NaNo-UhOh
I had a good first day of NaNoWriMo. I went to a write-in, met some people, almost made my word count for the day before leaving, typed more when I got home and inched over the daily goal. Not the best start, but solid.
Day two? Much less successful.
I’ve been having trouble with a tooth. I went to the dentist to deal with said tooth. The dentist told me she would “get me out of pain”. Apparently her strategy was to make me realize the pain I was experiencing was nothing compared to what it could have been. During her (alleged) attempt to numb my tooth, I experienced the most severe agony I have ever felt in my entire life. I was Westly in the Pit of Despair the first time Count Rugen hooked him to the machine.
Why am I telling you this? Well, it’s hard to write while doped up on pain meds. That was last night and this morning. I switched to ibuprofen this afternoon so I could operate things like motor vehicles, cutlery, and kitchen appliances. Fortunately the ibuprofen is holding and I got a little bedtime writing in, though I’m still short of my day two goal, let alone day three. But it’s progress and the weekend cometh…including a bonus hour. I’ll get back on track as long as my face doesn’t explode again.
NaNoWriMo, Almost Time-O
It’s that time again, for large doses of caffeine and larger doses of keyboard time. Time for typist’s cramp and plot-related breakdowns. Time to push excuses aside to make room for all the words to come pouring out. Time for National Novel Writing Month!
I’ve done NaNoWriMo a few times, with varying degrees of commitment. This year’s participation was a last minute decision, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to get my write on for quite a while. Excuse accepted. (Not that the excuse to write should not be confused with the excuses not to write that were pushed aside in the opening paragraph.)
Here are the top 5 reasons I’m excited about NaNoWriMo 2016:
#5 – It’s Nice to Have a Goal
It’s way too easy to just let things slide. Oh, I’ll write tomorrow…next week…next month…once midterms are over…in the summer…once we’ve moved…after the apocalypse. Well, a goal is stronger than excuses. Or it is if I let it be. Tough as it can be to reach my daily writing goal, the goal also gives me a place to stop writing for the day and feel accomplished. “This” is the bar for writing success for the day, week, month. That’s something I can work with.
#4 – New Support Structure
November marks one year that my girlfriend and I have been together. (One year. That status of “girlfriend”could probably use an upgrade soon. But I digress.) She is artistic and caring and fun and beautiful, and I’m eager to add “supportive of my writing” to the list of adjectives. She’s gung-ho about my NaNo participation this year and very much wants to see me writing again. Without dredging into the past, I’ll say I’ve never had genuine household support when I had writing goals. I can’t wait to see what it’s like. Living with a writer isn’t always easy, but I have faith in this one.
#3 – New City, New Writers to Meet
Last year’s job change has me in a new city and I really don’t know many people here, especially writers. NaNo meet-ups and write-ins mean I get to change that. Maybe I’ll make new friends; maybe I’ll be inspired by their commitment; maybe I’ll want to finish just out of a spirit of competitiveness. Regardless, some good will come out of this new social discovery.
#2 – It’s Time to Get This Story Written
I think I’ve blogged before about the middle grades novel that my daughter and dog inspired. It hasn’t gotten written yet. I have a couple false starts, but nothing serviceable. Yet the idea has been burning in my brain for too long to let it go unwritten. The time has come. And 50k is a pretty solid word count for a middle grades novel, so this could be the real thing.
#1 – Time to Write Again
If you’ve visited this blog in the past few years, you know that I haven’t done much writing. Ultimately it was the 2012 NaNo that marks my last significant keyboard time. Blame it on what you want (job, parenting, life changes, etc.), I’m not okay with not being a writer. So whatever gets me back into the habit is a good thing.
Check back here for updates on my NaNoWriMo endeavor. Brief updates, mind you, since blogging time isn’t noveling time.
Am I allowed to talk about Luke Cage?
Binge complete. I just finished watching Luke Cage on Netflix. Much like Daredevil and Jessica Jones, it was very well done. I’m not sure I should talk about it much further. I will, because I often do things I shouldn’t do, but I’m probably asking for trouble. Yes, that is largely due to the color of the stuff that keeps my internal organs internal.
By the way, there may be some small spoilers here. I’ll do my best to avoid it, but no promises.
I have seen a fair amount of online criticism about Luke Cage being too black. Not the character specifically, but the cast and plot as a whole. I’ve seen even more criticism of this criticism. I’m not here to criticize but to consider why Netflix/Marvel made that choice and why I agree with it.
Let’s acknowledge that the cast is mostly black. (I can say that, right?) Not all, but mostly. I’m pretty sure Detective Scarfe and Shades are the only white guys with major roles. (Maybe that one politician, and the racist corrections officer, and the doctor…but it’s not about keeping score.) So what? We’ll skip over the argument that many shows would be hard pressed to find two major characters cast by minorities because it’s been done to death and really isn’t relevant.
This is a show set in Harlem. Yes, Harlem. Are there only black people in Harlem? Of course not. However keeping Harlem black is one of Mariah Dillard’s driving motivations. Is that racist? Part of the point of the show is to make us ask that question. Us being all of us, not one race or another. Wanting to preserve art and culture aren’t racist. Wanting to see your neighborhood thrive without driving out the lower income families that live there sounds like a great goal. Wanting to exclude people of other races sounds kinda racist. But the goal and motivation turn out beside the point when you look at the methods being used by Mariah and her cousin Cottonmouth to accomplish that goal. It isn’t the motivation that makes the bad guy, it’s the actions.
I felt that the show went out of its way to paint Harlem from a lot of angles. Yes, there is crime. Yes, there is culture. Yes, gentrification is occurring. Yes, there is a strong resistance to that by the locals. This is what makes Harlem a compelling setting. There is a lot of conflict and stress and hope and despair inherent in the neighborhood itself. Harlem is a character in the show, probably the most complex character in the cast. A setting that contributes to the story, even drives the story, is a huge asset to storytelling. And that setting is viewed the most intimately through the eyes of the people most connected to it.
I’ll admit, I had a few problems with the storytelling. The ethnicity of the cast wasn’t on the list. Why didn’t they ever mention the bar that Luke was working at in Jessica Jones; you know, the one that blew up? (Maybe I missed that reference.) How did Luke and Claire apparently make a round trip from New York to Georgia in a car in a day? 
Why didn’t Luke’s childhood boxing training come up in the prison scenes like they did at the end? (I don’t think that qualifies as a spoiler, does it?)
There were also elements of the storytelling that impressed me, particularly because they didn’t pull the punches (much) on race-sensitive issues. The suggestion that “all the black fathers are gone” was pretty hard-hitting, even if that stereotype (like most stereotypes) isn’t accurate. The relations between the black community and the police was perhaps downgraded (especially considering the current climate) but not ignored.
So why are people complaining about it? Because Luke Cage was different in a way that made people uncomfortable. I confess, I felt a little uncomfortable at times watching the show. Not in an offended way, but in an outsider-looking-in kind of way. I felt like I was seeing into a world I wasn’t meant to see. (That feeling lessened the further into the show I got, when the hero/villain plot took over the story.) Being an outsider is uncomfortable, but also eye-opening. And somehow the show managed to give me that feeling without completely alienating me. I don’t need to have the same skin color as a character to empathize with them. I was able to feel for Luke and Misty and Pop, even at times Cottonmouth and Mariah. That’s good storytelling, anyway you slice it.
It’s about time
It’s been quite a while since I submitted anything. I think I tossed one into the abyss a great many months ago. Well, today I sent out two, plus one micro story based on a photo prompt. Will anything come of these endeavors? More than I was getting leaving them in the drawer…
Yog’s Law…it has nothing to do with picnic baskets
I’m always up for a picnic basket and Berra has some of the most iconic quotes ever, but I’m not writing about Yogi; this is about Yog’s Law as posed by James D. MacDonald. It simply states that “Money flows toward the writer.”
Let me back up a bit. I was checking out a local writing group’s Facebook page and followed a link to an article about lessons to be learned from one writer’s first novel sale. One of the lessons was to hire an editor before you submit your manuscript to agents and/or publishers. My Yog alarm started wailing.
For the record, this is not exactly the issue Yog’s Law warns against. Hiring an editor is a choice made by a writer using money the writer controls. In fact, hiring an editor is definitely advisable if you plan to self-publish your book (as noted by John Scalzi in his Corollary to Yog’s Law). But the alarm still sounded and I consider the advice dangerous.
If you’ve been here before, you probably know that I don’t write for a living, but I do write. I do know how to write. I am pretty good at it, but I definitely make mistakes and almost everything I tap out on a keyboard could use some improvement. I could use an editor. That said, I’d like to be published by someone that has editors on staff to do that job. If I can’t get that kind of contract, then I’ll consider hiring my own editor and going the self-pub route. But to suggest that I need to hire an editor before I submit to agents? I don’t see that necessity.
A moment of clarification. The article (okay, I should probably link to it) stated that the writer spent $700 on developmental editor and $2300 on a line editor before getting agent representation. I’m sure this improved the work in question. But was it necessary? And my bigger concern, how much was the advance on this first novel?
I do not mean to knock the role of freelance editors. They are surely honest, hard-working individuals who are good at what they do. The editors I know certainly are. However, the suggestion that a writer needs to spend $3000 before they can expect to gain representation and/or sell a novel is pretty dangerous. Compared to a $50,000 MFA (as the article compares it to), yes, 3 grand is a bargain. If your manuscript really needs it, an editor can probably help. Probably.
Let’s face it, if an agent rejects your manuscript because it has three typos in the first hundred pages, you don’t want that agent. Three typos on the first page? That’s a different issue. As for publishers, they have editors to handle that kind of thing. This paragraph would work better a page earlier, that description is confusing, there’s a better word to use there… You don’t have to have a perfect manuscript to get it published. You do need a good one.
Ask publishers (the term should be editors, but that gets confused with the freelance editors) these three questions. (1) Ask if they’ve rejected manuscripts over issues that a freelance editor could have fixed. They have. Every one of them. (2) Then ask them if they’ve accepted manuscripts that could have used a pass by a freelance editor. They probably have. (3) Have they accepted a manuscript because it was well edited? That one is a lot less likely to get any support. Novels are published because they have unique voice or compelling plot or interesting characters or great research or riveting suspense or popular appeal inherent in the story.
The phrase “you have to spend money to make money” appears in the article. This is an entrepreneur’s adage, not a writer’s. If you’re publishing the book yourself, then yes, you need to spend to make. Otherwise it’s the publisher that needs to spend to make. If you’re paying for the leg work upfront, what do you need them for?
All that will mean more after I have my own first novel anecdote. I’ll be sure to link back here and follow up once I do.
Agents of Shield
I’ve been catching up on season 3 of Agents of Shield. Gotta love Netflix. It’s been a while since I’ve watched this particular show. Season 2 was a bit of a rocky one for me. Skye’s family drama was way to drawn our for my taste. I’m enjoying season more, though I’m only a third of the way through.
It occurred to me watching it that the dialog, while not always smoothly delivered (I enjoy the show, but the acting isn’t stellar), I feel like it’s well paced most of the time. It makes me want to write since it reminds me of how dialog feels on paper. I can practically see the dialog tags and beats as the show progresses.
I’m not suggesting the show is brilliantly written, but is competently written, particularly the dialog, at least when it isn’t being used to force plot. It’s a happy reminder of how dangerous forcing things can be to the integrity of the work. It’s also a reminder that there is a balance to maintain between the art of the words and the needs of the story.
Maybe it’s just good for me to be thinking about this kind of thing at random again. It’s been a while.
Time to sit in front of a keyboard for a while.
Why I go to cons
Hello friends, readers, fans, and people who accidentally wound up here looking for something else. I’m at LibertyCon this weekend so I thought I should blog about it. (This is where I don’t mention that I don’t blog enough.) Rather than focus on this one con, though, I thought I’d discuss cons in general.
I don’t go to a while lot of science fiction cons. I don’t travel far to attend them. It’s not that I don’t want to, goodness knows I do, but there are only so many things I get out of a con. Here’s my top five reasons I go to my local cons.
5) Selling books. Ooh, do I like selling books! And going to a con usually affords me the opportunity to do that…two or the times over the weekend. I think my peak is five. I’m not a known author, I only have one product to push, and short story collections aren’t exactly the top seller these days. So the book sales aren’t exactly passing my way, but they feel good. Notice that this takes the bottom slot (top of the page, bottom ranking, for those directionally strict) because it’s more a perk than a reason. In fact, I didn’t even bring books with me this time, so sales are tough to pul off.
4) Networking.I’m a terrible networker. Terrible. Mostly because I’m ever so slightly socially awkward. (Never thought you’d find a socially awkward person at a science fiction convention, did you?) I pretty much need to be planted next to someone to accomplish anything. Cons often plant me in the right place when I need to be there. I’ve gotten at least one story sold this way and made some very good friends the same way.
3) Feeling knowledgeable. I’ve been doing this worrying thing for a while now. I’m pretty decent at it. The things I’m not decent at, I know about and know I need to improve (most notable: keyboard time). But it’s easy to forget that I know stuff when I’m not using the stuff I know. It’s good to be on a panel and be able to talk about writing or space travel or zombies or comedy and contribute to a discussion, and have people react to what I day as if it had value (whether they actually think it does or not, I appreciate the illusion). It also feels good to listen to other people on panels and think “yup, I knew that” or “they should mention this” or even “what are they talking about?” I admit, that’s more the reason I attend panels these days than any hope of picking up something new. That doesn’t mean I don’t learn new stuff, it just means I don’t expect it. That knowledgeable feeling is what I like. (Maybe too much honesty there?)
2) My people. Being in a small southern town made finding my people (geeks and nerds) a daunting challenge. I’m finding it no easier now that I’m in a big southern city. I know they’re out there, but how so I find them? Go to where they congregate, of course. This isn’t even about making friends, it’s about feeling comfortable in my skin in a large group (see socially awkward above). The conversations I overhear make sense to me as worth discussing. Even if a debate over whether zombies or vampires are more terrifying isn’t any more productive than whether soccer is better than, football or Trump is better than a mannequin wearing a badger, at least I get desire to explore the z/v contest. One con I went to had a room full (very full) of people singing along with a showing of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. If that’s not finding muy people, what is?
1) Inspiration. It can be hard to write when so many things in life are demanding your attention. Kid, girlfriend, selling a house, buying a house, day job, dog…that’s just a few of the top of my recent list. Sometimes it takes a fire under my butt to get my fingers burning across a keyboard. People at cons have that kind of fire. Sometimes it’s “wow, I want to have a book launch party like that guy”, or its “I want to talk about a project with passion like she does”, but just as often it’s “if this idiot can get a book out, why can’t I?” I’m not proud of that last one, but inspired is inspired. I’m still at LibertyCon and I just pumped out 2000 words on my middle grade novel that has been nothing but stalling for the past month. If it weren’t for the refueling I get from a con, I’m not sure there would be a writer in me anymore.
EP Contest, SCA, and other updates
Well, the Escape Pod contest was fun, but my story got trounced in the final round. Technically I don’t think it should have made the final round (edged out by a vote at the end), but they let 3 stories through each semi-final group instead of the 2 from the original rules. I’m in full support of the stories that won, so no hard feelings. I’m just glad to see that story garner as much support as it did in the earlier rounds.
I recently attended my very first SCA event. For those unfamiliar, it’s kind of like a Renaissance Fair(e) but covers a full weekend. It’s a little more about the dressing up and experiencing than I think most Faires are, but I’ve honestly not been to one of those, so I can’t say. I enjoyed it. It turns out I look great in a tunic and arguably even better in a kilt. I will definitely be going to more. I consider it research for future fantasy stories, and I’m pretty sure I can get my taxes to reflect that.
After eight long months, I finally sold my house. Now I only have to pay for one place to live (plus a storage unit for my stuff to live in). Maybe that will allow my stress levels to come down and help me get some writing done. Maybe.
Speaking of writing, my next project will have me dipping my toe into middle-grade fiction. I’ve written on that level before (Brother Goo, Faerie Belches, Ten Seconds), but I’m tackling this at the novel length. My daughter inspired me with her sudden interest in my stories, and I want to do something targeted at her. Plus we’ve been reading the Fablehaven books together, which are very good; I’d be honored to have my work shelved next to books like that. More on that as I tackle it more fully.
Escape Pod’s Flash Contest
I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I thought it might be worth mentioning that Escape Pod, the preeminent audio podcast for short form Science Fiction, is in the midst of its annual (soon to be more often?) flash fiction contest. And by midst I mean getting close to the end. Voting is in the second round, closing in the early a.m. hours of March 26th. There is one final round after that. Top three stories get purchased and published with the audio treatment.
There are things I can tell you about this contest and things I cannot. For instance, I can tell you that I submitted a story to the contest. However, since the contest is anonymous, I can’t tell you which story is mine. Since the bylines have been released on all stories that didn’t make the first round cut, I can probably tell you that my story made it to the second round of voting. But I still can’t tell you which story is mine. Nor can I say which of the four groups it’s in.
Voting is for forum members only (to keep the contenders classified as “unpublished”). Forum membership is free, so if you’re interested in voting and reading some pretty good flash, go check it out. Complete rules and voting schedule are here.
Good luck to all that are still in it. There are some great little (500 words or less) stories in this contest. It’s an honor just to be still in it.
Rewind
Rewind.
No, this is not a retrospective post on what the last few months have been like (though they’ve been nuts). This post is me saying something I haven’t been able to say in quite a while: I have a new story out! The good people at Flash Fiction Online saw it fit to publish my flash piece “Rewind“. It follows in the footsteps of my previous stories like “Excuse Me” and “Ten Seconds” in exploring time travel in very small doses. When you have five minutes to spare, go check it out!
It’s November now, and I’m happy to say that I might be in a place where I could possibly do some regular writing. Not NaNoWriMo amounts of writing, mind you, but a thousand words a week kind of writing. The new job and the perpetually on-hiatus move not withstanding, this is something I need to get back to. I promised some friends I’d have a draft of something to share at a con in January, so I have that motivation on my side.
So I guess I should go make the most of this keyboard time and make a story happen. Bye for now.
Scott W. Baker: Chaos out of Chaos 