bare their fangs.

Maybe with study hall back, I can figure out the best way to revise and prepare for a contest deadline in February. Suggestions? That journal I used to prop up a fan before it broke can make a good to-do list book.

Oh, and I also got a file crate for Christmas. I used it to archive some of my own works. Once it was assembled, I cleaned out some of the top shelf and organized everything by school year.

I happened to have enough folders, notepads, and notebooks to stuff it. I have about one stack left. Time to beg for another one. At least it's now all organized in a way I can easily access it. Perhaps I shall dig into some of my Old Shames one day? They'll make good blog material.

Speaking of which, I'm considering using material from the writing craft books that I'm reading for the blog. I have some ideas. Watch for another blog entry...probably this week

By the way, get the pun in the title?