Tagablog

(With so many horrible puns, I’m starting to wonder if I missed my calling writing sports headlines.)

The Beginning of The End

Those of you interested in reading the first seven chapters of The End can check them out here. I’ve posted them to get a little feedback and review on Figment, which as some of you may know, recently consumed the writing site Inkpop in a cacophony of om nom nom. I don’t mean that you should feel obligated to sign up and review them yourselves, as I already have a couple of reviews and more forthcoming. Just that, if it sounded interesting to you, and you want a chance to read an early version, now’s your opportunity!

I’m not that interesting. Honestly.

So! If you’re not already familiar with blogtagging, it’s basically a way for bloggers to get to know a little more about and connect with one another. I’ve been blog tagged by Barb over at creativebarbwire, which means, as she informs me, that:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create ten new questions to ask the people that you have tagged.

3. Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.

4. Let them know you’ve tagged them!

Barb gave the tagees ten questions to answer, so here they are, along with my subsequent responses.

1. If you could play the role in one of your favorite books, who would it be?

Probably Operative Morell from my (unfinished) short story BLOOD THICKER THAN WATER, set in the universe of HEAVEN ON EARTH, in part because he’s the one I most closely physically resemble.

2. Who would your co-star be in that role?

I . . . honestly have no idea. I’ll have to think about that some more. OIT (Operative-in-Training) Hinagiku is an interesting character.

3. Favorite type of blog post?

For others? The ones that are thought-provoking, and end with a question or questions. I like it when someone makes me think about a subject in a new and interesting way. For me? The Chain! It’s different every time I set down to write. I have a rough idea of where the story is going, but I don’t plan out each individual link.

4. What kills a book for you?

Two things: flat characters or a poorly developed/inconsistent backstory.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

The North Shore of Minnesota, along Lake Superior.

6. And if you could be in any movie, which one and with whom?

Again, I haven’t thought about this all that much. I’m going to go with . . . Clive Owen in CHILDREN OF MEN.

7. Favorite color and number?

Color? Er, any of the ones I can see? I’m partially colorblind, so that question is always a bit awkward for me.

Number? Eight. This will explain why.

8. What is the one thing in life you want to accomplish?

There’s no one thing, but I do have three important ones: become a teacher, become a published author, become a father.

9. Name a song that makes you feel happy whenever you hear it.

Hmm. It’s not exactly “happy,” but lately I’ve really liked Chopin’s Nocturne No.15 Op. 55 No. 1.

10. What would your dream job be?

Professor of Communication Studies who writes imaginative fiction in his spare time.

As far as my questions go, I’m not going to specifically tag anyone, but if you’re reading this, you can assume that you’re tagged. I want to know more about you! So, if you have the time, I’d love to hear what you have to say.

1. Who are some of the biggest influences on your writing? (can be authors, family members, your pet, etc.)

2. Why? (in response to previous answer)

3. What is one of the best blog posts that you’ve read?

4. Name five of your favorite movies. They don’t have to be the top five, just five that you would put on that list of favorites.

5. Name five of your favorite books. Same as before.

6. When it comes to your creative endeavors (writing, drawing, singing, cooking, whatever!), what is your best source of inspiration?

7. Do you plan on doing NaNoWriMo this year?

8. Why or why not? (in response to previous answer)

9. What’s one thing you like to do to relax?

10. Do you prefer books/movies/TV series with clearly defined endings, or those with ambiguous ones?

Whew! If you managed to get all the way to the end, congratulations. I hope you’ll take the time to reply!

500 for 5

In previous posts, I bounced around the idea of writing 500 words a day, 5 days a week as a year-round writing goal now that NaNoWriMo is complete. I’d like to take that up again.

I will attempt to meet this goal starting this week, and I would like to see if anyone else is also interested in trying it with me.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Before you begin, pick a few (1-3) ongoing projects that you want to finish. Only words that you write on these projects will count toward your goal. That way, not only are you writing, you will be steadily progressing over time.

2. Your project can be anything, as long as it’s substantive enough to last you a while. A novel, novella, a series, your blog, all of those count. Even short stories are fine, but when you finish one you have to pick a new project to replace it.

3. No frontloading. I know it is tempting to try to get all your writing for the week done out of the way early, but the point of 500 for 5 is not to write 2500 words each week, it’s to write for 5 days. Hopefully after a while, it will become easier and easier to find time each day to write.

4. Revising and editing, while really important, do not count toward the 500. Why? Sort of like NaNo, the objective of 500 for 5 is to encourage consistent production.

5. It’s up to you which five days you choose, although it might help if you try to establish a consistent schedule. Obviously, if your work hours change on a weekly basis this is more difficult, but working some regular writing time into your schedule from week to week will ultimately pay off in the long run.

I’m going to give this a try. I’ve done it before, but haven’t been able to sustain it for a full year at a time. But if I want to be a writer (and I do) I need to establish good habits, and I think 500 for 5 is a good place to start.

Who’s with me?

A Winner is Me

Woo hoo! Barely managed to cram in the last few thousand words before the deadline, but I did it. Congrats to everyone else who participated, whether or not you won. I think it’s important to remember that simply trying means you’ve already accomplished more than the people who said: “Yeah, NaNoWriMo might be fun, but I’m too lazy.”

(This is not intended to be a slight on people who chose not to participate for other reasons)

I’ll be continuing to work on the novel, tentatively titled The End (you can read the synopsis here), over the next few months. Hopefully I will have a draft before too long and (maybe) some of you might even be asked to read it and offer criticism.

(I’m sure you’re all thrilled with the prospect of another pile of slush to slog through)

In other news, I will start posting pieces in my IF series The Chain before too long. Hopefully you will like it! It will be a “weird fiction” set in present-day Chicago with paranormal/supernatural elements. As of now I have no idea how long it will run, as the whole idea of the narrative is that it can extend indefinitely.

(Take that for what you will)

In other, other news, I will also be getting back to meta-stuff on imaginative fiction in the next post. Specifically, I’ll talk about how IF storytelling is currently flourishing in nontraditional formats such as webcomics and video games.

Who wants a narrator?

It’s almost time for the contest, but there’s still one thing I’m missing. A name. Something snazzy, something catchy. Something like . . .

. . . “Read Me Free!” Yes, I think that will do.

(For now, at least.)

I may or may not be able to come up with some kind of a snazzy-looking image at some point. Probably not.

Here are the rules!

1. Your entry must include:

a) a brief synopsis of your novel (250 words maximum) AND

b) an excerpt (750 words maximum)

Send them to me at the following email address: storymultiverse(at)gmail(dot)com. Both synopsis and excerpt must be in the BODY of the email. NO ATTACHMENTS. Failure to follow these instructions means that your entry doesn’t count.

2. Submissions will begin November 25th at 10 AM Central Standard Time and end at midnight on December 5th (again, Central Standard Time). Winners will be announced on the blog sometime later. The amount of time it will take to determine the winners will be heavily dependent on how many entries there are, and since this is the first time I’ve done this, it’s impossible for me to guess.

3. Each contestant will only be allowed to submit one entry.

4. Entries can be any unpublished novel-length manuscript (finished or unfinished) of any genre.

5. In order to keep things within reason, this contest will only be open to the first 35 contestants to enter.

(Don’t worry if you miss out this time around; if this goes well, I will probably do it again)

Here’s what you can win:

1. One winner will receive a voicing of up to 5000 words of their manuscript by me. I will send them the audio file, which is theirs to use however they like.

2. Two runners up will receive a voicing of their 750-word excerpt. Again, I will send them the audio file, which is theirs to use however they like.

3. Because the entries will be in various stages of revision and editing, you are welcome to collect your prize at any time (within reason)– so you don’t have to worry if your project isn’t done right now or even won’t be for a few months.

4. All rights to the reproduction, use, and distribution of the audio files to the winning entries are transferred to the respective winners.

Now, to give you an idea what my voice sounds like, I’m posting a few links of recordings I have made. For the record, everything I’m reading is my own original content. Here they are:

-Sample #1

-Sample #2

-Sample #3

Good luck everyone! I look forward to seeing what you’ve written!

(I’m)partial

(Back again with butchering language, eh?)

Anyway, I’m back from my travels, everyone! I’ll be posting the contest rules in a few days, but right now I’m a little busy. I have a lot of catching up to do on NaNo to hit 50,000 in time, and I also have some exciting news !

Just today I received a request from an agent for the first 100 pages of CANDLELIGHT!

(General cheering ensues)

I am going to be frantically re-working those pages tonight, and hopefully have more time to NaNo over the next few days.

(Cheering continues unabated)

(OK, that’s enough)

(Seriously, no more cheering)

(Fine, a little cheering)

(Yay)