Ahead of Schedule in Spite of Twitter

Writer and Muse Succumb to Laziness

After recently rousing myself from a bout of writer’s lethargy (with the help of a motivating kick-start from c), I’ve been on my insane-and-probably-unrealistic writing schedule for a week now.

I’m actually a little ahead of schedule. Not bad, considering I’m outlining 10+ chapters a day. (I tend to write short chapters, so I’m estimating 50 chapters in a 100,000 word book.) The real test will come in less than a week when I have to churn out 5000 words a day (and work at a full-time job).

And all this just after I started tweeting on Twitter. Actually I’m far more a lurker than a tweeter. I’m following Felicia Day (season two of The Guild just ended; I’m hopelessly addicted), Wil Wheaton (now an author, blogger and geek), and a few friends. I had to remove Brent Spiner because he made me laugh too much throughout the day to get any serious work done.

I’ll probably remove everyone except for friends soon, now that I see how people are using Twitter. It reminds me of the early Internet phenomenon where unknown people stuck webcams around their house and allowed you to subscribe and watch their lives. People actually paid to watch a young woman eat her meals, watch TV, and sleep. Day after day after day. With Twitter you can lurk into people’s minds all over the planet. Of course there’s more to it than that, but celebrity following seems that way for the most part.

It’s far too easy to tune in to all the tweets out there and waste inordinate amounts of time. Kind of like YouTube’s related video links.

So far I’ve found no compelling motivation to tweet often. Which is great for my writing.

Oh my, look at that. Right now Felicia Day is drinking a strawberry essence layered with donut-infused milk and topped with espresso.

All Souls Show

Listen to The Beyond All Souls Show

Join the Fangs, Fur, and Fey team– Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, and Mark Del Franco-as well as other NYT bestselling authors Jocelyn Drake, Vicki Pettersson, and Holly Black to talk about faeries, vampires, and all things paranormal with Eos Executive Editor, Diana Gill.

Fonts and Blood

What’s Your Favorite Font?

Also check out this interview of Alan Ball by Terry Gross on Fresh Air.

True Blood

Sookie and Bill

True Blood premiered two days ago on HBO. Based on one of my favorite book series by Charlaine Harris, I’d been looking forward to this cable series for quite awhile.

True Blood is the latest creative project of Alan Ball, Emmy award-winning director/creator of Six Feet Under, and Academy award-winning screenwriter of American Beauty.

Academy award-winning actress Anna Paquin nails the character of Sookie Stackhouse, which is not an easy task. I also liked Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton, Ryan Kwanten as Jason Stackhouse, and Sam Trammell as Sam Merlotte (although I pictured Sam a little differently in the books).

Like any TV series, it usually takes a season for the characters to settle into their roles, the writers to settle into the story, and begin to shine. This is no exception, based on the pilot. Parts were good, parts were rough, but it has promise.

The only downside for me was that it felt like a good deal of content was being shoved in my face for purely shock value. The pilot opens with a scene of Sookie’s best friend, Tara (played by Rutina Wesley), being a total jerk to her boss and a customer. Does she have good reason? Apparently not; that’s just her personality. Sookie’s co-workers (except for her boss, Sam) are all lewd and crude. Next, toss in some fairly graphic sex scenes with Sookie’s brother, Jason. Now I’m not that much of a prude, but this unmotivated “Ooh, look at what we can do on HBO” was not in Charlaine’s books, and the inclusion of it here only takes away the charm of her work.

If only they could have eased it into the series, it might have worked for me. Get me to empathize with Tara, even a tiny little bit, and I’d accept her blow-up at work. Introduce Sookie’s coworkers as interesting, quirky people, and then I’ll accept their crude humor while on the job (I should say that Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette Reynolds was well done and an exception to my rant). Build up to a graphic sex scene after I know the characters better and it will seem like part of the story.

I’ll keep watching the series, because I love Sookie Stackhouse and it’s a thrill to see her on the screen, especially portrayed so well by Anna Paquin. I also have hopes that the series will find itself and begin to click. After all, Alan Ball won all those awards. It should get better, right?

Fangs, Fur & Fey

Fangs, Fur & Fey is a community of Urban, Paranormal & Contemporary Fantasy writers and readers. They recently had their first “con within a con” at the Conestoga Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Oklahoma. Hopefully this marks a trend in conventions for writers and fans of this sub-genre to enjoy panels and other events together.

I wonder if they’ll make an appearance in my neck of the woods at Dragon Con?

Twilight

I just stumbled upon this one (the book series by Stephenie Meyer), and noticed the movie coming out in December November 2008.

White House Briefing On Vampires

Find out more here

Sing-Along With Dr. Horrible

I’ve been too busy with work (my full-time day job) to come up with an original post, so I’m borrowing another idea from Jodiferous and promoting the latest project from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly: Joss Whedon.

Go ahead, don’t be shy…sing along with Dr. Horrible

Way to go, Felicia Day from The Guild!

Smile, Glow and Laugh

I could work today…or I could watch this over and over. Makes me smile, glow and laugh.

Visit Where the Hell is Matt? for more of Matt, his dancing, a nice high quality version of this video, and more.

A gracious nod to Jodi for reminding me of this wonderful series of videos. If you want more smiling, glowing and laughter, check out Jodiferous, my favorite new discovery.

How to Write Good & Avoid Rejections

Visit Inkygirl

 

1. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
2. Employ the vernacular.
3. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
4. Remember to never split an infinitive.
5. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
6. One should never generalize.
7. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
8. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.
9. Be more or less specific.
10. The passive voice is to be avoided.
11. Who needs rhetorical questions?
12. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
13. Do not put statements in the negative form.
14. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
15. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
16. A writer must not shift your point of view.
17. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!
18. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
19. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
20. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; They’re old hat; seek viable alternatives.