Yzabel / January 11, 2006

Power Writer or Power Structure?

It’s a new year, it demands a new, good start in writing, and since I’ve discovered two months ago that planning is a good thing for me when it comes to novels, I’ve decided to invest money into one of these “planning” software for writers. A few demo and trial versions later, after having get out of the way the programs that more or less help in coming up with ideas and not found any free software that would strike my fancy, I’ve come to the conclusion that Power Writer may be my thing. It’s the only one I’ve tested so far that is complete enough, while not leaving me much room to get side-tracked (read: some products leave room to note files, but if I write down ideas this way, I forget half of them along the way, when I don’t forget where I’ve left the note files themselves).Read More

Yzabel / January 9, 2006

Spot On: 11 Ways To Get Your Story Rejected

A Newbie’s Guide To Publishing is a blog I follow at regular intervals, and a few days ago, its author, Joe Konrath, has posted an entry regarding his experience in being a judge in a short story contest. In his own words: “I can tell within ten seconds of looking at a story whether it will go on to the finals or not”. He then proceeds to list eleven points that will ensure a story, not to be published, but to go on the junk pile from the start. Of course, this is as usual a matter of perspective, and not every editor/judge/critic will proceed the same way; on the other hand, these points seem quite valid in my opinion, even if I know very well that following them all faithfully isn’t all there is to a good story.

The article is up on Joe Konrath’s blog. Here’s a summary of the points he lists (in fact, a general rule would be: “Present your story well, to at least show that you respect it”):Read More

Yzabel / January 6, 2006

NationStates: Ideas For World-Building?

NationStates is an old site, that I first discovered a few years ago. If I’m not mistaken, it had been put online at first in parallel with the development of the Jennifer Government story. Last week, I found a renewed interest for it, and created a new nation on the server. This is what got me to think some more about it, as a potential source for ideas.

The basis of the “game” is simple: one creates a nation, chooses its name, currency, animal/symbol and type of government, and every day (depending on the chosen settings), one or two issues are submitted to the “government” of this new country. Issues are on various topics, such as cloning research, minorities on television, people demanding a ban on cars due to pollution, and so on. Two or three opinions from imaginary inhabitants of the country are offered, and the player needs to choose one for each issue. Once these choices are input, the nation evolves to reflect the government’s new policy.

Where the ideas may stem from is exactly this: the issues, and the proposed solutions. Some are funny, some are just improbable, some are more serious. In any case, I think that it provides a good ground for imagination when it comes to creating a world for a work of fiction, and dividing said world in countries.

In all likeliness, the game won’t last me more than two or three weeks, as usual with this kind of things, but who knows? Maybe it can give an inspiration boost at times!

Yzabel / January 5, 2006

“Useless”scenes that don’t fit the plan of the novel

I’m very talented at that–writing scenes that I can’t use, or that turn out to be “too much”. I suspect it’s because I very often start by creating the characters instead of the plot, and as a result, I end up writing bits of scenes and chapters in the spur of the moment, only to realize later on that they don’t fit the general plan.

Truth be told, I’m calling them “useless” just because of this, because I spent time on something that doesn’t further the novel’s story itself. In a way, they are useful, since they allow me to develop the characters, to explore heir personalities, to set up events to react to, and this always turns to be a positive point when it comes to writing the “real” chapters. Thanks to the insight they help me get regarding my heroes, antagonists and even secondary characters, I can’t say that I’ve ever wasted time on working on such scenes. They also remain unedited, by the way; I don’t go around reading and rewriting half-chapters that aren’t placed within the flow of the plot yet. On this, at least, I don’t waste time.Read More

Yzabel / January 4, 2006

Schadenfreude, Perhaps, Yet Still A”Good”Read

Being a French person trying to write in English as well as in her mother tongue isn’t easy; to the usual doubts of the author regarding her ability to write well, are added the doubts about the other language, the one she doesn’t speak from the start. I don’t always have a clear appreciation of what good and bad writing in English is, and being given examples is an interesting way for me to learn and see what is being done (and what I shouldn’t do).

Along these lines, comes Miss Snark, who kindly provided her readers with a list of excerpts from stories submitted to Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. Submitted, not published–yet this is already enlightening enough as it is.

Truth be told, those of you who’ve had a peek at the excerpts I’ve posted on my NaNo blog (yes, the unedited ones, these parts of a first draft that I wrote as if there was no tomorrow, drugged on coffee and gobbling down handfuls of frozen raspberries): am I right in thinking that I can’t do worse than that?

In all honesty, my self-confidence has been given a serious boost today–as well as a renewed desire to go on writing until I fall dead.

Yzabel / January 1, 2006

Happy New Year 2006 (Very Original Title)

Into 2006 we now are. It’s odd. Poof, in a snap of fingers, it was 00:01, and another year. Where has 2005 gone?

Time is a weird, weird concept.

I’m not taking any resolutions for the year. Resolutions begin to sound like saying “I’ll go to the gym every day”, only to give up comes February because I want to make it too much, too fast, too perfect. I don’t see why I should bother with resolutions–I’ll do what I have to do, but on my terms, not because January 1st is some kind of magical number that will make everything easier. I don’t need a new year to start exercising more, or write more (already doing it, anyway). Let’s see, if I hadn’t taken my “resolution” in summer, I’d have started working on my writing now, instead of six months earlier!

Alright, this is said in joke. However, I still haven’t listed any. They just don’t feel right. They sound like some compulsory task, like an automatism everybody has to go through because it’s a new year. Resolutions can be taken and started any day, and I’ll decide on mine when the right time comes.

In the meantime, I hope that 2006 wil be a good year for everyone!

Yzabel / December 28, 2005

What About The Writing During The Holidays?

I’m not proud to announce that I haven’t done as much as I could have, in the past week, when it comes to writing. On the other hand, I suppose that the whole Christmas holidays thing isn’t “the right time to write” for many people, and that I’m no exception.I’m slowly reaching my 75k goal–I should be there tonight or tomorrow at the worst, but the beast isn’t finished yet. It seems I’m really crap at estimating the length of my works. Now I hope that by 80k I can call it a quit, since I know myself well enough now, and if left to my own devices, I’ll add ten more plot twists to the whole thing, just because I have too many ideas spring to mind, once I’m within my rut.It’s weird, but the period between Christmas and New Year is always a period of “depression” for me. Not in the clinical sense of the word, I’m not sick. Just feeling tired and not motivated about anything, including writing/drawing. I bet this is the downside of the pre-Christmas hype, gifts run, housework, and then spending every day at a different member’s of the family. It’s stressful in its own ways, and as a result, I don’t have much energy left. To be honest, the most productive things I’ve done in the past two days was to install my programs on my laptop, look for UxTheme and a good free PIM software, skin my Windows XP, and play Sudoku.Ah, but after New Year I have another week of holidays. I hope that I’ll be able to use that time to its full extent, with inspiration and without tiredness. It’d be a shame to waste it!holidays, writing

Yzabel / December 22, 2005

Holidays Season

Things are becoming speedy now, what with preparing Christmas, finishing the last-moment gifts, wrapping said gifts, managing the food supplies, and related activities. I’m not going anywhere this year to see family (family comes to me) or to spend the holidays (money will be kept to finance a laptop… or more likely the next batch of taxes to pay), so I’m supposed to have time to write, but let’s not fool myself, I also won’t want to spend Christmas Eve thinking about the next blog entries to write.Therefore, blogging will be slow in days to come, or may consist in short posts only. I’m not gone, just enjoying the winter’s break.Happy holidays everyone (and whatever other wishes fit with the various countries/places/religions/beliefs) 🙂blogging, christmas, holidays