All the Billion Other Moments

I’ve finally gotten around to wrapping up the CSS based progress meters I’ve been using on this site into a WordPress Plugin. This is my first plugin for WordPress, and it’s in it’s initial release. If you try it out let me know. I’m open to feature suggestions, etc.

More on the ProgPress page.

Yesterday I passed the 50,000 word goal necessary to succeed at NaNoWriMo. I didn’t do quite as good as last year, which probably stems from the state of the outline going into November. It still has some holes, but it’s in better shape now then when I started.

I don’t think I learned anything new from the process, but it was great to get back into serious a daily writing ritual (a process I started before November to be sure I was prepared). It’s also great to have 55% of a new novel down in first draft form. The trick will be keeping at it for the next 40,000 words. I can’t keep up this pace, but I plan to not drop below 1,000 words a day. I didn’t intend to take today off from writing, but life had other plans.

I want to thank the folks who cheered me on via twitter. It really was a great motivator (and one I hope to keep using now that NaNoWriMo is over). I’d also like to thank the folks behind The NanoMonkeys podcast, both for the daily advice, and for giving me a chance to try my hand at podcasting and risking the reputation of their Parsec Award nominated podcast in the process. I hope other writers who listened found my advice useful. And of course, thanks to my family for putting up with the hectic schedule that allowed me to succeed.

Congratulations to everyone else who reached their goal this month. I hope everyone who tried, whether they succeeded or not, came out of the experience with something positive.

I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, but Holly Lisle has released her first audio course (MP3 and PDF): How to Beat Writers’ Block (and Have FUN Writing From Now On) (which includes a copy of 21 Ways to Get Yourself Writing When Your Life Has Just Exploded).

Hopefully when things quite down for me I’ll post a review.

Holly Lisle is testing the idea of offering online writing seminars. She’s accepting applications for the test seminar now (this one is going to be free to the twenty selected participants as she works through the process). Sign ups close November 1, 2007 at the latest so act quickly.

I figured it was time for a bit of a writing update. I’m currently prepping for NaNoWriMo. If you don’t know what that is you can read about on their site. Short version: Write 50,000 words on a new novel during the month of November. I did it last year (and won) and I’m looking forward to trying again.

I’m currently doing some plot work in preparation. I’m using the same world as I used for Miracles, but none of the same characters (although I could easily play six degrees of separation I don’t think any of that will make it into the book). This will be the first novel I’ve written using Scrivener (the software that got me to buy a Mac mini, but that’s whole other post). I’m planning on the novel (not titled, I never seem to title my novels until the end) being about 90,000 words, which means I should finish my first draft sometime in January, although I’m aiming for the end of the year.

After this one is done I’ll go back and restart the stalled slog on Miracles, and possibly toss around some of my short stories back out into the market. I hope to have the Miracles revisions done by April, then I’ll hopefully start revising this new book. My first novel is pretty much dead in the water. I’m still waiting for feedback from two of my first readers (hmmm, time for an email). The feedback I’ve gotten to date has me thinking that there’s something worth saving there, but it needs a lot of work. If nothing else it was a great learning experience.

I’m also planning to try and post updates once a week in November, but it all depends on my word count progress (pretty much everything in November depends on my word count progress). If you miss hearing from me or just can’t get enough of me I recorded an episode of The NanoMonkeys Podcast (my podcast premiere, not counting voice mail or live chat) during the first few days of November. Besides, if you aren’t busy you should sign up for NaNoWrimo yourself (and leave a comment if you do).

So this morning I was feeling rather uninspired (which is odd for me in the morning). While I wasn’t doing anything very productive Mur Lafferty tweeted the following:

I still think Green Eggs and Ham is a book about giving in to peer pressure. Or maybe I’m a cynic.

I replied:

@mightymur having a child who is a picky eater I’d say it’s about trying things before deciding you don’t like them

To which she replied:

@jczorkmid: Oh I know what it’s supposed to be about. I’m just saying, replace green eggs and ham with “crack” and it’s a different book

So I thought about it for a bit. Then inspiration hit, and here’s the result. Disclaimer: This is a work of parody. I’m not endorsing the use of pink meth and crack, or anything of the kind. (more…)

Download PDF (~100kb)

I’m pleased to be able to offer the first 54 pages of Holly Lisle’s Create A Plot Clinic for download. This covers the introduction, all of the section on Plotting before writing (including structure) and the first two plotting “tools”. If you are at all interested in writing you owe it to yourself to give it a look. It’s free, so what have you got to loose?

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Shop.HollyLisle.com, but that’s because I believe in the products. I’ve found these books invaluable in my own writing.

If you’ve been following me on Twitter or via my Lifefeed you may have seen some recent references to SOLIDARITY! Check out I Should Be Writing #76 in which Mur Lafferty interviews JC Hutchins about the phenomenon. You’ll also hear a rather rushed sounding voicemail from Yours Truly.