Last Post...

For a while...

Apologies first because this post is not about publishing. It is about the real world, and in particular my real world.

I'm on (unexpected) paid leave for a little while, as things have changed slightly in work.

In a nutshell, my role has been outsourced. I, along with my colleagues have been offered an alternative role albeit at a reduced salary.

To put it mildly, I am not happy about this but it does at least take the pressure off looking for alternative employment. I know that, in the organisation I work for, I can at least have a fixed day off each week to attend college, although I have not done this for a few years for a number of reasons.

Anyway, training for my new role starts on September 1st. I am on paid leave until at least the 28th. I do not expect to be in work between the 28th and 1st, but if I am then I will certainly post.

Until then, take care and enjoy your writing.

Hwyl fawr am nawr!

Fridayitis (The Saturday Edition)

Did you know that AAR is the Association of Authors’ Representatives and is an organization of literary and dramatic agents that sets certain guidelines and standards that professional and reputable agents must abide by?

You did? Oh well I didn't, that's why Jessica over at BookEnds, LLC put together A Publishing Dictionary. Very handy it is too.

As ever the source of great debating Nathan Bransford has an Open Thread! It's all in there, from basic plot tropes to questions about the Curtis Brown website (I won't link to Curtis Brown website as there's not much there atm).

A gloomy post but one that's worth reading anyway: Does It Have a Pulse? Ellis, Scalzi, the Death of the SF Short Story, and Some Comics. There are few error's on the page, one is corrected in the comments and the other is a reference Star Trek 3: The Voyage Home (it would have been Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock, which was released in 84. Although I think the author is getting confused with Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (1986), which was better received than Star Trek 3, and I'm sure did better in the theatres. (Sorry I'm geeking out a bit here...)

And to round off, a not so gloomy article from Bookseller.

That's it for a while

Have a great weekend!

This just in...

The Wannabe Scribe goes into meltdown with a thousand fold increase in hits.

Wow, you should see the hits since I made those changes to the sidebar. I think I took a few servers down after make- whoa there. Did I really say that out loud?

No! you typed it you muppet!

You can get back to the Q&A from last Thursday you fiend!

Anyway, enough wishful thinking, check out Adam's post for some great advice on strong verbs.

I'm off Thursday and Friday, so Fridayitis will be Saturdayitis (if I remember - I will try - honest).

Have a great weekend.

Juggling Elements

Well things are looking up for the site. I had some good news today that relates to the real world, which means that I will be able to continue posting for the foreseeable future.

With that in mind I am going to start building the blog up a bit, albeit slowly. To start with I've rearranged some of the sections on the side bar. Hopefully moving up all the interesting stuff, like Writing resources and other blogs, will entice more of the occasional visitors to stick around.

I hope you like the changes.

The Monday Afternoon Write-up

I hit upon a neat idea this weekend. As I was referring back to previous chapters to make sure my characters use consistent terminology, I realised how handy it would be to not to have to do this. I decided to create a little document - just in notepad, called What Does Aydan Know? (Aydan being my POV character).

It's a simple text file which lists chapters and with each chapter there are a few lines which note what Aydan has leaned in this chapter. As the writer, I know, or should know, everything there is to know about my little universe. My main character, on the other hand doesn't, and I need to be careful what my main character says and does so that he is consistent.

So far it has been quite useful, already I've spotted a mistake whereby Aydan and his companion Kynn nearly swapped preferred makes of weapon. This would have been a complete pain in the ass if it had been allowed to continue unnoticed through the rest of the manuscript.

I'm at 1900 words for this chapter, and while I was not overjoyed at how it was progressing, this morning I managed to get a little more done and filled in some blanks that has really fleshed it out a bit. Also because I have been writing in drips and drabs lately I've been easily distracted and I can't say I have achieved an awful lot, but it really kicked off just before I left work, so much so I was nearly late. Now I know that when I write next (as long as it is today or tomorrow) I should be able to pick up where I left off.

The word count for this chapter is in the right ballpark. I'm not sure yet quite where I am going to end it, it might reach about 4000 words, it really depends on which cliff-hanger I choose to end it with.

Fridayitis (Yay!)

Guess what...? It's Friday and I didn't forget.

Fridayitis is here whoo hoo!

So, what's been happening this week?

First up, Randy Ingermanson has An Interview With An Agent, in this case Chip MacGregor. It's a role play and Randy is assuming the role of Tom Clancy pitching his first novel.

Do people, authors especially, really still do this?

Nathan, as ever, has a stirring discussion on his blog about Author Websites and You Tell Me: Do Author Blogs Sell Books?

That's it for this week. I'm off the weekend, so I'll be back on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Baby Steps

Q. Did I get any writing done last night?

A. Yes! Yes I did!

Q. Was it much?

A. Um... No not really.

Q. How much was it?

A. About 200 words or so...

Q. 200? Just 200 words?

A. Yes. Baby steps. It's hard when you haven't written for a while.

Q. Why?

A. It takes time to get the creative juices flowing, and you can be distracted quite easily.

Q. So, was it worth it?

A. Absolutely! What a dumb ass question! The small steps I made last night will keep things ticking over. Already I have ideas of how I can improve, not what I wrote last night, which was largely editing and finishing off a scene, but what I wrote several days ago.

Q. Are you going tell us then?

A. Tell you what?

Q. I ask the questions here! That's twice now.

A. That wasn't a question.

Q. Oh shut up!

A. That wasn't a question either.... Hey wait a minute! You're me, you can't talk to me like that!