P.J. Schnyder's Blog, page 10

Guest Post: MJ Fredrick – NaNoWriMo Hints

Both Sunrise and Road Signs were not plotted ahead of time. In fact, I came up with the idea for Sunrise three days before NaNoWriMo! This year I’ve plotted a little more, enough to fire me up.

Here are some of my survival tips for NaNoWriMo:

*Clear your plate. I spent October revising like crazy so I could focus on writing new pages beginning November 1.

*Find your prime writing time. Mine is REALLY early. I write a few hundred words before I go to work.

* Sign up on the NaNoWriMo page and find friends. I am apparently very competitive, and push myself when I see someone has bypassed me. I’ve never done the local gatherings or write-ins, but some people find that fun and helpful.

*When you’re stuck, try http://writeordie.drwicked.com/. You write without pausing, or the screen will start flashing. One thing I don’t like is that it messes up your formatting when you cut and paste it into your document.

*Don’t be afraid to skip scenes. Just write (TRANSITION SCENE HERE) or (LOVE SCENE HERE) and keep going. Same with names. I forget character’s names and write WHATSISNAME.

I love the pure focus on writing that NaNoWriMo allows. Writing rough drafts is my favorite part of the process, and though I know there will be work for me when November is done, I can’t wait to get started.

Two of my Carina Press books, Sunrise Over Texas (September 2010) and Road Signs (March 2011), are NaNoWriMo success stories. I wrote Sunrise in November 2008 and Road Signs in November 2009. I’d done NaNoWriMo two years before—writing one manuscript that was a lot of fun, but a MESS when I was done, and one I plotted but barely eeked out 50,000 words.

MJ Fredrick knows about chasing dreams. Twelve years after she completed her first novel, she signed her first publishing contract. Now she divides her days between teaching music in the elementary school, and diving into her own writing—traveling everywhere in her mind, from Belize to Honduras to Africa to the past.

Baking Good Wishes Into Gifts To Strangers

I had a bad day today. Well, it might have been more a culmination of a lot of things over the last few weeks pressing down on me. It probably was. I like to call these times “life challenge” and then move on to perky, determined, constructive things. I try to dive into my day job and then come out swinging for my workouts and then wind down with my NaNoWriMo projects.

All I wanted to do today was bake cupcakes.

My boyfriend was concerned. You see, I’m trying to stay as fit and healthy as I can possibly be in order to meet some of the medical challenges facing me. Cupcakes, once in a while, wouldn’t do me harm.

But I’ve been baking a lot of cupcakes recently.

And so, while my boyfriend wanted me to be happy as I bustled around the kitchen baking cupcakes, he also didn’t want me faced with a mountain of cupcake temptation and nothing to do but eat them.  I’m not blessed with a super high metabolism. No amount of cardio I could fit into a 24 hour day could possibly save me from the caloric intake of all those cupcakes.

And then he made a suggestion and I almost cried. No, actually I’m crying now…because the thought of it makes me so happy. Which is selfish because his suggestion was so Good. You see, I met my boyfriend shortly after he returned from being deployed. He still has friends who are deployed overseas. And he has their mailing addresses. He told me even if the cupcakes got destroyed on the way or went stale, they’d still taste incredibly good to a soldier who’s been overseas for 18 weeks.

Relief flowed through every part of me; and muscles I didn’t realize were tense, relaxed. The gears in my head started turning: I’ll keep the frosting in decorating bags so the soldiers can frost their own cupcakes or just eat the frosting straight. Either way they’d like that, right? And that way the cupcakes won’t get soggy under the frosting. And I’ll wrap the cupcakes individually so they’ll stay fresh longer. He said his mom used to pop popcorn and pack baked goods in the popcorn. And I could bake brownies too, super easy to pack.

It’s not the first time I’ve packed gift boxes for soldiers. I used to send care packages to my little brother all the time and to guys I went to school with before they deployed. But this time, I don’t know these boys. This time, I’m just baking good wishes into treats and sending them out there.

And it’s selfish, because it makes me feel so good. But selfish is okay if it brings them something good too, right?

Guest Post: Julie Rowe – Cooking Large

NaNoWriMo is one of my favourite times of the year, because I get to let my creative side out sans editor. But with a family, a day job and writing every spare moment, one of the things that suddenly doesn’t fit into my November schedule is cooking. And my family gets cranky if I don’t feed them regularly.

So, a couple of years ago desperation hatched a radical plan in my mind. Triple several of my favourite casserole type recipes and make several of them at once. Though I questioned my own sanity, I went on a whirlwind trip through the grocery store then set up an assembly line in my tiny 3m x 3m kitchen.

Utter chaos ensued. Food, dirty dishes, and plastic wrap were everywhere. Twice I had to interrupt my cooking to go back to the store because I’d forgotten ingredients. Despite this, four hours later I had fifteen meals in re-sealable bags sitting, with room to spare, in my fridge freezer.

I felt like Einstein the day he figured out the relativity equation. And if I can do it anyone can. Here are some tips and tricks to cooking in bulk:

10 Things to do to Get Ready

Plan meals around my family’s schedule.
Inventory the food in your home. So, you know exactly what you have and don’t have.
Use your monthly menu and food inventory to write your grocery list. Buy in bulk.
Assemble the pots, pans, measuring cups, cutting board, and the utensils you’ll need.
Put recipes into plastic page protectors and tape them to your cupboard doors at eye level.
Ahead of time, chop, grate, dice, and slice any ingredients that appear in several recipes
Set out ingredients on the counter so everything is right there when I need it.
Clean out your fridge, giving you plenty of room to properly cool your meals.
Turn down your deep freeze and/or freezer five to ten degrees the day before. The food freezes faster and it’s easy to readjust the temperature later.

Nuts & Bolts of Cooking in Bulk

Vary the number of meals you make to suit your needs.
Keep the sink full of hot soapy water and wash dishes as you go.
Wash hands frequently, and knives and cutting boards after every use.
When doubling or tripling a recipe, multiply and note ingredient amounts in pencil right on your recipe. I habitually underestimate spice amounts when increasing recipes, especially salt. It’s far easier to add extra spices and salt while reheating a dish than to try and to remove them!
Prepare all your hamburger dishes simultaneously; same goes for your chicken dishes, etc. This saves work by eliminating repetitious steps, and prevents cross contamination with other foods.
Cool food uncovered at room temperature for thirty minutes then transfer to fridge, still uncovered, until completely cooled. Cover and freeze. This kind of cooking goes in stages. While your second batch of completed recipes cools on the table, the first batch can go into the fridge.
If you’ve cooked a large quantity, transfer food into shallow containers for faster cooling.
To prevent loss of flavour and freezer burn, double wrap or double bag everything. If all you have is a fridge-freezer, freezing meals in freezer bags will save on space.
Thaw frozen meals in the fridge overnight or in a microwave, never leave your food to defrost on the counter.
Make best use of kitchen equipment. I like to use my vegetable steamer on a timer and/or a slow cooker to cook my food if I’m going to get home late.
List the meals you’ve made, tack it to your fridge and cross off meals as you eat them. I love my running inventory! I’m never left wondering what’s at the bottom of my deep freeze.

Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because, “No one would believe them!” A double Golden Heart finalist 2006, Julie has two books out with Carina Press: ICEBOUND and NORTH OF HEARTBREAK. Her third book with Carina Press, SAVING THE RIFLEMAN – a romance with medical elements set during the first world war, is due out on Oct 8, 2012. Her writing has also appeared in several magazines such as Today’s Parent, Reader’s Digest (Canada), and Canadian Living. She currently facilitates communication workshops for her local city college. You can reach her at www.julieroweauthor.com or on Twitter @julieroweauthor .

PJ’s NaNoWriMo Prep Checklist

Clean my desk

NaNoWriMo site :

update User settings
update Author info
update Novel info
stare at empty stats
set widget on personal website

Research:

worldbuilding notes
character notes
outline
major themes

* any of these could be a blog post all on its own

Technology:

Scrivener – all my initial draft and revision work happens in this application, from first word to the final compile to send for submission
Write or Die Desktop edition – excellent word sprint tool to really get the words flowing!
Twitter and Facebook – reporting on these makes me accountable. Accountability is an excellent driver.
Dropbox – back up Everything.

Fun Stuff:

playlists – via Pandora and sometimes YouTube (see my YouTube channel for my playlists and more)
snacks – sustenance is key to a working mind
stress-relievers – stress balls, workout resistance bands, yoga matt. Get the blood flowing and clear the mind.

During the month of November, I’ll have several guests here on my blog. They’ll all be talking about a different aspect of why they do, or don’t, participate in NaNoWriMo. Stop by and show them some love!

Guest Posts:

Nov 2: Julie Rowe
Nov 9: MJ Fredrick
Nov 16: Seleste deLaney
Nov 23: Kay Keppler
Nov 30: Christine Price

Challenge, I Haz It

It’s been a rough week.

We all experience our own challenges, personal heartbreaks and tragedies. I do my best not to flood the public space with mine.  Instead, I try to work on constructive things.

Developmental edits for Bite Me are in and I’ve got a self-imposed goal to get them done by the end of the month. My actual deadline from my editor has a lot more time built in, but I do enjoy participating in NaNoWriMo so I’d like to complete these edits in time to hit the new manuscript on the 1st of November. That said, I’ll have quite a few guest posts next month talking about NaNoWriMo.

Also, OrD (also known as Or Draconis on FaceBook) and I recorded our third podcast this week with our very first special guest. Lots of fun and some great discussion so hopefully you’ll all get to listen to it this weekend. In the meantime, feel free to head over to mangorice.com to check out our first two episodes.

And finally, I feel like doing something fun. The Halloween season is one of my favorite times of year and giving stuff away to my readers cheers me up. So, I’m giving away a signed print copy of Gimme Shelter, anthology of the zombie apocalypse including my sci-fi action short, REMEMBER MY NAME.  Hope you all enter to win and I might even have some surprise treats for everyone who enters.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tropes, do you know them?

I spent my childhood summers in Thailand. One summer, my younger brother was all excited and said our aunt was making pizza. I love Thai food, but we’d been away from the US a while and a pizza sounded pretty awesome.

Then my aunt placed a piece of toast in front of us. It had ketchup spread across it, then a slice of processed American cheese. Then she fried up a few hot dogs and placed them on top. She was so happy she’d made us an American Pizza.

>_<

Needless to say, it was not what we’d expected. We ate what she’d made but we didn’t come back for seconds or request it again.

If I were to pick up a book, and similar to the pizza, I thought it would be one thing but it turned out to be completely different, I’d be disappointed.

How do I know I’m going to get what I’m looking for if I’ve never read the book? Well, it’s not a sure thing, but for a book to be of a certain genre, it’s going to have most of the tropes common to the genre.

Do you know the tropes common to your genre? Or…what a trope actually is?

Here’s the definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

1 a : a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speech

- b : a common or overused theme or device : cliché

I’ll take that definition a bit to the side and add that, in my mind, tropes are characteristic to a genre. They’re key to the story being what it is – a young adult novel without a young adult-aged main character isn’t young adult genre.  A romance novel without a relationship or love interest isn’t a romance (happily ever after versus happily for now is open to debate). A science fiction novel without advanced technology or some mode of space travel is difficult to call sci-fi.

A chocolate chip cookie with no chocolate chips, chunks or particles does not a chocolate chip cookie make.

Having the desired tropes in your story, the keys to the genre, satisfy the reader and maybe keeps them coming back for more.

This doesn’t mean you can’t bust those boundaries! By all means, twist things and mix them up. Throw a new spin in there.  Cross genres. But when you cross them, don’t exclude the tropes or mutate them beyond recognition. Find a way to incorporate the best from both genres.

And when you’re writing, notice the presence (or lack) of the key tropes for the genre. It’s a part of being able to accurately recognize what genre your story is.  Those tropes can be used with skill, like a special ingredient, but they shouldn’t be overused.

A part of being a good writer is knowing your audience and what they want. Another part is knowing your genres and what makes them what they are. This way, you’re not accidentally writing a book that people stumble across and love. This way, you consistently write the kinds of stories that readers come back to as a reliable source of exactly what they’re in the mood to read.  You become a go to for them, and your new releases are always on their To Be Read list.

References and Inspirations

In many of my stories, especially my more recent writing, my readers could find “Easter Eggs” or little nods to the games, anime, etc. I love. In many cases, I’ve been told it’s very easy to see how I’ve been inspired by the types of anime I watch, my hobbies such as mixed martial arts and dance, or any number of other activities I pursue.

Someone once asked me if using that inspiration is stealing the idea.

Nathan Bransford wrote an excellent post On Concepts a few years ago. What it boils down to is a basic truth: Somebody, somewhere, already came up with that idea. The creativity of a writer comes from how (s)he weaves her particular story, executes the idea, and how (s)he spins the well-used trope.

And in a lot of ways, it can be fun for the reader to recognize that reference, find the Easter Egg and have a little chuckle because they “get” the inside joke.  I, for one, love to find them.

For example, I’ve been doing a bit of exploring in World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, Mists of Pandaria.

©2012 Blizzard Entertainment.

The minute I encountered this quest, I shouted, “Ranma 1/2!” Oh yes, my friends, I loved seeing Pandaria’s Singing Pools and remembering how often Ranma would tell his “Old Man” that he was going back to China and Jusenkyo to find a way to cure the curse he’d acquired by falling into the cursed spring of the drowned girl. Right then and there, I was happy I’d created a male panda because there’s a fun element in balancing on those poles as a big “Old Man” panda. *giggles*

Is Ranma 1/2 related to World of Warcraft? Nope. Is it an awesome shout out? Oh yes. And World of Warcraft is very well known for these references, not only from anime or science fiction but all sorts of pop culture.

Do my stories have tropes? Yup. Am I worried about being considered un-original? No.

I’m very confident my stories are told in my very own way. I take inspiration from many sources and if you recognize my nod to the reference, I’d love to share the chuckle with you.

*All images owned by Blizzard Entertainment. No use of these images were used to make a profit of any kind.

A New Endeavor

There are so many things I love about life. Trying to capture it all in a post would doom it to a certainty of TLDR.

Such variety is something I share with my boyfriend, OrD or Or Draconis on Facebook. Recently, we were brainstorming about a way to collaborate and have fun with our various interests. The culmination of that meeting of minds is our very first podcasting experiment. Yup, there’s a podcast.

Mangos & White Rice: Asian Girl, White Guy, Crazy Podcasting!

The podcasts will be an intersection of our interests including food, video gaming, reading…all sorts of fun. Also, tune in for occasional tidbits and insights into my adventures in writing, maybe a couple of writing-world special guests and perhaps a giveaway or two. You never know, it’ll depend on the inspiration of the moment.

Surrounded by Nifty-ness

It’s a strange world, the writing and publishing industry. Strange and wonderful, at least to me. Creativity feeds the world, makes it turn on its axis and then every once in a while, gives it a tilt.

Success as a writer comes from so many different things, things aspiring writers might not anticipate when they set upon the road to publication. There’s plenty of advice along the way if you’re internet savvy or have access to local writing groups:

Write. And then write some more

That’s a favorite of mine. Finish that novel. And then once you’ve finished it, set it aside and start work on something else. Give it time to leave your mind before you return to it for revisions. Oh yes, and revisions are imperative.

Polish your work until it shines.

There’s the various forks in the road, the choices a writer makes along the way. Traditional pub? Will need to pick up the agent ally along the way. ePub? Might not need the agent, but definitely need other writers and editors as allies. Self-Pub? Could go it alone, but a cover artist ally would be essential as well as a way to get out there and be known to readers. That last is true of all three paths, and any of the combinations of roads a writer might travel.

Many don’t anticipate the need to self-promote and develop their personal marketing strategies. Sure, an agent or a publishing house are strong allies in this. But writing is very much a personal business. What you get out of it is directly proportional to what you put into it. The more you put into the self-promotion and marketing, the more you build your author platform and take the initiative, the more you will see coming your way.

It’s easy to become bitter on the roads of the writer’s journey. Others come and go. They might go on ahead, or take a turn down a different path. They might help you and encourage you, or they might trip you or trod on you as you lay resting. Jealousy lays in wait, ready to ambush you, take you over, waste your energy with ill thoughts.

She doesn’t deserve it.

Things come easier for her than for me.

She has support I don’t have.

It’s not fair.

Negative thoughts directed outward. And suddenly, it’s a relief to ride on the wave of self-righteousness. It’s not to do with you anymore, it’s them, all of them, and how they won’t do blah blah blah.

The only behavior you can control is your own. Refer back to the earlier comment about what you put in is directly proportional to what you get out and add the color, texture of positive versus negative energy.  How do you look at the world?

When your allies experience success in their own journeys, do you celebrate with them? (It’s okay to feel the twinge of jealousy. What matters is whether you act on it. Whether you let it fester and turn into something harmful either to you or to them.) Do you cheer for them? And in reference to yourself, do you look at it as a fun challenge to catch up to them? Is it fun to do nifty things with them? Do they cheer you on when you do your very own nifty thing and do they celebrate your successes with you?

A long while ago, I interviewed one of my favorite photographers. He continues to do incredibly nifty things. His wife does wonderfully creative things in the world of acting. His cat is a steampunk cover model and one of my frequent featured favorites on Twitter for #MorningCatFace. When I asked if he had a something to share at the end of an interview, Kyle Cassidy gave me a piece of advice that struck such a chord in me that I continue to quote it. And I’ll do it again.

I’ve found that the key to artistic success lies not just within one’s own ability, but also within the sphere of influence of your peer group. Surround yourself with the most creative people you know, in whatever field — there’s nothing quite like the motivation of being the only one in the room who hasn’t done something cool in the past 24 hours to keep you working and striving to be better.

How do you look at this advice?  Do you look around at your friends and get bogged down in jealousy and bitterness? Or do you think, wow, such nifty things. I want to do something nifty too! I shall do something nifty!

Me? I have some awesome friends. I shall give shout outs to their niftiness, because I admire them and am so proud of them, and I strive to be nifty too.

There’s Tee Morris and his recent articles for his day job. These are unusual and fun. They make me think. His latest and my favorite so far:

Disaster Preparedness when Demigods Attack

He’s got one coming up for Tor.com and it highlights a joint effort of nifty-ness from Philippa Ballantine, Linc “Baldgroove” Williams, Thomas Willeford of Brute Force Studios and the lovely Sarah Hunter. Tee directed this piece of awesome.  And I was fortunate enough to have been able to contribute in the experience of a lifetime.

There’s the fantastically talented J.R. Blackwell and Jared Axelrod. I’ve fan-girled over J.R. ever since I first attended one of her panels at PhilCon and we’ve sort of evolved into a pair of girl-crushing friends. She inspires me and I am glad of any chance to work with her.

When she asked me to participate in the niftiness of GIMME SHELTER, the anthology of the zombie Apocalypse, I just about squeed myself into falling off a bed.

J.R won an ENnie (The Gen Con EN World RPG Awards) for the live action game, Shelter in Place, to which GIMME SHELTER is the sister anthology. You want creativity? Not only did she create the game, but she also edited the anthology AND was photographer/model/cover artist for the cover! O.O

And the aforementioned Thomas Willeford of Brute Force Studies is a key part of the upcoming steampunk show, Lantern City. Just wow, here, my friends.

There are more nifty things by nifty friends. The indomitable Stella Price, for example. New releases by Lia Habel and Leanna Renee Hieber. Funny and romantic series by Dana Marie Bell. And so many more incredible friends. (Friends I hope will not mind that I didn’t give a specific shout out because this post has already become TLDR.)

The point is, I’ve surrounded myself with nifty-ness. The creativity is overflowing. I have so much admiration for my friends and they drive me to achieve wonderful things. They inspire me and excite me and motivate me. And I am so grateful to be in their company.

Your ideas, My Ideas

Let me start by thanking everyone for taking the time to read my stories, possibly leave a review or send me a message. I love reading fan mail and gladly admit, every message received makes me *squee*.

However, messages like this pose a serious problem for me:

Have you considered a {insert trope here} story where the {insert people described by trope} end up in a world that is {insert situation here}? The {insert various themes here} would make for interesting content I think…

or

Have you considered having {insert secondary character here} as the main hero(ine) in {insert plot line here} falling in love with {insert proposed love interest here}. I’d love to see him/her do that!

Moving forward, I will stop reading at “Have you considered…” or any similar opening. I will also stop opening any future messages from you. Get mad about this or keep pushing, then I may have to go so far as to block you. And I’m very sorry I have to do this.

Why do I do this? It’s your idea, your concept. Even if you’re providing it to me as a suggestion – what if I’ve already written a manuscript with exactly that set of themes or concepts? What if it’s already been contracted and in edits? It could still be a year, maybe two, before the book is ever published. But when it is, there are authors who’ve had fans rise up and say, “Hey, that was my idea.” And then follow up with, “I should get a portion of your royalties for that!”

Legal battles ensue. Sure, ideas aren’t copyrighted. Still, both parties lose money in litigation. In the meantime, the series is possibly on hold and no one gets to read it. Perhaps the book or series simply fades out of print and never reaches the potential it had.

This hasn’t happened to me yet. I’ve read multiple experiences from much more established authors on this type of issue. I don’t think I’m a big enough fish to go after in terms of law suits and profit. At the same time, it’s never too early to develop preventative habits.

I want to read messages from my readers. Would love to hear whether you liked, and even if you disliked, my stories. But please don’t try to give me your ideas, I wouldn’t do them justice…because they’re your ideas.

I’ll write mine.