Saw this on Twitter yesterday and just had to share!
If you're unfamiliar, it's a parody of the song "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" from the Gilbert and Sullivan opera The Pirates of Penzance.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
*insert clever title here*
The name's the thing.
But what do you do when the clock is ticking and your mind is drawing a blank?
I'm talking about titles, of course. We all know that the chances of your working title being kept by the publisher is pretty slim, and for a lot of us, that's probably a big relief, right? I know it would be for me.
But it's still nice to have something to call it, isn't it? And I doubt many agents are going to want to see "WIP #45 is an 85,000-word thriller."
Or if you're shallow like me, and really want to have a pretty banner/cover for your NaNoWriMo project...
All good reasons to need a title.
So.
I usually can pull a decent working title out of my ass, but for the current Nano project, I was stumped, and I mean stumped.
The main characters are chronokinetic, and that is an important element to the story, so for shits and giggles and in need of a folder title to keep My Documents nice and tidy (god, I really am a plotter, aren't I?), I titled the project CHRONO KILLERZ. Yes, with the Z. But obviously I couldn't keep that! Even if it has a nice pulp-fiction (the actual kind, not the "English, M*thaf*cka!"-kind)(and that's only according to my brother, who was worthless in helping me think of a title) ring, it's a total misnomer.
I've been trying to think of a title for almost a month, so today, out of pure desperation, I googled this:
"I need a name for my novel."
Never underestimate the power of Google, people!! For the Google gods directed me to superstar agent Rachelle Gardner's blog post entitled How to Title Your Book.
Here are her tips, in a nutshell:
But what do you do when the clock is ticking and your mind is drawing a blank?
I'm talking about titles, of course. We all know that the chances of your working title being kept by the publisher is pretty slim, and for a lot of us, that's probably a big relief, right? I know it would be for me.
But it's still nice to have something to call it, isn't it? And I doubt many agents are going to want to see "WIP #45 is an 85,000-word thriller."
Or if you're shallow like me, and really want to have a pretty banner/cover for your NaNoWriMo project...
All good reasons to need a title.
So.
I usually can pull a decent working title out of my ass, but for the current Nano project, I was stumped, and I mean stumped.
The main characters are chronokinetic, and that is an important element to the story, so for shits and giggles and in need of a folder title to keep My Documents nice and tidy (god, I really am a plotter, aren't I?), I titled the project CHRONO KILLERZ. Yes, with the Z. But obviously I couldn't keep that! Even if it has a nice pulp-fiction (the actual kind, not the "English, M*thaf*cka!"-kind)(and that's only according to my brother, who was worthless in helping me think of a title) ring, it's a total misnomer.
I've been trying to think of a title for almost a month, so today, out of pure desperation, I googled this:
"I need a name for my novel."
Never underestimate the power of Google, people!! For the Google gods directed me to superstar agent Rachelle Gardner's blog post entitled How to Title Your Book.
Here are her tips, in a nutshell:
- Go to Amazon and search your genre, then write down 20 titles that appeal to you. Note what elements they share and what elements are lacking.
- Free-associate as many words as you can that pertain to your novel, theme, characters, and any phrases or images that come to mind when you think of your story.
- See if any of the words you free-associated could work as a single-name title, then start experimenting with adjective-noun, verb-noun arrangements.
From that point, you basically pick out your favorites and narrow it down until you have a winner.
I did the first two. Just out of scientific interest, here's an sampling of random books from the sci-fi and fantasy selections at Amazon that struck my fancy:
Out of the Dark
Echo
Spook Country
Bitten
House of Suns
No Mercy
Containment
Bullet
Entangled
Devil May Cry
The Devil You Know
The Sparrow
Seeing a trend? I guess I'm mostly drawn to short, sparse titles, either one word or an article and a noun (think of Nicholas Sparks' novels: The Rescue, The Guardian, The Notebook). I'm entranced by the idea that one word can really encompass an entire novel's theme. Kelley Armstrong, urban fantasy author extraordinaire, really cashes in on the one-word titles.
Anyway, I wrote down all my words and phrases and images, but nothing really jumped out at me, until I started thinking about idiomatic expressions. I've always liked those as titles, because they're already in the collective consciousness (of Americans, anyway)--kind of like a high concept title, I guess. And that makes it easy to remember, and we all want people to remember our titles.
The phrase the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few is an idiom that could be applied thematically to my plot, except the MC is definitely more interested in what she wants than what's best for all. But Needs of the Few is a little clunky, isn't it? Interesting to think about, I guess, and it certainly could induce you to wonder who the few are and what their needs are and how their selfishness could affect the "many," but it still wasn't ringing with me.
In a very un-Summer way, this project idea came to me in 2 books'-worth of fully-formed ideas. I don't like to think in sequels, but this just so happens to work that way, and I'm pretty in love with it, so I'm going with it. So while I was desperately trying to come up with a title for the "first book," the perfect idiomatic title for the "second book" hit me: Dead Ringer. Several layers of meaning, short and punchy. I liked it!
But what about the first book? I know this is getting long and drawn out (welcome to my last month), so I'll just cut to the chase and show you the banner and "book cover" I made for the NaNo site:
So. My working title is now Dry Run. It's an idiom, and it has the added benefit of being both metaphorical and literal, plus it's a nice alliteration for Dead Ringer.
All this rambling was in hopes of proving that the untitleable are never lost for sure! Definitely check out Rachelle's hints.
And then when you're done, go here for a bit of fun (arbitrarily rates your bestseller chances based on title alone): LuLu Title Scorer. If you're wondering, Dry Run scored a 10.2% chance at becoming a bestselling title. Ha! Thanks a lot, Lulu!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
How to Survive NaNoWriMo
Since it's the vogue thing to do, I wanted to throw in my two cents for NaNoWriMo.
This will be my third year "competing." My first year, I heard about it and signed up around 10pm on October 31, with not a clue in my mind what I'd write. I was working full time at the animal shelter then, and had never finished anything except for some poems and a short story.
I tried, but I failed: I peetered out around 32k? But something good came from it: that was where I developed Saving Me, the women's fiction novel that I finally finished earlier this year. I wouldn't change that NaNo for anything. I may not have won, but I created a story that I could truly love.
Last year I was out of work with my wrist injury, my husband was gone 12 hours a day, and I had zero social life (some things don't change). So yeah, I won that year. I wrote my 50k in 23 days, due to some Thanksgiving obligations.
I'm not what one would consider a fast writer by any means. Sure, I can churn out a few thousand in a sitting, but it's the day-after-day bit that really gets hard. Believe me.
Anyway, there were FOUR things that really helped me get through that November, and I'd like to share them with you:
1. Self-Rewarding
I don't usually advocate for self-rewarding during writing, but it's a totally different story come November. I respond as well to a bribe as the next person. My bribe of choice?
30 Rock! The entire series as it was then was available for instant play on Netflix. I'd make myself an arbitrary goal (say, 750 words or 1k) and when I reached it, watch an episode. This worked wonders! It's a fantastic show, and I'd go speeding through my daily word count in order to watch the next episode.
2. Just For You, Baby
Having something that you use/eat/drink only during NaNoWriMo. It's Pavlovian--as soon as you encounter that item, you're instantly in the NaNo frame of mind! My special thing?
This tea is the shit. For real, if you like peppermint tea, try this! It's only available during holiday season in the stores, which makes it fairly easy to save for NaNo. Unfortunately I haven't found it for this year, but I still have a week, dammit!
3. Support
This year is going to be great, since I know so many of you bloggers and friends are participating. Seriously, the level of awesome is approaching epic. However, last year I only knew 2 other ladies doing NaNo, and only one of them was hardcore about it. So, I found myself a member of the official NaNoWriMo Facebook Group. We were our own little cheer team, and it was great! I doubt I'll be as active this year, but I won't forget their amazing support!
4. Fun! Fun!
Really, that's the name of the game, guys. Let me tell you, if you haven't spent any time mucking around in the plethora of NaNo forums, you're missing out! There's a thread for everything, if you just look! Forums by genre, by age, forums for questions, forums for answers, and forums upon forums of just plain silliness! The forums are one of the main things I look forward to every year. I was there within minutes of the Office of Letters and Light folks resetting everything for 2010.
It's great to do all your writing during the day (or whenever) and check that 1,667 words off your calendar (the plotters, of course), but you're probably going to be finding yourself doing this more than once:
I know I did! And weirdly, the hours between midnight and 2am were like magic--the words just flowed. Maybe I was hypnotized by the glow of the computer monitor? Either way, it worked! It's always good to get ahead on your word count, just to plan for the unexpected. (And there's a sense of satisfaction in watching your progress bar skyrocket past your friends'.)
Don't forget to backup your work! Google Documents, jump drives, external hard-drives, email! Do it! Do it! Do it!
So, to all of you who are waiting for next Monday: bon voyage! Can't wait to see you there!
If you haven't buddied me, my username is summerbp.
And don't forget to please sign up for my blogfest in the linky and spread the word!!
This will be my third year "competing." My first year, I heard about it and signed up around 10pm on October 31, with not a clue in my mind what I'd write. I was working full time at the animal shelter then, and had never finished anything except for some poems and a short story.
I tried, but I failed: I peetered out around 32k? But something good came from it: that was where I developed Saving Me, the women's fiction novel that I finally finished earlier this year. I wouldn't change that NaNo for anything. I may not have won, but I created a story that I could truly love.
Last year I was out of work with my wrist injury, my husband was gone 12 hours a day, and I had zero social life (some things don't change). So yeah, I won that year. I wrote my 50k in 23 days, due to some Thanksgiving obligations.
I'm not what one would consider a fast writer by any means. Sure, I can churn out a few thousand in a sitting, but it's the day-after-day bit that really gets hard. Believe me.
Anyway, there were FOUR things that really helped me get through that November, and I'd like to share them with you:
1. Self-Rewarding
I don't usually advocate for self-rewarding during writing, but it's a totally different story come November. I respond as well to a bribe as the next person. My bribe of choice?
30 Rock! The entire series as it was then was available for instant play on Netflix. I'd make myself an arbitrary goal (say, 750 words or 1k) and when I reached it, watch an episode. This worked wonders! It's a fantastic show, and I'd go speeding through my daily word count in order to watch the next episode.
2. Just For You, Baby
Having something that you use/eat/drink only during NaNoWriMo. It's Pavlovian--as soon as you encounter that item, you're instantly in the NaNo frame of mind! My special thing?
This tea is the shit. For real, if you like peppermint tea, try this! It's only available during holiday season in the stores, which makes it fairly easy to save for NaNo. Unfortunately I haven't found it for this year, but I still have a week, dammit!
3. Support
This year is going to be great, since I know so many of you bloggers and friends are participating. Seriously, the level of awesome is approaching epic. However, last year I only knew 2 other ladies doing NaNo, and only one of them was hardcore about it. So, I found myself a member of the official NaNoWriMo Facebook Group. We were our own little cheer team, and it was great! I doubt I'll be as active this year, but I won't forget their amazing support!
4. Fun! Fun!
Really, that's the name of the game, guys. Let me tell you, if you haven't spent any time mucking around in the plethora of NaNo forums, you're missing out! There's a thread for everything, if you just look! Forums by genre, by age, forums for questions, forums for answers, and forums upon forums of just plain silliness! The forums are one of the main things I look forward to every year. I was there within minutes of the Office of Letters and Light folks resetting everything for 2010.
It's great to do all your writing during the day (or whenever) and check that 1,667 words off your calendar (the plotters, of course), but you're probably going to be finding yourself doing this more than once:
I know I did! And weirdly, the hours between midnight and 2am were like magic--the words just flowed. Maybe I was hypnotized by the glow of the computer monitor? Either way, it worked! It's always good to get ahead on your word count, just to plan for the unexpected. (And there's a sense of satisfaction in watching your progress bar skyrocket past your friends'.)
Don't forget to backup your work! Google Documents, jump drives, external hard-drives, email! Do it! Do it! Do it!
So, to all of you who are waiting for next Monday: bon voyage! Can't wait to see you there!
If you haven't buddied me, my username is summerbp.
And don't forget to please sign up for my blogfest in the linky and spread the word!!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Oh Snap!
So last night I was finally working on some writing-related stuff again (waffled back to a previous idea for NaNoWriMo--I know, so indecisive! Gah!), when I realized something:
All those pages of character notes--
All those maps of the world and solar system--
All those details about the "magic"--
The page-long description of a made-up drug--
The hours of Googling manslaughter and imperfect self-defense--
The subsequent scrawling of many post-its with notes from above Googling--
The albeit-short, but still a synopsis of the novel--
--Do Not a Pantser Make.
I feel like my world has been turned on its ear.
This is it, guys. You may officially revoke my pantser card.
Oh, oh, and don't forget to sign up in the Linky for my Show Your Space Blogfest!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Blogfest for the Lazy
I've been thinking about having a blogfest for a while, since they're fun and interactive and a good way to meet new people. Kind of like intramural frisbee, minus the potential mishap and awkward displays of athleticism.
But they take up a lot of time, don't they? I mean, we all like to be nosy and read each other's stuff, but it's consuming and tiring and thinking of clever comments for 50+ folks can get taxing, to say the least.
So then I thought, what would promote the community spirit, indulge the creepy stalker in all of us, and still be fast and writing-related?
And it hit me.
I'd like to propose a Writing Space Blogfest!!!--
--in which we all share photos of our writing spaces, whether it be a desk, a couch, a coffee shop, a pad of paper--whatever.
If that's too creepy for you, maybe you could just describe it to us.
Purple prose is welcome--nay, demanded!
Don't lie: you totally spend at least half an hour cruising YouTube or Googling pictures of babykittenssqueeUmaThurmansboobsdismemberedarmvodkamtrushmorethailandtattoos.... Or is that just me? Anyway. Point being, we can look at pictures pretty fast, right? And it's easy to say, OMG, I love your self-portrait composed in macaroni noodles and macrame! I have one just like it! So inspiring!
So.
Since NaNoWriMo is coming up, and I know a lot of us are participating, I propose this blogfest be held on November 1, 2010. That way you can schedule your post, or if you're too lazy or forgetful for that, you can quickly upload a slap-dash photo of your chair. No pressure.
That gives you 12 days to beautify that little nook, or at least dust the cobwebs out of the corner *cough*.
Until then, spread the word for me, and add your name to the linky at the top right of the blog.
Lazy writers unite!
Thoughts? Feelings? Hate it? Like it? Think I'm creepy? Love being creepy with me??
But they take up a lot of time, don't they? I mean, we all like to be nosy and read each other's stuff, but it's consuming and tiring and thinking of clever comments for 50+ folks can get taxing, to say the least.
So then I thought, what would promote the community spirit, indulge the creepy stalker in all of us, and still be fast and writing-related?
And it hit me.
I'd like to propose a Writing Space Blogfest!!!--
--in which we all share photos of our writing spaces, whether it be a desk, a couch, a coffee shop, a pad of paper--whatever.
If that's too creepy for you, maybe you could just describe it to us.
Purple prose is welcome--nay, demanded!
Don't lie: you totally spend at least half an hour cruising YouTube or Googling pictures of babykittenssqueeUmaThurmansboobsdismemberedarmvodkamtrushmorethailandtattoos.... Or is that just me? Anyway. Point being, we can look at pictures pretty fast, right? And it's easy to say, OMG, I love your self-portrait composed in macaroni noodles and macrame! I have one just like it! So inspiring!
So.
Since NaNoWriMo is coming up, and I know a lot of us are participating, I propose this blogfest be held on November 1, 2010. That way you can schedule your post, or if you're too lazy or forgetful for that, you can quickly upload a slap-dash photo of your chair. No pressure.
That gives you 12 days to beautify that little nook, or at least dust the cobwebs out of the corner *cough*.
Until then, spread the word for me, and add your name to the linky at the top right of the blog.
Lazy writers unite!
Thoughts? Feelings? Hate it? Like it? Think I'm creepy? Love being creepy with me??
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
FIRE! FREE MONEY! CANDY! KITTENS!
Got your attention? Good.
Do you know Alex Cavanaugh?
I'm willing to bet you do.
He lives between these satellites. Or maybe under them. Or perhaps he actually lives on a secret space station, and these are the satellites he uses to communicate with us lowly terra-bound Earthlings.
Not that he's an alien or anything.
But he could be.
Doesn't really matter, because Alex is one of the nicest bloggers I know. We met way back in the beginning (of my blogging experience)--he was one of my first followers, I'm pretty sure, and he's always been a loyal commentator--but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that.
Do you know Alex Cavanaugh?
I'm willing to bet you do.
Not that he's an alien or anything.
But he could be.
Doesn't really matter, because Alex is one of the nicest bloggers I know. We met way back in the beginning (of my blogging experience)--he was one of my first followers, I'm pretty sure, and he's always been a loyal commentator--but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that.
Don't take my word for it.
Today's a special day for our friend Alex--his book, CassaStar, hits the shelves and the virtual waves. He's already been getting some excellent press, and I look forward to soon adding my own review.
If you're reading this post, chances are pretty high that you dream of one day seeing your name on a cover in a bookstore, or on the Amazon bestseller list--or heck, even one of the $0.00 Kindle buys that everyone downloads and reads, regardless (at least I do).
Now it's our chance to put in some good karma for Alex, whose dream is about to be realized.
Alex's publisher has been kind enough to offer up one free copy of CassaStar to a lucky follower, so go here for details.
But enough of my upselling (I always sucked at that in retail). Here are the dirty details:
And as is totally fitting for a novel of the future, CassaStar is available in eBook format for Kindle, iPad, Nook & more.
So go out and get your copy today, or at least swing by his blog and give him a majorly hearty congratulations, because he deserves it! And hopefully one day soon, it'll be your turn to get this pimp treatment...(um, run for the hills?)
Friday, October 15, 2010
I'm In Your Windooz, Lookin at Your Wordz
I've been scattered lately...I mentioned that last post, I think (see? proof). I haven't had a strong blogger presence, though part of that is because I made the switch to the Dark Side (Google Reader) and am too lazy to do all the work for comments. Sorry.
But I feel out of the loop.
So, tell me: what's happening?
Lot of folks are gearing up for NaNoWriMo.
Some folks are getting ready for book releases (looking at you, Alex & Talli).
And hopefully a ton of writing going on... ?
Maybe you've put out your Halloween/Samhain decorations, or maybe you're having difficulty deciding between miniature Twix or Snickers for the trick or treaters this year?
This hermited, lonely, crazy-cat/ web-stalker-lady wants to know.
In the least-creepy way possible, of course.
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