Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 119
January 11, 2017
Point of View
It’s a new year, and time to get back to the writing posts. If you have a question or topic you’d like me to address, let me know. I’m also thinking about compiling these posts into an e-book. Would there be any interest in that? I’d have to figure out what a reasonable price would be. There would be a lot of content, but all that content is also available for free if you’re willing to dig through the blog archives.
Anyway, I’m going to address point of view because I recently tried to read a book and could never get into it because of a huge point of view error in the opening paragraph. So, time for a refresher!
There are four main points of view that you can use in writing fiction (and probably subgroups, but I’m going to try to keep it simple here).
The most common point of view used in fiction is probably third-person — the “he did” and “she said” kind of books. The narrator is outside the story. There are two main varieties of third-person POV.
Third-person omniscient has a narrator who knows everything, including what is in each person’s head and events that the characters don’t know about. To some extent, the narrator has his/her own voice as the storyteller, even though the narrator isn’t a participant. The narrator can dip into various characters’ heads to give their thoughts or can clue readers in on things the characters don’t know (the “little did he know, his life was about to change” sort of thing). You see this kind of narration in fairy tales and fables. It was also popular in a lot of Victorian fiction. Charles Dickens often used this POV. I think Jane Austen fits in here, too, as her books are very much in Jane’s voice, with a fair amount of editorial commentary on the characters and situations. It’s less popular today, but sometimes pops up in more satirical works, like Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books.
The more common version of third-person narration is limited third, where you’re in only one character’s head at a time. It’s still “he did” and “she said,” but through the eyes of a particular character. The perspective may change from scene to scene, so you get multiple viewpoints in a book, but while you’re in a character’s head, you only see, hear, think, and experience what that person would be aware of. To see that character from the outside, you have to get into someone else’s head.
Another point of view used in fiction is first-person. That would be the “I” books — The narrator is a participant in the story and is telling his/her own story. You see this a lot in mysteries. I write my Enchanted, Inc. and Rebel Mechanics series in first-person. Because the narrator is a character, you’re limited to what the narrator character sees, hears, and thinks. You can’t dip into anyone else’s head. You can’t show events if the narrator isn’t present.
Finally, there’s second person — “you” books. This is fairly rare and tends to be used either in more literary stories or in choose-your-own-adventure books. It turns the reader into the protagonist: “You wake up in the morning and don’t know what’s happening.” Aside from pronouns, this functions a lot like first person because readers don’t get access to anything the protagonist doesn’t know or experience.
That’s a broad overview. In the coming weeks, I’ll dig deeper into the more common viewpoints and address the strengths, weaknesses, and pitfalls.
Anyway, I’m going to address point of view because I recently tried to read a book and could never get into it because of a huge point of view error in the opening paragraph. So, time for a refresher!
There are four main points of view that you can use in writing fiction (and probably subgroups, but I’m going to try to keep it simple here).
The most common point of view used in fiction is probably third-person — the “he did” and “she said” kind of books. The narrator is outside the story. There are two main varieties of third-person POV.
Third-person omniscient has a narrator who knows everything, including what is in each person’s head and events that the characters don’t know about. To some extent, the narrator has his/her own voice as the storyteller, even though the narrator isn’t a participant. The narrator can dip into various characters’ heads to give their thoughts or can clue readers in on things the characters don’t know (the “little did he know, his life was about to change” sort of thing). You see this kind of narration in fairy tales and fables. It was also popular in a lot of Victorian fiction. Charles Dickens often used this POV. I think Jane Austen fits in here, too, as her books are very much in Jane’s voice, with a fair amount of editorial commentary on the characters and situations. It’s less popular today, but sometimes pops up in more satirical works, like Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books.
The more common version of third-person narration is limited third, where you’re in only one character’s head at a time. It’s still “he did” and “she said,” but through the eyes of a particular character. The perspective may change from scene to scene, so you get multiple viewpoints in a book, but while you’re in a character’s head, you only see, hear, think, and experience what that person would be aware of. To see that character from the outside, you have to get into someone else’s head.
Another point of view used in fiction is first-person. That would be the “I” books — The narrator is a participant in the story and is telling his/her own story. You see this a lot in mysteries. I write my Enchanted, Inc. and Rebel Mechanics series in first-person. Because the narrator is a character, you’re limited to what the narrator character sees, hears, and thinks. You can’t dip into anyone else’s head. You can’t show events if the narrator isn’t present.
Finally, there’s second person — “you” books. This is fairly rare and tends to be used either in more literary stories or in choose-your-own-adventure books. It turns the reader into the protagonist: “You wake up in the morning and don’t know what’s happening.” Aside from pronouns, this functions a lot like first person because readers don’t get access to anything the protagonist doesn’t know or experience.
That’s a broad overview. In the coming weeks, I’ll dig deeper into the more common viewpoints and address the strengths, weaknesses, and pitfalls.
January 10, 2017
Bedtime Stories
I spent four hours (by the stopwatch, so that doesn’t count e-mail checking or tea breaks) writing yesterday, only to end up with about the same word count as I started with. There was a lot of deleting of old stuff, but now I’m rid of everything I probably won’t be using and everything going forward will be new and (I hope) on the right track. I woke up this morning thinking of what will happen next, and it’s a very exciting, fun scene, so that will be this afternoon’s work.
Meanwhile in reading, I gave up on that 80s fantasy novel and returned it to the library today. I made it about 100 pages in, and I guess it wasn’t entirely bad, but there are other things I’d rather be reading, so why waste my time on something I’m having to force myself to read? I think I might have liked it if I’d read it in my teens, but I’ve ready so many books exactly like that, and I’m at a point in my life when reading about the coming of age of a teenage boy is less than thrilling. I still enjoy books about teen girls, but if a guy is the primary viewpoint character, I want an adult. I’m sure there are exceptions, but the book would have to be exceptional, not just the standard-issue “clumsy, small for his age stableboy turns out to have special magical powers” story.
While at the library, I picked up a couple of the books recommended here in comments. I knew when I was more excited about reading them than I was about the book I was reading, and there were about 700 pages to go in the book I was reading, it was time to throw in the towel. Another bad sign was that I was putting that book down so I could listen to the adaptation of Northanger Abbey on the BBC radio web site.
While I was listening to Stardust, I discovered that they have a whole section devoted to “15-minute dramas,” which are generally serialized productions of books, or else single-episode short stories. They’re just the right length for a bedtime story, something to lie there and listen to with the lights out. It seems to be good for shutting down the mental hamster wheel so I go to sleep more quickly. So this week it’s been Northanger Abbey. I’ll have to see what to listen to after that.
Meanwhile in reading, I gave up on that 80s fantasy novel and returned it to the library today. I made it about 100 pages in, and I guess it wasn’t entirely bad, but there are other things I’d rather be reading, so why waste my time on something I’m having to force myself to read? I think I might have liked it if I’d read it in my teens, but I’ve ready so many books exactly like that, and I’m at a point in my life when reading about the coming of age of a teenage boy is less than thrilling. I still enjoy books about teen girls, but if a guy is the primary viewpoint character, I want an adult. I’m sure there are exceptions, but the book would have to be exceptional, not just the standard-issue “clumsy, small for his age stableboy turns out to have special magical powers” story.
While at the library, I picked up a couple of the books recommended here in comments. I knew when I was more excited about reading them than I was about the book I was reading, and there were about 700 pages to go in the book I was reading, it was time to throw in the towel. Another bad sign was that I was putting that book down so I could listen to the adaptation of Northanger Abbey on the BBC radio web site.
While I was listening to Stardust, I discovered that they have a whole section devoted to “15-minute dramas,” which are generally serialized productions of books, or else single-episode short stories. They’re just the right length for a bedtime story, something to lie there and listen to with the lights out. It seems to be good for shutting down the mental hamster wheel so I go to sleep more quickly. So this week it’s been Northanger Abbey. I’ll have to see what to listen to after that.
January 9, 2017
Up and Down
We’re having a fairly normal Texas winter. I spent Friday afternoon working in my office while watching snow fall. I will possibly end up working at least a little bit this afternoon sitting on my patio. I’ll probably be patio officing most of the week. Then Saturday is another possible winter weather event, which I hope doesn’t go for worst-case scenario, as I have the Choristers Guild winter workshop this weekend, so I have to actually drive on Friday and Saturday, and I’m the scripture reader in church on Sunday. The up-and-down temperatures can get annoying, but in a way I don’t mind. I can deal with a few days of cold when I know I’ll have a few warm days to look forward to. It just would be nice if we could occasionally find a happy medium. This year we’re either below freezing and well below normal or in the 70s and way above normal. I wouldn’t mind a few days with highs in the 50s and lows in the upper 30s. But at least we’ve had more hard freezes this year than we got last year, which should mean fewer bugs next summer.
Now that Epiphany is over, my house has now been de-Christmased (though I do need to make a couple of trips to the garage now that it’s warm enough). I always dread that because I feel like the house will look naked afterward, but it’s funny how quickly it just feels normal again. Though I do miss having Christmas tree lights in my bedroom. That made for a nice way to bridge between the full light of the lamp and having all the lights off. Maybe I should look for a ficus tree or some kind of artistic ornamental branch I could hang lights on.
I’m going to have to really dig in and write this week. I was hoping to get a draft done before the workshop this weekend, but that seems unlikely. I’m about halfway through, but most of what I wrote Friday will have to be undone, as I realized that it was the big midpoint of the book and all that was happening was people were making speeches. I spent Saturday and Sunday brainstorming and making lists of things that could happen and replotting the book while trying to put myself in my characters’ heads and figuring out what they would do in this situation, and now I think I have a solution. I’ve even started seeing the movie of it in my head.
Meanwhile, I checked out the new series Emerald City, the latest Wizard of Oz telling, last weekend, and it’s rather interesting. They’re taking the basic story elements and updating them, putting the action into a fairly gritty Game of Thrones-type world. Dorothy’s an adult nurse who was left as a baby with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. She’s in a police car when the tornado hits, which gives her some useful supplies and a German shepherd police dog (that’s our Toto). They seem to have done some decent worldbuilding, as there’s some kind of mythology/backstory going on with the Wizard and witches. Our “Scarecrow” is a man found semi-crucified, wounded, and with amnesia (“if I only had a brain …”).
I think that last part may be what sucks me in because I love that “who would you be if you didn’t know who you were?” trope. Clearly, this guy has been through something. He just doesn’t know what it was or why, and since Dorothy knows nothing of him, she has to take him at face value. He doesn’t even know what he looks like until he looks in a mirror, so he will be entirely defined by the actions he takes and the choices he makes.
I need to add this trope to my literary bucket list. I did something similar with Kiss and Spell when everyone had fake identities but still found their true selves, but this is different. I actually have an idea brewing where this might fit. But first I have a few other things that need to be written.
Now that Epiphany is over, my house has now been de-Christmased (though I do need to make a couple of trips to the garage now that it’s warm enough). I always dread that because I feel like the house will look naked afterward, but it’s funny how quickly it just feels normal again. Though I do miss having Christmas tree lights in my bedroom. That made for a nice way to bridge between the full light of the lamp and having all the lights off. Maybe I should look for a ficus tree or some kind of artistic ornamental branch I could hang lights on.
I’m going to have to really dig in and write this week. I was hoping to get a draft done before the workshop this weekend, but that seems unlikely. I’m about halfway through, but most of what I wrote Friday will have to be undone, as I realized that it was the big midpoint of the book and all that was happening was people were making speeches. I spent Saturday and Sunday brainstorming and making lists of things that could happen and replotting the book while trying to put myself in my characters’ heads and figuring out what they would do in this situation, and now I think I have a solution. I’ve even started seeing the movie of it in my head.
Meanwhile, I checked out the new series Emerald City, the latest Wizard of Oz telling, last weekend, and it’s rather interesting. They’re taking the basic story elements and updating them, putting the action into a fairly gritty Game of Thrones-type world. Dorothy’s an adult nurse who was left as a baby with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. She’s in a police car when the tornado hits, which gives her some useful supplies and a German shepherd police dog (that’s our Toto). They seem to have done some decent worldbuilding, as there’s some kind of mythology/backstory going on with the Wizard and witches. Our “Scarecrow” is a man found semi-crucified, wounded, and with amnesia (“if I only had a brain …”).
I think that last part may be what sucks me in because I love that “who would you be if you didn’t know who you were?” trope. Clearly, this guy has been through something. He just doesn’t know what it was or why, and since Dorothy knows nothing of him, she has to take him at face value. He doesn’t even know what he looks like until he looks in a mirror, so he will be entirely defined by the actions he takes and the choices he makes.
I need to add this trope to my literary bucket list. I did something similar with Kiss and Spell when everyone had fake identities but still found their true selves, but this is different. I actually have an idea brewing where this might fit. But first I have a few other things that need to be written.
January 6, 2017
Old Books
I hit a particular reading mood right before Christmas in which what I desperately wanted to read was fun fantasy — something escapist, about people I liked having adventures in a world I’d want to visit. I wanted something like Stardust, with adventure, magic, and romance. I posed the question to a fantasy group on Facebook and got a lot of recommendations for things I’ve already read. But there were also some recommendations for old classics that I hadn’t read, books from the early days of fantasy as a commercial publishing genre. Fantasy stories have been around forever, but it was the US paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings in the late 60s/early 70s (I think the late 60s one was unauthorized, but it was still a big hit) that kickstarted the idea of books like that as a genre that was kind of a subset of science fiction, and they started actually labeling books as “fantasy” and had publishing imprints dedicated to that.
As happens with a lot of newly popular genres, publishers became desperate to find more books like that, which meant the quality varied widely. The Sword of Shannara was one of those early books, and it was essentially a retelling of The Lord of the Rings. There were a lot more a lot like that. I missed many of them, even though I was a teen fantasy reader hungry for more books like that in the early 80s, mostly because of my access to books at the time. I was living in a small town without a library or bookstore. The school library was pretty much useless. The nearest bookstore was a B. Dalton in the mall in a city more than ten miles away, and I didn’t have independent transportation to get there or much money to spend on books. We mostly got our book fix from the large used bookstore in that nearby city, and later we were able to get a membership in the library in a nearby small town. But that meant that my selection was limited to what was in the library (and when it came to paperbacks, that usually meant what people had donated) or what was in the used bookstore, and that meant it was the books people were willing to get rid of. As a result, I missed a lot of the classics from that era.
So, I thought I’d give some of those that were being recommended a shot. I figure that someone working as a fantasy novelist ought to have read some of the standards. Unfortunately, it’s really hard to go back and read those now. They come across as awfully cliched. These were the books that created the cliches, so they weren’t cliches at the time, but if you’ve ready pretty widely in the genre and then go back to the earlier books, the tropes really jump out at you.
For instance, how many of these books start with a weather report? It’s like the way to set the mood and establish the world is to have the main character noting the weather — snow is falling, it hasn’t rained in ages, there’s a storm coming. Then we frequently have our hero do something really dumb that ends up launching him into the story — he misses a turn and goes to the wrong place, forgets what he was sent to do, takes a break to take a nap and oversleeps, trusts the wrong person, trips over something and causes a disaster, etc. This is because we have to establish our hero as an unlikely hero, an everyman underdog in the mold of Frodo and Bilbo, and apparently that means he’s a bit bumbling. He’ll probably be helped out of the fix he got himself into by the appearance of a white-bearded, wise old wizard. Once he’s thanked the wizard for his rescue, the two of them will have some kind of conversation in which they discuss the history and current political situation of their world. The wizard will either sense some kind of power or potential in our hero or will know something about the hero’s background that the hero doesn’t realize about himself (all those orphans with mysterious origins). The wizard will either recruit the hero for some kind of quest or take him on as an apprentice. The hero will try to learn magic and fail (more bumbling), and it’s almost inevitable that he’ll later learn that this is because he’s truly special and has a different kind of magic that doesn’t work by the usual rules. Once he figures out how his power works, he’ll be the most powerful wizard ever.
I won’t name the book that inspired this rant because it applies to more than half the fantasy novels published between about 1973 and 1993. I’m really making an effort to get through the one I’m reading now, since the author is now considered a grandmaster of the field and I’ve never read anything by him, but I don’t know how long I can take it. It’s not his fault that other people went on to do the formula better than he did or that other people ripped him off (then again, I’ve read several books in this mold that were published before this one, so it was already a bit tropey).
However, I will blame the author for making a bad point of view break in the opening paragraph. I think I need to do a writing post on handling deep POV.
I need to find more current fantasy that’s not so grim and dark. What else is out there for someone who wants to read something like Stardust?
As happens with a lot of newly popular genres, publishers became desperate to find more books like that, which meant the quality varied widely. The Sword of Shannara was one of those early books, and it was essentially a retelling of The Lord of the Rings. There were a lot more a lot like that. I missed many of them, even though I was a teen fantasy reader hungry for more books like that in the early 80s, mostly because of my access to books at the time. I was living in a small town without a library or bookstore. The school library was pretty much useless. The nearest bookstore was a B. Dalton in the mall in a city more than ten miles away, and I didn’t have independent transportation to get there or much money to spend on books. We mostly got our book fix from the large used bookstore in that nearby city, and later we were able to get a membership in the library in a nearby small town. But that meant that my selection was limited to what was in the library (and when it came to paperbacks, that usually meant what people had donated) or what was in the used bookstore, and that meant it was the books people were willing to get rid of. As a result, I missed a lot of the classics from that era.
So, I thought I’d give some of those that were being recommended a shot. I figure that someone working as a fantasy novelist ought to have read some of the standards. Unfortunately, it’s really hard to go back and read those now. They come across as awfully cliched. These were the books that created the cliches, so they weren’t cliches at the time, but if you’ve ready pretty widely in the genre and then go back to the earlier books, the tropes really jump out at you.
For instance, how many of these books start with a weather report? It’s like the way to set the mood and establish the world is to have the main character noting the weather — snow is falling, it hasn’t rained in ages, there’s a storm coming. Then we frequently have our hero do something really dumb that ends up launching him into the story — he misses a turn and goes to the wrong place, forgets what he was sent to do, takes a break to take a nap and oversleeps, trusts the wrong person, trips over something and causes a disaster, etc. This is because we have to establish our hero as an unlikely hero, an everyman underdog in the mold of Frodo and Bilbo, and apparently that means he’s a bit bumbling. He’ll probably be helped out of the fix he got himself into by the appearance of a white-bearded, wise old wizard. Once he’s thanked the wizard for his rescue, the two of them will have some kind of conversation in which they discuss the history and current political situation of their world. The wizard will either sense some kind of power or potential in our hero or will know something about the hero’s background that the hero doesn’t realize about himself (all those orphans with mysterious origins). The wizard will either recruit the hero for some kind of quest or take him on as an apprentice. The hero will try to learn magic and fail (more bumbling), and it’s almost inevitable that he’ll later learn that this is because he’s truly special and has a different kind of magic that doesn’t work by the usual rules. Once he figures out how his power works, he’ll be the most powerful wizard ever.
I won’t name the book that inspired this rant because it applies to more than half the fantasy novels published between about 1973 and 1993. I’m really making an effort to get through the one I’m reading now, since the author is now considered a grandmaster of the field and I’ve never read anything by him, but I don’t know how long I can take it. It’s not his fault that other people went on to do the formula better than he did or that other people ripped him off (then again, I’ve read several books in this mold that were published before this one, so it was already a bit tropey).
However, I will blame the author for making a bad point of view break in the opening paragraph. I think I need to do a writing post on handling deep POV.
I need to find more current fantasy that’s not so grim and dark. What else is out there for someone who wants to read something like Stardust?
January 5, 2017
Moving Along
I had to start children’s choir again last night, and it was an interesting experience. To say that the kids were hyper would be an understatement. One kid was so out of control that his mother had to get involved (fortunately, she was present in the building and recognized the sound of his yelling when he had to get taken into the hallway for throwing things). Others were clinging to the legs of the adults and teens, so they couldn’t move. I guess they must have had indoor recess at school that day, or something, because the energy levels were off the charts. But they did catch on to the one thing I tried to teach, so that’s a plus.
However, I’m very glad to have a quiet day at home. It’s cold and gray, so it’s good writing weather. I’m making decent progress on a third Rebels book, and when I have extra time, I’m working on a proposal for a possible new YA fantasy series. Yes, that means I’m juggling multiple fictional worlds, but I’m always doing that. I’m just not usually working in them at the same time. I’m usually spending the afternoon on the book and the evening on the proposal.
Meanwhile, I’ve never really been a short story writer, but the ideas for that are hitting me left and right, so I want to make time to do some of that. Maybe between books or between phases of books.
I realize my blogging has been kind of “meh” this week, but I’ve really been focused on writing and am getting back into the swing of things. I may be re-assessing how I do this as the year progresses. If I ever get around to redoing the web site on a different platform, I’ll probably incorporate the blog into that, and then I may do something like use social media for short status updates (what I’m working on, what’s going on in my life) and use the blog for deeper discussion, maybe a few times a week instead of every day.
However, I’m very glad to have a quiet day at home. It’s cold and gray, so it’s good writing weather. I’m making decent progress on a third Rebels book, and when I have extra time, I’m working on a proposal for a possible new YA fantasy series. Yes, that means I’m juggling multiple fictional worlds, but I’m always doing that. I’m just not usually working in them at the same time. I’m usually spending the afternoon on the book and the evening on the proposal.
Meanwhile, I’ve never really been a short story writer, but the ideas for that are hitting me left and right, so I want to make time to do some of that. Maybe between books or between phases of books.
I realize my blogging has been kind of “meh” this week, but I’ve really been focused on writing and am getting back into the swing of things. I may be re-assessing how I do this as the year progresses. If I ever get around to redoing the web site on a different platform, I’ll probably incorporate the blog into that, and then I may do something like use social media for short status updates (what I’m working on, what’s going on in my life) and use the blog for deeper discussion, maybe a few times a week instead of every day.
January 4, 2017
Stardust at Night
We’re having a roller coaster winter, with warm days and sudden cold snaps. Monday, I worked on the patio. Yesterday a front came through, so today I’m bundled up indoors. It’s supposed to be even colder tomorrow and Friday, with a chance of snow, so I will likely be working from the bed, under the electric blanket.
I’m trying something new and making myself sit on the exercise ball at my laptop desk when I’m using the “Internet” computer. I finally got that new computer I bought in the fall set up, and it’s so much faster online, so I’m using it for Internet, graphics, and the like. The old computer works, but is slow online, so I’ve turned its Wi-Fi off and am using it to write. That’s also the machine that has Office. I may eventually get Office for the new one, but for now, the Mac applications seem to do just fine. I also got Scrivener for this machine, but I’m still on a learning curve there. I’m looking forward to figuring out all the features for keeping a series straight. I can get Internet on the old computer, in case there’s something I want to look up while I’m writing, but keeping the Wi-Fi off means less temptation. So far, it seems to be working. I’m getting stuff done at my desk upstairs when I’m writing, and sitting on the ball makes me less likely to get sidetracked into mindless surfing. It will also probably end up helping my posture and my core muscles along the way. What sparked this was a newspaper article on all the ways that sitting all day is bad for you. I’m not sure I’d get much done on a standing desk, but one of the alternatives they suggested was sitting on an exercise ball because that counteracts some of the bad aspects of sitting, like the effect on posture. It’s nearly impossible to slouch while sitting on one of these things.
In other news … I’ve never really gotten into audiobooks because I tend to zone out when people read to me, but I enjoy audio dramas like they do on BBC radio. There’s currently an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust available to listen to online. I listened to part one last night, and it’s quite good — rather different in some ways from both book and movie, so while the story is familiar, it’s still got some “new” to it. I streamed it on my tablet with my headphones on while lying in bed with the lights out, and I would recommend headphones or a good stereo because there’s some nice separation that gives you the impression of motion as a sound goes from one channel to the other. I enjoyed listening to my bedtime “reading” enough that I may have to give an audiobook a try. It might be a way to shut off my brain to go to sleep. Or I’d end up more awake from listening intently.
Anyway, you can hear Stardust at this link for another couple of weeks.
I’m trying something new and making myself sit on the exercise ball at my laptop desk when I’m using the “Internet” computer. I finally got that new computer I bought in the fall set up, and it’s so much faster online, so I’m using it for Internet, graphics, and the like. The old computer works, but is slow online, so I’ve turned its Wi-Fi off and am using it to write. That’s also the machine that has Office. I may eventually get Office for the new one, but for now, the Mac applications seem to do just fine. I also got Scrivener for this machine, but I’m still on a learning curve there. I’m looking forward to figuring out all the features for keeping a series straight. I can get Internet on the old computer, in case there’s something I want to look up while I’m writing, but keeping the Wi-Fi off means less temptation. So far, it seems to be working. I’m getting stuff done at my desk upstairs when I’m writing, and sitting on the ball makes me less likely to get sidetracked into mindless surfing. It will also probably end up helping my posture and my core muscles along the way. What sparked this was a newspaper article on all the ways that sitting all day is bad for you. I’m not sure I’d get much done on a standing desk, but one of the alternatives they suggested was sitting on an exercise ball because that counteracts some of the bad aspects of sitting, like the effect on posture. It’s nearly impossible to slouch while sitting on one of these things.
In other news … I’ve never really gotten into audiobooks because I tend to zone out when people read to me, but I enjoy audio dramas like they do on BBC radio. There’s currently an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust available to listen to online. I listened to part one last night, and it’s quite good — rather different in some ways from both book and movie, so while the story is familiar, it’s still got some “new” to it. I streamed it on my tablet with my headphones on while lying in bed with the lights out, and I would recommend headphones or a good stereo because there’s some nice separation that gives you the impression of motion as a sound goes from one channel to the other. I enjoyed listening to my bedtime “reading” enough that I may have to give an audiobook a try. It might be a way to shut off my brain to go to sleep. Or I’d end up more awake from listening intently.
Anyway, you can hear Stardust at this link for another couple of weeks.
January 3, 2017
Year in Review and Looking Ahead
I feel like I got the year off to a decent start with some writing work. Now to really buckle down and do even more so I can meet that deadline. The weather is cooperating, with a nice cold front coming in, so there’s not much temptation to do anything other than write. And read, I guess. It is a good time to curl up with a good book, but I’m going to focus on writing them.
I did hit my goal of reading 100 books last year. My other reading achievement was reading the entire Bible through. I may have done that when I was a teenager, but it’s possible I fizzled out somewhere along the way. This time, I did it, and kept it up every day. The big change for me in reading this year was getting a tablet so I could start reading e-books. The bulk of my reading is still on paper (mostly from the library), but I’ve tried some things I might not have otherwise when there were special discounts. And then I discovered the ways you can check e-books out from the library. I may now be doomed. Those times when I finish a book in the evening after the library closes and I need something new to read (I mean other than those hundreds of books in the Strategic Book Reserve) are now no longer a crisis. I can just jump on the library’s web site, find something to read, check it out, and start reading right away. Yep, I can go to the library in my pajamas without getting out of bed.
I didn’t see a lot of movies last year. The big ones obviously were Fantastic Beasts and Rogue One. This year, I’m really looking forward to the live-action Beauty and the Beast, and I’m intrigued by the Dunkirk movie coming out this summer. I’m not sure what else is coming out.
I’m trying to make more time for reading this year, mostly by making myself step away from the computer in the evening instead of giving in to the temptation to keep surfing late into the night. Yeah, it’s only been a couple of nights so far, but I seem to be sleeping better in addition to getting more reading done. Really, stepping away from the computer more — other than when I’m actually writing — is high on my list of goals for the year. That will free up time to do other things.
I did hit my goal of reading 100 books last year. My other reading achievement was reading the entire Bible through. I may have done that when I was a teenager, but it’s possible I fizzled out somewhere along the way. This time, I did it, and kept it up every day. The big change for me in reading this year was getting a tablet so I could start reading e-books. The bulk of my reading is still on paper (mostly from the library), but I’ve tried some things I might not have otherwise when there were special discounts. And then I discovered the ways you can check e-books out from the library. I may now be doomed. Those times when I finish a book in the evening after the library closes and I need something new to read (I mean other than those hundreds of books in the Strategic Book Reserve) are now no longer a crisis. I can just jump on the library’s web site, find something to read, check it out, and start reading right away. Yep, I can go to the library in my pajamas without getting out of bed.
I didn’t see a lot of movies last year. The big ones obviously were Fantastic Beasts and Rogue One. This year, I’m really looking forward to the live-action Beauty and the Beast, and I’m intrigued by the Dunkirk movie coming out this summer. I’m not sure what else is coming out.
I’m trying to make more time for reading this year, mostly by making myself step away from the computer in the evening instead of giving in to the temptation to keep surfing late into the night. Yeah, it’s only been a couple of nights so far, but I seem to be sleeping better in addition to getting more reading done. Really, stepping away from the computer more — other than when I’m actually writing — is high on my list of goals for the year. That will free up time to do other things.
January 2, 2017
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! I was working off and on during the holidays, but now I’m more or less back to work with my regular expectations and schedule. Today is still semi-holiday, since the Rose Parade is being shown this morning, but I’m doing work stuff while watching.
2016 was notoriously awful in a lot of ways. It wasn’t too horrendous for me. It was a low year, income-wise, and I lost yet another publisher, but I accomplished a lot. I wrote more than I have in years, and I received some nice honors.
Last year I decided to go all-in with conventions, accepting every invitation that came along, and see how that affected my career. My sales went down. I don’t think my sales went down because of the conventions, but they didn’t go up, either. So I’m dialing way back on that and devoting that time to writing and perhaps some of that money to other forms of publicity. I’m committed to two local conventions for the year, and I plan to go to the Nebula Awards weekend and the World Fantasy Convention for networking purposes. I’ll be a guest of honor at Necronomicon in Florida in the fall, and I’m certainly open to being that kind of guest, but after ten years on the convention circuit, I’m probably not going to do a lot of conventions where my travel expenses aren’t covered. I’m definitely not going to do more of the comic/media conventions, the kind where the focus is on celebrity guests. I did two of those last year, and I found that the non-celebrity author guests are treated like an afterthought at best, and at worst like an inconvenience. I had a really bad experience with that at a convention this weekend, and never again until or unless I’m big enough to count as a celebrity. Instead, I plan to focus more on school and library events.
I have a plan for what I want to write this year, and I’m hoping to get more books out more frequently, with some shorter pieces in between novels, and I’d like to get some proposals out to sell some books to publishers. I really upped my writing time last year, and I want to do even more this year.
Otherwise, I really want this to be the year I get my house in order. I had a bit of a wakeup call during the holidays when a house that would have been ideal went on the market. I was in no way ready to sell, buy, or move, but I really liked that house. It got taken off the market to be leased, so I didn’t have to scramble, but I realized that I need to get my act together so I can act on any future opportunities when they come up. I’ve got a plan of daily work to get that done. Let’s see how far my beginning of year enthusiasm propels me.
2016 was notoriously awful in a lot of ways. It wasn’t too horrendous for me. It was a low year, income-wise, and I lost yet another publisher, but I accomplished a lot. I wrote more than I have in years, and I received some nice honors.
Last year I decided to go all-in with conventions, accepting every invitation that came along, and see how that affected my career. My sales went down. I don’t think my sales went down because of the conventions, but they didn’t go up, either. So I’m dialing way back on that and devoting that time to writing and perhaps some of that money to other forms of publicity. I’m committed to two local conventions for the year, and I plan to go to the Nebula Awards weekend and the World Fantasy Convention for networking purposes. I’ll be a guest of honor at Necronomicon in Florida in the fall, and I’m certainly open to being that kind of guest, but after ten years on the convention circuit, I’m probably not going to do a lot of conventions where my travel expenses aren’t covered. I’m definitely not going to do more of the comic/media conventions, the kind where the focus is on celebrity guests. I did two of those last year, and I found that the non-celebrity author guests are treated like an afterthought at best, and at worst like an inconvenience. I had a really bad experience with that at a convention this weekend, and never again until or unless I’m big enough to count as a celebrity. Instead, I plan to focus more on school and library events.
I have a plan for what I want to write this year, and I’m hoping to get more books out more frequently, with some shorter pieces in between novels, and I’d like to get some proposals out to sell some books to publishers. I really upped my writing time last year, and I want to do even more this year.
Otherwise, I really want this to be the year I get my house in order. I had a bit of a wakeup call during the holidays when a house that would have been ideal went on the market. I was in no way ready to sell, buy, or move, but I really liked that house. It got taken off the market to be leased, so I didn’t have to scramble, but I realized that I need to get my act together so I can act on any future opportunities when they come up. I’ve got a plan of daily work to get that done. Let’s see how far my beginning of year enthusiasm propels me.
December 19, 2016
Quiet Time
I've reached the quiet part of my holiday season. Christmas Eve will be busy, but otherwise, I don't have a lot of obligations. I think I'm going to consider this a week off, other than writing, since I'll be busy in the week between Christmas and the New Year.
I saw Rogue One on Friday, and I really liked it. But it was a very different kind of Star Wars movie, definitely not suitable for kids. The regular Star Wars movies are basically fantasy in a space setting. This was a World War II movie in a Star Wars setting. It reminded me of The Dirty Dozen or Guns of Navarone, with maybe a dash or two of Saving Private Ryan. I thought that grittiness made the universe more real, and we saw more of it away from the main action of the series. This movie essentially hands over to the original movie, and I feel like it added a new layer of meaning to that movie because we now know what was involved in getting to that point.
I want to see it again, but it is rather draining. I was even a bit sore after the movie from being so tense for so long.
Now I want to spend this week reading and writing. It's bitterly cold (for this region), and I think it's a good day to spend under the electric blanket with the laptop.
I saw Rogue One on Friday, and I really liked it. But it was a very different kind of Star Wars movie, definitely not suitable for kids. The regular Star Wars movies are basically fantasy in a space setting. This was a World War II movie in a Star Wars setting. It reminded me of The Dirty Dozen or Guns of Navarone, with maybe a dash or two of Saving Private Ryan. I thought that grittiness made the universe more real, and we saw more of it away from the main action of the series. This movie essentially hands over to the original movie, and I feel like it added a new layer of meaning to that movie because we now know what was involved in getting to that point.
I want to see it again, but it is rather draining. I was even a bit sore after the movie from being so tense for so long.
Now I want to spend this week reading and writing. It's bitterly cold (for this region), and I think it's a good day to spend under the electric blanket with the laptop.
December 16, 2016
Ready for Rogue One
I now have a deadline for the next Rebels book, since I lined that up with the copyeditor yesterday, and we have a tentative release date of April 4. Which means I really need to buckle down to work now. No more "eh, whenever I get to it because there's no actual deadline."
Not that I expect to get much done today because I'm seeing Rogue One this afternoon, and I'm more excited about that than I am about Christmas gifts (I already got my big Christmas gift in the new bed, so gifts are a minor part of the season). That may make it hard to concentrate in the time I have before I have to get ready to go. I should probably do something else that's useful but that requires less concentration, like housework. That will make the house more pleasant for my planned hibernation next week. I'm really going to try to get some writing done while things are relatively quiet, but I'll also allow some time for reading and watching all those holiday movies I've got stocked up on my DVR.
This year's bunch hasn't been that good. My favorite so far was one on ION, A Cinderella Christmas, but I think that's mostly because I'm a sucker for Cinderella stories, and I liked the cast. This was an updating involving a woman who worked for the family event planning company and whose cousin/stepsister (after her uncle took her in when her parents died) took all the credit for her work. She meets the "prince" when she caters his holiday masquerade ball. It was rather cute. Though set design/prop people should know better than to use obvious Pepperidge Farms cookies when spreading out store-bought cookies on cookie sheets for the caterer heroine to be taking out of the oven. Tip: Milanos don't come out of the oven that way.
And, of course, I've come up with another idea for one I want to write. Maybe I'll squeeze that in among other projects. But then I'll have more than one script, which might make it worthwhile to look into pursuing.
But now I think I'll try to take my kitchen from "disaster area" to "a human being lives here."
Not that I expect to get much done today because I'm seeing Rogue One this afternoon, and I'm more excited about that than I am about Christmas gifts (I already got my big Christmas gift in the new bed, so gifts are a minor part of the season). That may make it hard to concentrate in the time I have before I have to get ready to go. I should probably do something else that's useful but that requires less concentration, like housework. That will make the house more pleasant for my planned hibernation next week. I'm really going to try to get some writing done while things are relatively quiet, but I'll also allow some time for reading and watching all those holiday movies I've got stocked up on my DVR.
This year's bunch hasn't been that good. My favorite so far was one on ION, A Cinderella Christmas, but I think that's mostly because I'm a sucker for Cinderella stories, and I liked the cast. This was an updating involving a woman who worked for the family event planning company and whose cousin/stepsister (after her uncle took her in when her parents died) took all the credit for her work. She meets the "prince" when she caters his holiday masquerade ball. It was rather cute. Though set design/prop people should know better than to use obvious Pepperidge Farms cookies when spreading out store-bought cookies on cookie sheets for the caterer heroine to be taking out of the oven. Tip: Milanos don't come out of the oven that way.
And, of course, I've come up with another idea for one I want to write. Maybe I'll squeeze that in among other projects. But then I'll have more than one script, which might make it worthwhile to look into pursuing.
But now I think I'll try to take my kitchen from "disaster area" to "a human being lives here."
