Happy BlogDay, on this fair end of afternoon of August 31st! In one of my recent posts, I’ve explained enough what BlogDay is, so I’m going to leave room today for the five blogs I want to recommend, and not gloss too much about what I’ve already written about. Have a good read!

Some time ago, I’ve realized that when it comes to novels, one of my projects simply can’t be done in one book only. There is too much to be told, and trying to cram everything into 400 pages (or 500, or 600…) would be very detrimental to the story itself. This said, there is one thing I can’t determine: in the case of a trilogy, or of any other kind of series in more than two volumes, what is the consensus, if there can ever be any, on how each book should stand? What do readers as a whole tend to prefer? (I’m talking of fantasy and science-fiction mostly, as they’re the genres I like to write in, but opinions about every other kind of story are welcome.)

There’s the stand-alone book, for starters. I’m not sure that lots of readers like to be left with the feeling of “having to buy” the next volume, and building frustration over this isn’t a pleasant thing. Evidently, here the marketer in each of us may chime in and say “but we need to keep the readers hooked, else they won’t buy the next volumes!”. To which I think I can answer by “then let’s write so well that they’ll want to read the rest of the series just for our style and brilliant ideas”. A noble goal, though really easier said than done. As a reader, I normally don’t have a problem with such stories, although I think they’re more adapted to a series longer than just two or three books. It works well, for instance, with Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover world, but I wonder if it may not be a little weird for series with a “bigger picture” in tow.

I realize I should have mentioned this earlier on, but there are so many things that cross my mind that I… forgot. However, it’s not too late, and BlogDay 2005 deserves a mention.

To answer the evident first question about this, here’s what the BlogDay website has to say about it:

What is BlogDay?

BlogDay was initiated with the belief that bloggers should have one day which will be dedicated to know other bloggers, from other countries or areas of interests. In that day Bloggers will recommend about them to their Blog visitors.

(Read Nir Ofir’s original post about BlogDay)

What will happen on BlogDay?

In one long moment In August 31st, bloggers from all over the world will post a recommendation of 5 new Blogs, Preferably, Blogs different from their own culture, point of view and attitude. On this day, blog surfers will find themselves leaping and discovering new, unknown Blogs, celebrating the discovery of new people and new bloggers.

In a nutshell, BlogDay’s instructions are indeed easy to follow:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting (possibly out of your usual sphere of reading, from another country…).
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2005.
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs.
4. Post the BlogDay Post on August 31st.
5. Add the BlogDay tag: http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2005 and a link to the BlogDay web site at BlogDay website.

I still need to decide, and I hope that I’ll make my mind in time… Regardless, this can be a nice way to recommend blogs and help people discover new ones.

Y Tags: BlogDay2005 | blogging

Or, better, getting rid of it for a time, because the beast has been plaguing me for quite some time now. I simply didn’t have a name to give to it yet.

As I was reading No Plot? No Problem!, I realized that often, I have a serious problem with my “inner editor”—this little voice that pushes me to take every text back again and again, even though it’s not finished, and polish it until it is “perfect”. Which in theory would be nice and useful, if only working this way didn’t mean taking my sweet, sweet time to finish something. Of course, it can never be perfect enough to my eyes, right?

Oddly enough, I never have any problems with it when it comes to technical writing. Technical writing flows fast. Technical writing knows by itself where it’s supposed to head to. However, fiction is a whole other matter, and while I’m supposed to write well in both “genres”, it’d be really great if I could for once leave the Editor behind, and fully focus on writing. I can always edit later on, when it’s finished. Starting to do it while I’m still writing is just like shooting my own foot, preventing me from going further.

Today’s entry is going to be a somewhat bitter reflexion, since I’m getting more and more tired of arguing about these things.

Why is it that people keep on telling me that I’m too young to decide to remain childfree, but not too young to decide to take on the commitment of bringing up a child for 18 years? Why is it that they’re so sure that if I don’t have a child now, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life? What gives them the right to speak in my name—and, come to think of it, is this attitude so natural to human beings, or am I just unlucky? Do we all have this tendency, about any matter and opinion that is?

People seem to forget that I’m 26, not 16, with a professional life and a couple life as well since the past 5 years—not a kid barely out of her teens who doesn’t even know what to expect from life. Come to think of it, I’ve never had any desire to bring a child to this world. I’ve never even played like little girls did. When my parents offered me a carriage and doll for Christmas, I tossed the doll aside and played with the carriage’s wheels for hours on end. When “Santa Claus” came to our school, I cried because I couldn’t have a small car like the boys, and was stuck with ridiculous pink plastic pearls. The mock vacuum-cleaner? I turned it into a spaceship. The Barbie dolls? They became Lara Croft before Lara Croft ever existed. Anyone claiming that “every little girl already dreams of being a mother” should keep me out of this statement.