Paying Attention…

Oct29

I’ve been trying to pay more attention lately.

I’m noticing when I stop playing an online game, why I do so (too much grinding; they were mean to a friend of mine), and if I go back, why I do so (new genes, friends talking about it & linking to it).

I’m noticing when I buy a book or read a book, why I do so:

I bought a John Scalzi book because he stood up for Micah during the Space Marine Problem.

I read a book @dahob lent me on Amazon.com, and then found another similar book by “similar books” and bought that (haven’t read it yet).

I stopped (years ago) reading an author I enjoyed, in part because she hit a wall of squick for me in the last book I read – and in part because she got politically vitriolic on her LJ.

And yet, despite the fact that another author disagrees with me on every political point I’ve read her blogging about – but she’s never hateful, and I’ve bought her books, wishlisted her books, driven 4 hours to go to a reading of her, and told her I wanted to be her when I grew up.

Pay attention to your own buying habits. They tell you something about other people’s habits – and they tell you something about marketing.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/838778.html. You can comment here or there.

Giraffe Dungeon Cave Donation Incentives: Character art. Whatcha want?

Oct29

While the Dungeon & Cave call didn’t reach $100 ($94!), it did reach and far exceed the $40 character art level.

So: Which character or pair of characters do you want to see art of? Going by donations to continue, the most popular were Daxton and his mercenary, the princess and her angry captive, Ivor and Valeta, and Edora and Prince Rodegard – but it’s a lot more spread out than it was in August (Catboy Samurai all the time!).

So who do you want to see?

Need a refresher? All the stories can be found in The Giraffecall tag (and on LJ).

Any character from this Giraffe Call is fair game, not just those I’ve mentioned above.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/838638.html. You can comment here or there.

Quick-and-Dirty, a story of Clockwork Apoc for Thimbleful Thursday

Oct27

“I can do a quick-and-dirty fix.” Carlotta pushed the magnifying eyepiece back on her head, pinning her red-and-white curls back with the strap. It gave her, Johsnen thought, a strangely rakish and mechanical look, the telescoping eyepiece sticking out of her head like a periscope. “To actually repair it would take three weeks to a month and parts we don’t have here. So that adds another two weeks to a month, depending on when a caravan or ‘ship can get through to Ashburg. That kind of fix, though, that would hold up to just about anything except maybe a wild boar attack.”

“And the quick-and-dirty?” Johsnen ran an apologetic hand over the ‘car. He really hadn’t meant to get it into so much trouble. But there’d been Them, and then there’d been that hole in the road he hadn’t seen until he was in it, and all things considered, he was lucky he’d gotten himself and the steamcar back to Bridgeport. But she’d never look the same again, and she’d been a lot of miles in the poor thing.

“The quick-and-dirty I can do with what I have here. It’ll run, it’ll be safe against normal impacts – it’ll take a humanoid hit, but stay away from big tusked or horned things – and it won’t break down. But it’s going to be a little more fragile, and it’ll probably take a few more repairs along the way.”

“Can you…”

“Yeah. But if you come back around in winter, it’s going to be more like three months. For one thing, everyone does the same thing. For the other…”

Johsnen sighed. “Yeah. For the other, nobody wants to travel the Blank Plains in wintertime.”

This was meant to be about Carlotta (with a nod to @inventrix), but it really turned out to be more about Johsnen (Jawz-nen). Ah, well.

283 words, to two weeks’ past Thimbleful Thursday, here: https://thimblefulthursday.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/thimbleful-thursday-prompt-2/

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/838165.html. You can comment here or there.

NaNoWriMo Tips, a guest post from thebonesofferalletters

Oct27

The below is a guest post on NaNoWriMo, written by [personal profile] thebonesofferalletters. Check out their Patreon, too, (here).

So, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is almost upon us. From the first of November to the end of the month writers all over the world make a mad dash to reach 50,000 words and, ideally, complete a novel.

NaNoWriMo can be a wonderful experience, you can find a flourishing writing community in the month of November and potentially use the momentum you gain during the month o propel you through the rest of the year.

I personally have found that it gets a little tricky keeping things together during the month though. Between having to balance school or work, holidays, and life in general, NaNo gets a lot trickier sometimes.

Luckily for anyone who’s facing a full schedule, there is plenty of advice out there on how to have a successful NaNoing experience and I’m here to add to that pile.

So these are my tips to stay sane during November.

1) Clean and maintain your space.

Some people work well with clutter and that’s fine. If you’re one of those people, then disregard this. However, a lot of other people find it distracting and a way to procrastinate.

Ignoring the impulse to clean instead of write, having a clear and neat writing and existing space can really help some feel at ease. Without the clutter, your mind can sometimes not be as jumpy and erratic.

Make sure to not only clean the space but maintain it. If you want, you can even turn this into a daily ritual. Clean and straighten your writing space and then sit down and write.

2) Don’t be afraid to work on more than one project.

While NaNo is about finishing things, you shouldn’t let that confine what you do. I’ve been doing NaNo for years and I have found that, when I try and work on a single project, the month becomes significantly more difficult to get through than when I am working with multiple projects.

There are articles out there that put it into better words than I on why this is a good and beneficial way to tackle NaNoing but form my experience, I find that I can plow through things much easier when I am not mono-focused. I don’t get stuck as often and I don’t get bored with what I’m writing because when I do, I switch to my other project and let things stew in my mind for the one I’m faltering on.

3) Get up and move around every few hours

This is something that I’m not always good at but I find very useful when I do. The internet and writing is a big part of my life and I spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen thinking about words. However, I find that, when I take a break from doing that every couple of hours, I’m able to come back and be refreshed and have the capability of plowing through more work than if I had stayed at the screen and didn’t bother to stretch.

4) Pull people into the madness.

Writing is said to be a solitary act but the fun of NaNo is that you can find a bunch of people at all stages of ability doing it at the same time. Reach out to them and say hi. Talk to them about your writing and listen to them talk about theirs. Enter a dialogue and see what happens.

Alternately if you are someone with anxiety or just not sociable, consider luring your already established people into giving it a go or get them involved in other ways.

Another thing to do with people is to try and get them involved in the plotting and planning of your novel. Give them a reason to be excited for it. Have them name a character, help you develop the plot, or anything else you can consider. Make them be invested in seeing you write this and you’ll have one more cheerleader when you when times are hard and you need motivation.

5) Approach your story in various ways.

A lot of people have internal assumptions about what kind of write they are. Maybe they think they need to plot or that they are the kind of writer who can only do so at night.

Whether this is something that is actually true or not, you should consider trying different approaches to writing, especially when you feel like you’re falling short or feeling stalled Sometimes trying a new method, be it writing in a non-linear fashion, trying to write at a different time of day, outlining or flying by the seat of your pants might just be the thing to help you jar your mind out of the rut it was stuck in.

6)) Don’t slack off on reading

You’ll hear some writers say that they don’t read as much as they used to. They’re too busy writing which is understandable but I think that reading is an absolute essential tool in creating work of your own. Sometimes you need to read the kind of book that reminds you why you write, be it because it’s just that terrible or possibly because it’s that good.

Reading helps us understand what we want to see in fiction and inspires us to create our own. Sometimes we can lose sight of what we’re trying to accomplish and I find that reading and maintaining relationship with words beyond trying to commit them myself is a really helpful way to keep me energized about my work and, on the other hand, can leave me feeling out of sorts and unsure when I don’t have reading material that i am working through.

And that’s it! I hope that each of you has a successful November, whether you are writing this month, cheering people on or having nothing to do with this whole NaNoWriMo madness. If you would like to follow me on the NaNo site, I’m crossroadstories and I am happily adding people as NaNo buddies. On the other hand, if you are having doubts, fears, or just need someone to babble at, you can also approach me by contacting me at crossroadstores at gmail or prod me at Livejournal (feralletters) or Dreamwidth (thebonesofferaletters).

Good luck everyone and happy writing!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/838125.html. You can comment here or there.

Alternate Word Count Ideas for NaNoWriMo

Oct27

I recently came across these two posts on alternate ways of doing wordcount for NaNoWriMo:

http://dailydishrecipes.com/the-reward-system-one-word-on-day-30/

and

http://hoss-some.tumblr.com/post/64586353845/recently-i-came-across-a-post-by-myvariousnanos

I found them interesting, although possibly not-for-me (I like building in skip days, myself).

My own 60K is actually divided over 24 writing days and 6 off days (including a vacation in the middle). I’m curious to see how the actual writing goes.

Maybe I should look at my tracking data & see if months follow a flow patter.

If you NaNo, how do you divide up the 50,000? If you write, how do you work out your writing quota over time?

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/837859.html. You can comment here or there.

Knowing Where His Place Is

Oct27

Egarengar had known things when he married Inatalana.

He had known that it was a political match first, a financial match second, and a match of compatible personalities third.

He had known that her title was so much higher than his as to be on a different ladder altogether, and that they were distance enough related that, if they had been goats, they would not have even had the same colors in their coats. He had known that she was a daughter of the Emperor, and that they would be expected to have many, many children.

He had known that he was stepping into a subordinate role, but one where he would be respected and honored, treated as a peer and not as an employee.

He had known all this because he paid attention, because he asked pertinent and impertinent questions, and because he had an extended family to tell him those pieces he hadn’t noticed on his own.

Watching Girey, he realized the young Prince had none of that. He did not know who Arinyanca was, not in the context of Lannamer. He didn’t know what position she’d offered him, in giving him the bracelet which Egarengar had carved. He didn’t know where he would stand in relation to the court he had been thrust into. All he knew was that Arinyanca had plucked him from a tent and dragged him across the length and half the breadth of Reiassan.

And yet, he was still standing, just behind and to the left of Rin’s shoulder, looking unfortunately Princely. And, more importantly, he looked as if he would smash the face of anyone who insulted Arinyanca.

The girl could hold her own, of course. She was Inatalana’s daughter and Egarengar’s. But Egarengar smiled to himself. He might not understand it yet, but the boy had found his place.

Written to [personal profile] kelkyag‘s prompt, or at least near it.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/837569.html. You can comment here or there.

Tricked Out for Her Pleasure… a drabble of Tír na Cali for the Giraffe Call

Oct26

The first thing Lady Stefania did when she bought Joe was take him to a cosmetic witch, who grew out the hair on his head – kept buzzed, but black and luxurious when let to grow – until it reached his knees, and removed all the hair on the rest of his body.

The second thing that Lady Stefania did was exchange the plastic-and-steel slave shop collar for a torque of gold and silver and matching shackles. By the time Joe swum out from under the be-happy-be-obedient drugs the slave shop had doped him with, he was bejeweled, shackled, pierced in places he didn’t want to thing about, and lying on his stomach on a bed covered in silk.

It took him a few minutes to realize that the blanket around him was actually his hair, and a little longer to realize that he was actually shackled this way. By the time he thought to panic, he’d also realized that there was a naked elf sitting next to him.

Not elf, he realized, after a moment of confusion. She was just an amazingly elfin woman, pointed nose, pointed chin, and a slender body that couldn’t be more than five feet tall when she was standing.

Which she wasn’t. She was actually – his butt clenched – in the process of straddling him, her hands on his shoulders. Joe bucked, but that only made her chuckle.

“I didn’t expect a rodeo ride… but I’ll take it if that’s what you want.” Her fingers splayed across his back, pushing into the tissue, startling Joe. “I was thinking I’d give you a bit of a massage – if you hold still. And maybe braid your hair.” Her other hand stroked through the blanket across Joe’s back, pushing it to one side. “Long hair and bare skin is such a fun combination, and your hair – and skin – are both so pretty.”

Written to [personal profile] wyld_dandelyon‘s Prompt.

Set in the Tír na Cali ‘verse; Cali has a landing page here – http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/22621.html.

If you want more of this story – and I’m sure I could come up with more of this! – drop a tip in, ah, the tip handcuffs:

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/837257.html. You can comment here or there.

NaNoWriMo Bingo Card

Oct26

http://feather-mage.com/nanobingo/

I like this in part because it has things like “do some chores, then write about your protag. doing chores.”

It’s always good to remember that your life doesn’t actually stop during nano.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/837077.html. You can comment here or there.

Why you might want to work on multiple projects this November (link)

Oct26

Hat tip to @capriox_B:

Why You Might want to work on multiple projects this Nov.

This is a very reasonable article on not focusing on one piece the whole month, but using other pieces to maintain momentum.

I am on the look-out for all sorts of advice on Nano that goes beyond the first-time “keep writing keep writing” sort of trend.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/836663.html. You can comment here or there.