Blog Bozo

Blogging Again Elsewhere

2009-06-06T11:15:00.002-05:00

I'm blogging again elsewhere, at TwitterBard.com. My purpose at TwitterBard is to write and post a daily Twitter-length (140 character max) poem. I'm also doing book reviews, cultural commentary, longer poems, and whatever suits my fancy. I'll hope you'll join me there!

Typing Progess!

2007-10-24T08:58:00.001-05:00

I've actually made some progress. By listening to podcasts at the same time as doing my typing progress, it's stopped being boring. I posted my typing goals about two months ago, but I wasn't actually able to stick to the thing until I found the podcast-typing combination.

I've been at it steadily now for almost two weeks. My touch-typing speed on the Dvorak keyboard layout is now at about 24 WPM. Progress!

As for the podcasts, I've mostly been listening to my Fiction 101 course by Randy Ingermanson. Before I didn't make enough use of them because of the boredom. Again, that typing and listening combination is really working for me.

Another Stab at Typing

2007-08-19T18:47:00.000-05:00

Here’s a shameful confession for a write – I can’t type. I can hunt-and-peck at a decent speed, about 40 WPM, but that’s not nearly as efficient as I’d like. Time is money, after all. Besides that, I sometimes get very sore fingers from overusing the same two to three fingers.

Months ago, I found a great typing program that allows me to use the Dvorak keyboard, Key Advantage Typing. I’m going to start using it again. I learned the Dvorak keyboard at one point, but stopped because I was too painfully slow at 15 WPM to stand typing that way.

For now, my plan is to do two lessons a week in six, 10-minute bursts. That’ll be an hour of training a day. I will allow myself to do typing games for the same fingers. There are 24 lessons, so in three months I ought to be fairly competent. I’m setting this goal for now in lieu of my daily writing. I hope that doesn’t backfire.

As always, this goal is subject to revision at any time.

Progress Report

2007-08-15T06:19:00.002-05:00

My fiction writing goals for the summer and the year are pretty much blown, other than writing 1000 words daily. I discovered two things:

1. I’m expecting too much from myself; I was trying to work myself too hard.
2. I’m far more of a novice at writing fiction than I wanted to believe.

I’ve been quite busy over the summer -- especially the last month-and-a-half -- with school, acting as webmaster for my local Society for Technical Communication chapter, and my normal family duties. I was able to begin many, little short stories, but I didn’t get much further than that. At first, I was keeping up with critiques, but I lost that battle about a month ago when my course load doubled.

My vision is to work as a freelance writer and editor. Assuming fiction and creative non-fiction is undependable for paying the bills (except for a lucky few), I want to develop part of my career doing freelance copy editing and business/technical writing. My income goals are modest, and I think I can eventually provide the bulk of my income from the latter portion on a part-time basis, leaving plenty of time in the future for the soul-enriching fiction and creative non-fiction work. Towards the editing and business/technical writing part of my goals, I’m making great strides. In the last few months I’ve:

1. Continued to make top marks in my bachelors program in English - Professional Writing. I graduate in December!
2. Been building a good network in my local Society for Technical Communication (STC) chapter. The cool thing is I genuinely like hanging around those folks.
3. Just got my first freelance copy editing contract for a publisher of market research reports in the medical field.
4. Been working as as webmaster for the STC chapter, among other things starting a project to modernize the site.
5. Written a monthly column for the STC newsletter on Web 2.0 and the technical writing trade.

I think that’s quite a bit of progress! The best part is starting to pull in income as a copy editor. Money makes it real. The preceding four points will keep me busy for the rest of the year. For next year, I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to focus on the freelance editing and business/technical writing business, or start following a progressive course to improve my fiction writing. There are arguments both ways.

The goal of earning my bread as a writer and editor isn’t so far off now. I wish the fiction portion was a little closer, but we do what we can.

Lawd Have Moicy, I's Paid at Last!

2007-08-10T05:49:00.000-05:00

Last Monday I entered into a work-for-hire contract with TriMark Publications, "a global leader in the biotechnology, healthcare and life sciences market research and intelligence space." I’ll be copy editing some of their market reports.

Paid work: the highest pitch of excitement. I’ve been paid before for some of my publications and for my work on The UTD Mercury, the student paper at the University of Texas at Dallas, but that was all gas money, chump change. This contract with TriMark is the real deal. It’s awesome to get paid as a wordsmith.

It’s also great to be bringing down some real money after being unpaid as Mr. Mom. I can’t complain about my Mr. Mom standard of living or the benefits of a close family, but there’s something nice about a check with dollar signs on it. Sweet cash-ola!

Of course, I’m busy as all get out right now. I’m just finishing up a double load of classes, completing my organization of the kids fall activities – including organizing two groups – and planning the major revamp of the STC LSC Web site. My eyeballs are about to pop out. You can imagine I’m not writing any fiction right now!

Ah, yes, another step is taken in my grand scheme for a freelance writing and editing career. Now to take over the world....

Flavors of Editing

2007-08-10T04:43:00.000-05:00

A great description of the types of editing from the American Library Association blog, ALA Editions.

Developmental Editing: Working closely with the author at the draft manuscript stage to help direct and shape the content.
Substantive Editing: Improving the organization and expression of ideas. Identify places where the author needs to rewrite or add content. (I think of this as a paragraph-level edit because it typically involves moving paragraphs around and reshaping the flow of the content.)
Line Editing: Improving the writing at the sentence level. For example, eliminating jargon, passive voice, wordiness. Querying any remaining problems that would fall under substantive editing.
Copy Editing: Correcting (or making consistent) capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar, usage. Querying any remaining problems that would fall under line editing. Creating an editorial style sheet.
Editorial Proofreading: Reading, with reference to the editorial style sheet where one exists, to make sure that the copy editing is complete. Typically this stage occurs only if the copy editing stage has been skipped for some reason, or if the copy editing was done by a subject matter expert rather than by a professional copy editor.
Traditional Proofreading: Comparing final copy word-for-word against an edited manuscript to make sure that they match. Marking anything that the copy editor has missed.

Americans Are Emotionally Incontinent

2007-08-08T17:37:00.000-05:00

The "Doublespeak" column in the August 4th-10th issue of The Economist had the following pithy observation:

America under Mr. Bush is not at its most popular in Britain, or elsewhere. To many British eyes, both president and country are too bombastic, myopically self-assured, lacking a properly tragic view of life and sometimes emotionally incontinent.

And that, my friends, is what divides the real writers from the hacks.

The New York Times is Talking Trash

2007-08-04T06:15:00.000-05:00

Last week the New York Times published an article titled “Is Junie B. Jones Talking Trash?” The title itself makes me wonder about the effect of poor grammar in literature on the editors of the New York Times. While I use the idiom “talking trash” myself in everyday speech, I know that it’s not appropriate for a newspaper with the stature of the New York Times. Given that the article is about the deleterious effects of poor grammar in the Junie B. Jones children’s series on its young readers, perhaps the article title was meant ironically. It definitely is ironic.

I wonder how “talking trash” became normal? When I was growing up (I’m only 36), I understood that the word, talking, related to the act of making sounds orally, and the word, speech, to the creation of meaning from oral sounds. Also, shouldn’t the adverb “trash” be “trashly”? Granted, “trashly” isn’t an accepted word, but it would be more consistent with other adverbs we apply to talking and speaking, like loudly or clearly.

Hegemony of Six Publishers in U.S.

2007-07-31T09:43:00.000-05:00

From Author Benjamin Hoff's website:

(1) AOL Time Warner [USA]
(DBA Time Warner Trade Publishing Group)

Warner Books
Mysterious Press
Time Warner AudioBooks
Warner Aspect
Warner Books
Warner Business Books
Warner Faith
Warner Vision

Little, Brown and Company
Back Bay Books
Bullfinch Press
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company Books for Children and Young Adults
(Megan Tingley Books)

(2) Bertelsmann AG [Germany]
(DBA Random House, Inc.)

Ballantine Publishing Group
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Reader’s Circle
Del Ray
Del Ray / Lucas Books
Fawcett Books
Ivy
One World
Wellspring

Bantam Dell Publishing Group
Bantam Hardcover
Bantam Mass Market
Bantam Trade Paperback
Crimeline
Delacorte Press
Dell
Delta
The Dial Press
Domain
DTP
Fanfare
Island
Spectra

Crown Publishing Group
Clarkson Potter
Crown Books
Crown Business
Harmony Books / Bell Tower
Prima
Shaye Areheart Books
Three Rivers Press

Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group
Black Ink / Harlem Moon
Broadway Books
Currency
Doubleday
Doubleday Graphic Novels
Doubleday Religious Publishing
Main Street Books
Nan A. Talese

Knopf Publishing Group
Alfred A. Knopf
Anchor Books
Everyman’s Library
Pantheon Books
Schocken Books
Vintage Anchor Publishing

Random House Trade Publishing Group
The Modern Library
Random House Trade Books
Strivers Row Books
Villard Books

Random House Audio Publishing Group
Listening Library
Random House Audible
Random House Audio
Random House Audio Assets
Random House Audio Dimensions
Random House Audio Price-less
Random House Audio Roads
Random House Audio Voices

Random House Children’s Books
BooksReportsNow.com
GoldenBooks.com
Junie B. Jones
Kids@Random
Magic Tree House
Parents@Random
Seussville
Teachers@Random
Teens@Random

Knopf Delacorte Dell Young Readers Group
Alfred A. Knopf
Bantam
Crown
David Fickling Books
Delacorte Press
Dell Dragonfly
Dell Laurel-Leaf
Dell Yearling Books
Doubleday
Wendy Lamb Books

Random House Young Readers Group
Akiko
Arthur
Barbie
Beginner Books
The Berenstain Bears
Bob the Builder
Disney
Dragon Tales
First Time Books
Golden Books
Landmark Books
Little Golden Books
Lucas Books
Mercer Mayer
Nickelodeon
Nick Jr.
pat the bunny
Picturebacks
Precious Moments
Richard Scarry
Sesame Street Books
Step into Reading
Stepping Stones
Star Wars
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

Random House Direct, Inc.
Bon Appetit
Gourmet Books
Pillsbury

Random House Information Group
Fodor’s Travel Publications
Living Language
Prima Games
Princeton Review
Random House Espanol
Random House Puzzles & Games
Random House Reference Publishing

Random House Large Print Publishing

Random House Value Publishing

Waterbrook Press
Fisherman Bible Study Guides
Shaw Books
Waterbrook Press

(3) News Corporation [Australia]
(DBA HarperCollins)

HarperCollins General Books Group
Access Press
Amistad Press
Avon Books
Cliff Street Books
Ecco Press
Eos
Fourth Estate
HarperAudio
HarperBusiness
HarperCollins
HarperEntertainment
HarperLargePrint
HarperResource
HarperSanFrancisco
HarperTorch
Perennial
PerfectBound
Quill
Rayo
ReganBooks
William Morrow

HarperCollins Children’s Books Group
Avon Books
Greenwillow Books
HarperCollins Children’s Books
HarperFestival
HarperTrophy
Joanna Cotler Books
Laura Geringer Books
Tempest

(4) Pearson plc [England]
(DBA Penguin Group (USA), Inc.)

Penguin Putnam, Inc.
Avery
Berkeley Books Group (Ace, Berkeley, Jove)
Blue Hen Books
Boulevard
Dorling Kindersley
Dutton
Gotham Books
HPBooks
Jeremy P. Tarcher
New American Library (Onyx, Roc, Signet)
Penguin
Perigree Books
Plume
Portfolio
Prime Crime
Putnam
Riverhead Books
Viking

Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers
Alloy Books
Dial Books for Young Readers
Dutton Children’s Books ( Dutton, Grossett & Dunlap)
Firebird
Frederick Warne
G.P. Putnam’s Sons books for young Readers
Philomel Books
Phyllis Fogelman Books
PaperStar
Planet Dexter
Platt & Munk
Playskool
Price Stern Sloan
PSS
Puffin Books
Viking Children’s Books

(5) Viacom, Inc. [USA]
(DBA Simon & Schuster)

Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Archway
Baen Books
PB Press (The Free Press, Pocket Books, The Washington Square
Press)
Scribner
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster Trade Paperbacks (Fireside, Sonnet, Touchstone,
TV Books)

Simon & Schuster Audio
Pimsleur
Simon & Schuster Audioworks
Simon & Schuster Sound Ideas

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
AAA Books
Aladdin Paperbacks
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Little Simon
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Minstrel
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Simon Pulse
Simon Spotlight

Simon and Schuster Interactive

(6) Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinkck
[Germany]
(DBA Holtzbrinkck Publishers)

St. Martin’s Press
Bedford Books
Encarta
Forge Books
Golden Guides and Golden Field Guides
Griffin
Let’s Go Publications
Minotaur
Orb Books
Palgrave Macmillan
Picadore USA
St. Martin’s Press
Stonewall Inn Editions
Thomas Dunne Books
Tor Books
Truman Talley Books
Whitman Coin Books & Products

Henry Holt & Co.
Edge Books
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Henry Holt Reference
John Macrae Books
Metropolitan Books
Owl Books
Owlets Paperbacks
Redfeather Books
Times Books
21st Century Books

Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Faber and Faber
FSG Books for Young Readers
Hill and Wang
Mirasol/Libros
North Point Press
Sunburst Paperback

Why I'm Not Writing Fiction Today

2007-07-31T09:38:00.000-05:00

Supposedly, my goal is to be successful as a professional fiction writer. I’ve had many good plans typed up to get me there. The latest was writing a little flash fiction story every day. That went OK for a while, but now it’s tapered off, like all the other grand designs. Why? I write something every day, and, really, I’m working my butt off for my school papers, my technical writers group, and even some non-fiction projects.

The obvious answer is that I don’t want to write fiction today. If I wanted to, I would. Let’s qualify that a little. I do still want to write and publish fiction, but negatives in my mind keep stories from getting written, rewritten, and submitted. Looking through the confusion, pain, and excuses, I find several reasons I don’t want to write fiction on a daily basis:

I don’t have much extra time and energy to devote to writing fiction
I’m not confident in my ability to write fiction well (and it’s darned hard right now)
No one, including my family, seems to care whether or not I succeed
I don’t think I’ll get published anyway
Even if I get published, I figure it’ll be a huge hassle for very little money
I’m not excited about the small publications where I might published in the short term.

Good God, why even try? Yet the dream persists. I can think of nothing more exciting or fulfilling than writing and publishing my stories, of which I have so many ideas. If I don’t want to pack it up and give it up, what am I going to do about all this? First, let’s recognize that there’s a lot of truth in that list of points.

Between preparing for a technical writing career, homeschooling the kids, my other duties as a husband and father, and generally participating in life, my time is pretty tapped. I can make changes in my duties to carve out more time, possibly, and some of those duties will drop off soon. In December, I’ll be done with school. I can take on a lighter role with my technical writer group next May. As the kids get older they manage more and more of their own education, and soon they’ll be grown. It’s a waiting game. The challenge, if I want to be a professional author, is to make sure I don’t fill up my schedule with things besides writing fiction as the things I mentioned fall away.

I’m pretty confident in my ability to write non-fiction pieces. Heck, I just sat down and whipped out this little essay without any angst. Is it any wonder: I’ve been writing essays and articles for almost 30 years! There’s room for improvement, of course, but I can handle the basics without thinking too hard about it. So, if I want to write fiction, how do I build confidence? It’s a blow to my pride to admit that I’m a novice in fiction. Smaller, achievable goals seems to be the next sensible step. After I’m done with school, I might start taking fiction writing courses even though I hate the idea of submitting myself to someone else's instruction. I’d like to do it all myself; that’s my writer fantasy. Even if I ended up with paint-by-number stories and novels, they’d be complete and further along than I am now. There was a time when I learned to write essays with the five paragraph method. Starting small works.

My family has no interest in whether or not succeed as a fiction writer. It hurts that my wife, especially, isn’t behind me. I think they’ll rejoice if I get some success, but until then I probably sound like a little kid talking about becoming an astronaut. It’s most likely a rare novice writer that has family support. Let’s face it: only other writers get the struggle. That’s why writers groups exist. In time, if I want to be serious, I need to put more time into my current writers’ groups and probably join some face-to-face ones in the area. More than groups, I need more writer friends. But more writer friends and group participation probably won’t happen until I’m actually writing more. Any possibility for support from fans definitely won’t happen unless I’m published, and I shouldn’t hold my breath even then.

Obviously I won’t get published if I’m not writing and submitting. Duh! Even so, it’s still a tough slog, a buyers market. There’s no financial guarantee. Most writers don’t depend on writing for their living, and even the one’s that do don’t kid themselves that it’s anything less than precarious and a lot of work. But if it is about money, then I should do something else. Deep down, though, I know there’s nothing else I want to do. I need to keep the business side emotionally separate from the creative part of things. If I make a living, I ought to be deeply grateful. If I don’t, I better watch resentment, because I know what I’m getting into. Still, it’s easier to make philosophical statements than live by them. That’s another thing writer friends are for. When the market says your efforts are of no value, it’s your friends -- and fans if you have them -- that keep you grounded in what matters about writing, that tell you what you’re doing is important.

If I’m not excited about the small publications I might publish in, then I can submit somewhere else. If all the short story publications seem boring, then I can go straight for the novel. I can also write non-fiction for the publications that do excite me. Or I can publish on a purely pecuniary basis without consideration of whether I find a particular magazine or whatever interesting. There are options.

This way of life is tougher than I thought it’d be somehow. Every day, I see semi-professional writers, good writers, giving up. It seems sensible to be a little more patient, start taking some fiction writing classes in a few months, make some more writer friends, submit some work when I actually finish some more, and let more writing time into my life as circumstances change. It’s still going to be hard. That’s something I’ll just have to accept or stop trying.

Genius Author Gives Up Writing Books

2007-07-30T22:57:00.000-05:00

Benjamin Hoff, author of The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet, says he's giving up authoring according to his essay,"Farewell to Authorship."

Hoff says that the vagaries of the centralized book publishing business in America have made authorship unbearable and untenable, and are ruining literature in America.

As a wanna-be author and a fan of Hoff, it breaks my heart. His books are among the few I read again and again, and they've been bedrock in developing my ethics. It's a sad loss.

The Ghost of Stories Past

2007-07-28T07:50:00.001-05:00

I’d pretty much given up on writing fiction for the time being, seeing how busy I’ve been with everything, but yesterday a novel idea I worked on months ago started haunting me and I spent hours on the darned thing. You never know when the muse is going to knock. But now, after hours of writing, I’m tapped out. How knows when the idea will pop up again. Lord knows I don’t have time to start a new project, but if it grabs me like it did yesterday, I’ll have to write it or go insane.

What is a Writer and Why Do Writers Quit?

2007-07-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

When I was in high school, my drama teacher was giving a talk about the difficulties of being an actor. He spoke about poverty, lack of security, the humiliation of try-outs. The summary of his advice was, “Don’t be an actor if you can do anything else.” As much as I enjoyed theater in school, I realized I could do something else. Didn’t know what at that point. About a year ago, I realized I couldn’t do anything but write. There is really nothing else -- aside from being a good person, husband, and father -- that I want to do in life. (Well, OK, there are places I want to visit, things I want to do for fun, but you know what I mean.)

But then there’s the realities of the business. It’s a buyers market. There are enough people who derive great pleasure from storytelling that it’s difficult to get published at all, let alone make a living. It’s a winner-take-all market dynamic, like sports. There is little the author can control about their success or lack of success. In On Writing, the super-rich Stephen King admitted he doesn’t know why his writing strikes a chord with so many people where the works of many fine writers, some better than him, do not. It’s a crap shoot.

It seems to me there are two goals for a professional writer: to be a fine writer and to be a commercial success. Both are difficult; both have demands; both have things beyond the author's control. We can’t control our talent, though I don’t think many people who would write would bother if there wasn’t some there. We can’t control our imaginations. We can’t control the market. We can’t control the tastes of editors. There’s even more. I think it’s best to focus on what we can control, and do that. I also think it’s better we don’t confuse those two goals, or we’ll increase our frustration.

For the first goal, we can control that we write often and regularly. We can control that we participate in writing groups. We can control that we read voluminously. We can control that we study the example and advice of authors we admire. That’s really about it. If we do all that, we’re writers. It seems to me that if we set achievable goals in these areas and achieve them, we’re successful as artists.

For the market, we can control that we study the market. We can control that we submit regularly. We can control that we observe good business practices and etiquette. That’s all we can control. Here again, sanity says that we define success as setting and achieving achievable goals.

Frustration is the result of some other needs we have not being met. We want respect and admiration for our work. We want a little (or a lot of) fame. We want to earn a living doing what we love. The numbers are against us. It’s a bad wager. People realize that eventually and give up. But the reason they give up is because those needs, which are beyond our control, are stronger for them than the need to be writers. Recognition, personally and financially, is the stronger reason for being a writer, and that reason is thwarted by reality, except to the lucky few.

I’m frustrated myself right now. Until the last couple weeks when I started my double course load, I was writing some little story every day. I was participating in my groups critiquing. Now I’m not. The sheer mental energy everything else I’m doing sucks the energy I need to be creative. Sure, I can ramble off a long posting like this, but fiction is still too new for me to be done with half a brain. The life I’m choosing today doesn’t allow me to be successful as an artist, yet I know I want to be a writer more than anything. Well, almost anything. I want to live, and I want to be a good husband and father. My compromise is going to school and doing some volunteer work in preparation for a writing-related career. In those, I’m busting my butt. I have top marks in school. I’m doing lots of work for the Society for Technical Communication group I belong to. I’m also doing lots of work around the house and for the kid’s education. I hate being a grownup.

I have faith, though, that I’m heading in the right direction. I’m taking the actions to become a professional writer, even if of a non-fiction variety. The skills I’m learning along the way can’t be anything but helpful. I’m working well on my long-term goal of putting myself in a position where I can work freelance from home as a writer/editor to earn a basic living, and still have time and energy to do fiction. Six years from now, the kids will be grown, my wife and I will have lower financial demands, and I’ll be established enough in my career that I ought to be able to make a basic income doing freelance or contract work, and be doing fiction for myself and extra money. If I were 20 again, I’d just move into a crappy apartment and devote myself to my art, like a monk, but I’m not prepared to do that today. I care too much for my wife, my kids, and my own well-being.

I’m frustrated because I want the vision I have for my life today. I want to crank out great stories today and get paid well for them. It’s not happening. But when I stop shaking my fist to the sky, I still consider myself a success. I’m doing well learning the craft and building a writing-related career. I still free-write at least four pages every morning. Some little stories keep coming out. I’ve been making submissions of non-fiction articles, at least, and I have a few flash fictions going out soon. I keep reading and learning from and about writing. I’m doing what I can and enjoying the process overall.

And I guess that’s what it’s all about to me: engaging in the process. To me, what makes me a writer is isn’t about the publications, the accolades, or the money -- it’s about being someone who engages in the writing process fully with integrity and joy. The other stuff should come in time, if only by the attrition of those who quit because their ambitions for external success are thwarted. But I can’t control that stuff; I can only control what I do today. And when I look at it that way, I realize I have the best life of all. My life, as a process, is exactly the life I want and no other. I’m just going to have to be patient for the external successes and accept them in whatever form they come, whether or not I’m the next J.K. Rowling.

Getting Ready for Door Knocking

2007-07-24T11:46:00.000-05:00

Graduation is coming up quickly this December, and I’m getting ready to go to work. Since I’m looking for a part-time, work-at-home writing or editing job, the pickings are slim. That’s why I’m doing the set up now

I hired a professional resume writer through ResumeEdge.com to do the heavy lifting for me. There were to prospects I wanted to start talking to, so I jumped the gun a little. My writer, Michelle Penn, did a great job. Now, a week later, I’m finding some things I need to tweak, but I was hopelessly lost until she put the first version together for me. I’ll be posting it up pretty soon when I set up a Web site with my portfolio as well.

For the Web site, want to see if I can set up something through Google so that I can easily link in m blog without much hassle. I’ll peek at that today.

For an article I wrote for Technically Write, my local STC chapter’s newsletter, I did a bit of research on LinkedIn.com, a professional social networking site. I’ve set up my profile already, which is similar to a resume, and exchanged recommendations with several people. It might be interesting to do an article on LinkedIn.com for writers, technical and fiction.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

2007-07-24T11:36:00.000-05:00

Yes! I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at about 1:30 last night. Between Sunday and Monday, I think I stole about nine hours from my family responsibilities to do it, but I did it. Awesome book.

If I needed any further evidence for my Harry-as-Jesus hypothesis, then the title of the chapter where he dies and comes back cinches it: “King’s Cross.” One of these days when I’m bored, I’ll make a full list of all the Harry-as-Jesus evidence from the books.

In the history of Christianity, few figures have been as controversial as Judas Escariot. Some versions of the gospel – in the Nicean Bible, and some not – have Judas as a betrayer, and some have him as a conspirator with Jesus to set up the passion. In the character of Severus Snape, Rowling takes on this tradition with brilliance. I was touched when the pensieve revealed to Harry to depth of Snape’s feeling for his mom, Lily Potter, and Snape's role in overcoming Voldemort. When, in the “Epilogue,” Harry and Ginny have named their youngest boy “Albus Severus,” and then when Harry alludes to Snape as the bravest man he ever knew, I was in tears.

My daughter is sad that the story of Harry Potter is over. And it truly is over. The story feels complete. Any other books set in the wizarding world are for other characters now. Personally, I think the story of the founding of Hogwarts by the Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw would be awesome. Alas, Rowling is probably ready to move on to other worlds, and I’ve heard rumors to that effect. She certainly doesn’t need the money.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

2007-07-23T07:39:00.000-05:00

The postman arrived Saturday with our copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He knocked on our door to make sure we got it. Nice fellow.

My daughter read the book by Sunday night, brimming over with excitement to share with someone. Since I’m sure the cat is out of the bag, I’ll say this much about the plot: I was right! I figured out a few weeks ago that Harry would have to die in a way and then come back to life, not because of clues in the book, but because the plot followed the archetype of the savior hero story. In his predestined sacrifice to save the world from evil, Harry is just like Jesus, Dionysis, Osiris, Mithras, and a host of others. In the literary world, he is just like Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. There’s nothing new in the overall idea of Harry Potter, just in the details. In the details are where all the fun is anyway.

For more on the history of the savior story, I recommend reading The Jesus Mysteries. Warning: if you’re a devout Christian, you’ll hate it.

I started reading the Deathly Hallows myself last night. It’s pretty darned good and exciting.

Harry Potter and the Disorder of the Phoenix

2007-07-23T07:29:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday our little household trumped off to see the film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I was disappointed. (I liked the book, by the way.)The acting was good as always and the look and mood of the film were great, but the story just didn’t seem to make sense as a stand-alone story. My son, who has not read the books, but has seen the other movies, said he could understand what was going on just fine. I don’t know how. I understand that to make a one-and-a-half hour film from such a large book, changes must be made. I‘m cool with that. But they alluded to so much and said so little, I don’t see how anyone could really get the plot without reading the book. It’s obscurity borders in art house. I’d be more precise, but I didn’t take notes at the theater.

To be fair, our movie going experience was awful. The Regal Keystone theater here in Dallas smells like mildew. Every time someone sat in the broken-down chairs in from of us, their chair flew back and hit our knees. We even moved twice to avoid knee impairment, but to no success. The group we ended up sitting behind had an unhappy, loud infant AND one of their group talked on her cellphone during the movie. For all this luxury, we paid the princely sum of $7 per ticket, for a matinee!

Something Clicked About Plot

2007-07-22T05:15:00.000-05:00

Writing flash fiction stories daily for about a month, I found that something was weak with the stories. For a while, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I figured out, in general, what the problem was after reading critiques of several of my stories from my critique groups: weak plot.

For some people, plot is an intuitive thing. Not for me. I think I'm fairly intuitive in my use of language, including dialogue, and in characterization. Sure, there's always room for improvement, but I don't struggle with these things. Plot, however, is a mystery to me.

I've been reading 20 Master Plots, and how to build them, by Ronald B. Tobias, and I've been thinking about plot quite a bit while reading stories and thinking about stories. I can't say what it was, but something clicked for me this morning.

Can you feel your thought processes, even when you don't know what the thoughts are? I can. It's like a gentle whir in the back of my head. Well, this morning I was thinking about re-plotting on of my short story drafts when I felt the click and started hearing the whir. I'm curious to see when things will manifest. As it is right now, I don't have much time and energy for writing fiction between school, my LSC Web master job and other volunteer jobs, homeschooling, and general family and married life. But soon (oh, sweet soonness) something cool will pop out. I feel pregnant with publishable stories.

Don't count your chickens, eh?

"Troop" for "Soldier" Used for 173 Years!

2007-07-22T04:46:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this link about the origin of the use of "troop" for one soldier rather than one group of soldiers in response to my posting a day or two ago. Assuming that "forthright" is correct in their reference to the OED, that annoying usage has plagued the English-speaking world for 173 years.

When is a troop not a troop?

A curious headline in the NYT today: "3 G.I.'s and 1 NATO Troop Killed in Afghanistan" (registration or Bugmenot required). Let's just set aside the unorthodox "G.I.'s", because pluralizing abbreviations is a subject for another day. It bugs me, but isn't that interesting.

'1 NATO Troop', however, is fascinating. What they mean, of course, is that 1 NATO soldier was killed. But 'troop' is an odd word. As a singular noun, it almost always refers to a body of soldiers or apes (no wisecracks, now ...), but it's not a standard military unit the way 'platoon', 'brigade', 'regiment' or 'division' is. Instead, it's most often used in its plural, collective form troops to refer to any group of soldiers, often to the entirety of the armed forces. It is also a doublet of troupe to describe a collectivity of actors or dancers - originally it was just one word, borrowed into English in the sixteenth century, but the two orthographies diverged in sense, so we now have them both.

But in '1 NATO Troop' we have the rare case where the plural troops, essentially synonymous with soldiers, has been singularized into troop, meaning soldier, when this is not a standard meaning at all. It's not completely unheard of - a 1993 addendum to the OED has found it used as far back as 1843 - but it is certainly non-standard. In fact, the OED suggests that it may be a backformation from trooper, which is, of course, a singular noun based on troop and referring to a member of a troop. I suspect, though, that it is more often a misguided backformation of troops used in journalese when looking for a synonym for 'soldier'. At any rate, though, "one troop was killed" seems stranger to me than "thirty troops were killed", although both mistakenly equate 'troop' with 'soldier'. It seems like the sort of linguistic change that is likely to win out, and in fifty years it may be completely unremarkable.

Two Faces of Commas

2007-07-21T06:45:00.000-05:00

Eat's Shoots and Leaves is the funniest -- and clearest -- book on punctuation I’ve ever read. Right now, I’m in the second chapter, “That’ll Do, Comma.” The author, Lynne Truss, writes:

More than any other other mark, the comma draws our attention to the mixed origins of modern punctuation, and its consequent mingling of two quite distinct functions:

To illuminate the grammar of a sentence
To point up -- rather in the manner of musical notation -- such literary qualities as rhythm, direction, pitch, tone and flow

As a young reader, I noted the second use and applied it liberally. To quote my 10th-grade English teacher’s, Mrs. Reynolds’s, criticism of my comma usage, “Alan, you sprinkle your commas like sugar.” Since 10th grade English at my high school focused on grammar rules, including diagramming sentences, the second use of commas wasn’t really discussed, but as a young man with an ear for the music of language, I wanted those commas there to command the rhetoric. I’m still struggling with the right balance. According to Ms. Truss, many writers and editors of the English language wrestle with this problem.

It’s interesting to note that there is no period (or "end stop," as the British call it) at the end of the second point after the word, "flow.” I wonder if this was an error or a difference between British and American English. If I can find Lynn Truss's e-mail address, I’m going to ask her.

Peter Jackson Keeps it Real

2007-07-20T12:09:00.000-05:00

Martin Ralya over at Treasure Tables had the following quote from Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) in a posting about good tabletop GMing, but it also applies equally well to writing fantasy and other fiction:

“I think a lot of filmmakers fall into the trap of thinking, Well if it’s fantasy I can be more flamboyant. But the opposite is true. If you are bombarding the audience with images they’ve never seen before, you want to keep the camera as real and truthful as you can, as well as the performances of the actors.”

Any bit of fiction is about people, even if the people are elves or horta. Readers like drama and conflict between full personalities. It's easy to get wrapped up in the idea of your world, but it's the realism of the characters and their responses to the difficulties of the story that make writing interesting. Otherwise you just have description.

Fiction Failing

2007-07-20T11:59:00.001-05:00

Writing fiction is hard. Or, at least, it’s different. I’ve been trying to write a little story every day, and it hasn’t been happening lately what with my school work, homeschooling the kids, chores, running the LSC Web site and the rest. I’m just going to have to accept that I’m not superman.

Someday I’ll graduate. Plans now are to get a part-time work-at-home job after graduation in December, possibly as a copy editor. Over time, the kids will be more autonomous and I’ll have more time for free-lance work in fiction, non-fiction, or editing. When the kids are grown, I’ll should be able to earn a living as a writer/editor mixing meat-n-taties work with writing from passion. That day is a few years off, and I’ll just have to be patient. I hate that. I want what I want now.

In the meantime, little bits of fiction and fun non-fiction do hit me when the mood is right and the stars are aligned just so. Oh, I write every day, at least four pages. I just find I only have so much juice to expend, and so much of it is going to other priorities right now. Still, life is good, and my grades are awesome.

"Troops"

2007-07-20T11:42:00.000-05:00

OK, here's something that's annoyed me since the beginning of Bush's Folly (the Iraq War): what is a "troops"? I was always under the impression the a "troop" was a group of people, usually soldiers or actors. (The actors now have the colorful spelling "troupe.") The news and the populace in general have been describing even one soldier as a "troop." It's as stupid as saying that Dallas Cowboys are made up of 54 "teams" or something.

At least I'm not the only one bugged by this. Having an interest in copy editing, I found the blog of this cool chick, Nicole Stockdale, who is a copy editor at the Dallas Morning News. She has a blog for copy editing and general rants. She explores the "troop" "thang" in some detail.

Brain Dead, Workin' Hard

2007-06-10T20:23:00.000-05:00

In the last week, I got myself frazzled. I couldn't figure out why, and that pissed me off.

Today I did some figuring and added up all the time I put into:

my Ellis College course
web site modications for the LSC STC
my own writing and editing
participating in critique groups
editing a friend's book
and my own study of the writing business over the last week.

The conservative number is at least 45 productive hours. In addition to that were my family responsibilities, which includes homechool activities.

It's a great thing to be working hard on a goal, but you gotta expect brain-fry!

Why Literary Blogs Fail to Rock, Sometimes

2007-05-24T06:31:00.000-05:00

Betsy of Betsy's Phony Bologna, a Ph.D. student who's studying literary blogs, made a post the other day about how literary blogs tend to be of low quality in their writing.

This just goes back to what I was saying about the reasons writers need pay. With all the demands of life, the best writers won't do their best work without financial incentives, for the most part. Money encourages -- but doesn't guarantee -- excellence.

I was excited the other day to see a call for characterization bloggers at a Blood, Blade, and Thruster, a nicely put together sci fi and fantasy magazine. They don't pay much, but reputable publication, including blogs, has economic value in building a writer's CV. With opportunities like that, I think we can expect to see improvements in literary blogging.

Waving My Big Freelance in the Air

2007-05-23T06:04:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine does quite a bit of freelance work for a local paper, The Dallas Observer. Last night, I floated the possibility by him of doing some freelance movie reviews for the paper. He was positive on the idea.

Now he's not Mr. Bigshot down there or anything, but he knows the editors. He's going to look over a sample I write up for style, then forward it on to the editor for movie reviews.

Gotta tell you, the idea scares me, even though it was my idea. It's one things to talk about writing, it's another to really put your work out there for pay. People can talk all kinds of positive hoo-ha about your work, but it isn't until they put cash on the table that we get to reality.

Besides a good bit of experience, I'd make something like $100 a pop. That won't make me rich, but the family could really use the cash for a trip to Europe we plan next year. I'd like to become officially professional as well. Yup, I really would.

I'm Writing a Story a Day!

2007-05-20T09:41:00.001-05:00

The plan to publish devotedly in SFWA approved markets is a little beyond my reach right now. Not that I won't shoot for them, mind you. Here's a better way. I've been at this a week, and it rocks:

I think of Heinlein's four rules for success: write, finish what you write, put it on the market, keep it on the market until sold.

My goals might seem reaching, but I have some low meta-goals and values.

What I'm working hard on is divorcing myself from perfection and results.

Now, I'll write a little story every day. At the end of the week, I'll pick the biggest of the runts and give it a basic edit and rewrite, not spend much time on it, and put it in the critique groups bucket for when my turn comes up. After I hear what people say, it gets a 2nd tweak and out it goes to the submit bucket, whether it sucks or not. I may not submit literally every week, but fairly often I'll make some quick decisions and send out those MSs to market, and follow up on the others floating out there.

I don't expect success in the market. I don't expect artistic, powerful writing. I don't expect resepct from my peers. I don't expect perfect adherence to my plan from myself. All I expect is activity.

Trying to write that novel before, my demands on myself were just killing the whole process. If I'd put as much work into the thing as tying myself up in knots, the damned thing woulda been near done. I'll take on bigger projects like that eventually. For today, I'm like, "I wrote a story today! Yeah!" That's an awesome feeling.

Right now, until I finish school in December, all I expect is action. I also anticipate that by doing and sharing, I'll learn alot about the craft and market like lint collecting on tape. I'm not going to take a comprehensive study of these things, I'll just let them happen from activity.

The funny thing is that I've had not problem coming up with stories. I already had the habit of writing 1000 words every morning, with some breakdowns, since last August. Mostly its just been journaling. Now, I just sit down and B.S. a flash story. It's been amazing what pops out when I stop trying and just do. It's just there. Some of it hasn't been half bad, either. It's like my subconscious is just awake in the morning when I sit down at the laptop. Of course, that's what the regular daily morning word count was supposed to do. I guess it's working.

It's a contrarian approach. I've always been contrary anyway.

Dumb Story Example

2007-05-14T15:13:00.000-05:00

Here's the kind of crap I'm writing on a daily basis. It actually has some redeeming features. If I keep plugging away, I might write something really decent.

Boudreau lay on the sodden, wrinkled sheets and felt his warm, dry forehead. How long had he been there, he wondered. He tried to sit up, but the pain in the back of is neck shot up and down his spine like a sparkler.

"Fuck"

He closed his eyes and listened to the movement of the fan, felt the tickle of his airs blowing in its breeze upon his legs. Further off, the dull grind of a washing machine or something moved through the wooden floorboards.

Breathing deeply against the pain, he kind of rolled sideways off the bed and onto his feet, then nearly tripped against the hot, fur bundle of Zack, his old dog.

Zack was a mutt, half Golden Retriever and half Chow, that Boudreau found down in the 9th Ward after Katrina. It had taken three bottles of shampoo and dog clippers to get all the oily smudge off him.

Zack yipped, then growled at Boudreau.

"Tsk. It jus' me dar, boy. Com down."

Zack started licking Boudreau's feet. They were wet faster than a spilled glass of water.

Boudreau tried to reach down and scratch Zack behind the ear, but the goddamned sparklers went off again.

"She-ut."

Boudreau slid off towards the dresser in a shuffle like you do on an icy driveway. Pumpin' out a breath, he reached for his cellphone. 7:53 AM. Date: May 20.

"Crap! It Friday. Where Tursday go den?"

The cellphone rang to the tune of "Freebird." He flipped it open to answer.

"Allo dar. Boudreau."

"Hi, sugar. How come you ain't call me in days? I's been worried, honey." said the scratchy female smoker voice.

"Mon cheri, darlin', jus woke up. I done miss Tursday. Mussa been sick."

"You been drinkin' again, Bourdeau?" said the voice, almost a scream now. "You said you sober now for good!"

"I ain't been drinkin', woman. Com down. Back o' my head hurt sometin' awful."

"Yeah, you head always hurt when you been drinkin', you dumb coon-ass."

"Fuck you."

Boudreau clicked closed the cellphone. There had to be an answer. He dropped the phone on the dresser and shuffled off to the bathroom. His toe stepped in something squishy. The sharp smell of dog shit hit him in the nose like a boxer.

Boudreau mumbled, " Guess the dam dog couldn' hol' it."

He reached for a green washcloth off the sink. It smelled like mildew. He pulled the washcloth up to his nose to see just how bad it was when he looked into the medicine cabinet mirror. A puffy, red scar covered his forehead. It looked like a weird Egyptian letter or something.

"What the fuck! I'm gonna kill the tattoo man who done dis!"

He touched the puffy scar, and it started to glow blue and electric. A jolt hit his whole spine and brain worse than the time he got shocked when he was working as a line-man. Blue light exploded from the scar and exploded the mirror. Tiny glass fragments went inward. Along with it, the wall started crumbling in to where the mirror just was. In a split second, everything fell into the mirror. Everything. Light was all around.

"Welcome, Mser. Le Cage." said the tall man with the green skin. "Sorry to wake you up so soon. But I need to go to dinner."

The tall man touched a slimy, six-fingered hand to the burning, glowing symbol on Beoudreau's forehead, and sucked all the fear right from him. Boudreau fell to the ground, not breathing anymore.

"Ah, delicious. I've always loved Cajun." Then he licked his green fingers, sucking each one like a lover.

Guess Who's Writing Again!

2007-05-14T15:09:00.000-05:00

OK, I never stopped writing, but I did stop working on fiction. Actually writing it, that it. I'd been continuing my habit of writing 1000 words a day, pretty successfully. But I hadn't been writing stories.

As of yesterday, I'm writing a story a day -- no matter how short or stupid.

I figured out that my grandiosity and perfectionism was keeping me from writing. I wanted to write the novel, and nothing but the novel, and have it kick butt. Since I'm rarely struck brilliant, bit much was getting written.

Now I'm just going to plug down the path every day.

Selecting Just the Right Target

2007-05-10T04:52:00.000-05:00

It's looking tricky trying to select a target publication.

Looking at it, I'm not sure if I can tell the difference between the four possible pro markets. I need to really examine them more and read in depth. That's the best use of my time. Is there even a difference? Can I tell the difference? Are they so averaged to the market that I can't discern?

How about modeling on my favorite stories? That's a great use of time. That'll provide for ample blog entries. What stories do I like, and why? I can't answer that question. I need to be able to answer that question.

A good exercise would be to start by reading the publications and answering some basic questions:

Who is their target market?
What types of....

Hell, I'm stuck on this point. I just need to read them and let my mind wander. That's the best thing right now.

Narrowing Down the Potential Markets

2007-05-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

I've looked at the websites for the SFWA approved short fiction markets. My main interest is in fantasy. Eliminating dark fantasy, horror, science fiction, and dead markets, I get the following list of potential markets:

Baen's Universe
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
Pedestal Magazine
Realms of Fantasy
Writers of the Future Anthology

Writers of the Future is a contest, so they should not be in the list for my purposes, though I intend to submit. That leaves four potential focus markets.

Baen's Universe is interesting because they pay well, have a couple slots set aside for newbies, and have a forum for commentary on submitted stories. They also take online submissions. I want to spend a little time with this magazine and see if it's good fit.

SFWA Approved Magazines

2007-05-09T08:26:00.000-05:00

So, I have a new idea for the fiction writing. It is important to me (for some damned reason I can't understand) to get into the SFWA (Sciebce Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America).

For short story writers, they require three published stories from their approved list of professional markets. I'm going to review the magazines, select one I like, start reading it, analyze the hell out of the stories, start writing stories that they might publish, and submit again and again! It's a laser focus.

The other strategy is to write what I like, and then submit to a scattering of magazines that the story might suit. I don't think that method works for me. I need boundries or I flounder.

Here's the list from SFWA:

Analog Science Fiction and Fact

Asimov's Science Fiction

Dragon (ceasing publication)

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Odyssey - Adventures in Science

Pedestal Magazine

Realms of Fantasy

Strange Horizons

Subterranean Magazine

Writers of the Future Anthology

Good Writer Website

2007-03-28T10:42:00.000-05:00

I considered the websites of three famous writers in the fantasy and science fiction genres: Lawrence Watt-Evans, Terry Pratchett, and Steven Barnes. Barnes differs from Watt-Evans and Prachett in that he has several sites for his blog; his book, Lion's Blood; and his writing program, Lifewriting. I'll address the Watt-Evan's site.

The Misenchanted Page of Watt-Evans is probably my favorite site of the three. As a reader and a writer, I want to know an author's mind. Many people feel that way as fans, otherwise magazines like People and Sports Illustrated wouldn't thrive.

I know from hearing him speak that Watt-Evans is producing income from his site. His personal interaction via the blog, Guestbook and Discussion Area helps him establish and maintain a relationship with his fans. He also maintains the possibilities of a personal connection by posting his Convention Calendar.

I've found his writing advice some of the most useful information on the subject I've read. It's sincere, honest, and comprehensive advice, and just a little bit cranky. Watt-Evans comes across as a regular guy.

The Vondage Ambassador is serialization sold directly to his fans from his website. He promises to post a new chapter after receiving a donation goal for the chapter preceding it. In a lecture he revealed that he' actually making more money this way than from the royalties of many of his books. What's more, he's managing his own backlist in print and electronic form, some of which his publishers wouldn't risk reprinting.

I do think the look of the site is a little boring and unclear. It could use just a few more design elements such as informative use of color, font size, and link bars.

Writers Need Pay

2007-03-27T05:59:00.000-05:00

In order to get paid as a writer, placate my wife's anxiety, and get
money for my family for the short term, I'm getting a degree in professional writing. With that goal in mind, I volunteered to do some work for a local writer's organization. I'm sure you can see the career benefits here. OK, all that is setup.

The first job I did was edit the group's website. This group
is a nationally recognized chapter for numerous writing accomplishments, by the way. On maybe 15-20 pages, I found close to a hundred errors. Many were small style inconsistencies - "email" on one page, "e-mail" on another. But there were a large number that were gross errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. I also found tense and perspective shifts all over the place.

Why? This is a site for professional writers. Not fiction authors, but serious writers none the less. The answer is money. Like all volunteer groups, people are reluctant to volunteer, and don't always make their best efforts when they do. It's human nature.

I've seen what the group's fellows are capable of. Many of them are excellent writers, far better than me. At least they are when they're getting paid. In a life of conflicting demands, volunteer work just doesn't get the same attention, even volunteer work for a group that represents them professionally.

Now, writing fiction for yourself isn't the same as volunteering to throw something up on some group's website. Having more ego and joy involved, more care is taken. But still, in a life of conflicting demands and scarce time, a hobby will not get the same focus to quality as paid work. Unless, that is, one is a complete narcissist and financially independent.

Personally, I also believe in judging people by their actions. Especially with money. When people are willing to pay money to be entertained by your writing, you know they truly like it. When they pay, you know you've done something more than amuse yourself. When they're strangers who pay, you've been even more successful. If my
wife reads my work and tells me she liked it, it's almost meaningless. It feels good, but it doesn't help me grow as a craftsman.

Getting a Clue

2007-03-24T12:20:00.000-05:00

I just got a huge wake-up call after reading Writing for Publication by Kenneth T. Henson for my "Writing for Publication" class.

Before I started at Ellis after New Years, I was working on a novel. Wrong move.

My first mistake was writing a novel without knowing if there was even possibly a market for it. That's fine for a hobby, but I want to go pro. Writing professionally is the only thing I want to do.

The second mistake was working on a novel. I need to be tackling small and varied projects. I need to walk before I run, and in small bites. (And stop mixing my metaphors!)

And I knew all that. I think it was an excuse for avoiding rejection, and the boring nuisance of learning about markets.

I don't want to know about business. I am an Arteeste! [Blow raspberry here.]

MicroHell

2007-03-15T13:27:00.000-05:00

I made a mistake. I tried to switch from Mac to Windows. It's been one of those hell experiences you read about on the internet. Well, now add my experience to the list.

My desktop Mac being home-bound and seven computer years old (that's 70 in people years), I decided to get a laptop. I need something a little newer for schoo l; plus I expect to be doing some contracting in the next year.

Seeing Dell had their entry level Inspiron 1501 on sale for $499, I figured that was the way to go. After all, that's less than half the price of the bottom MacBook.

Mostly what I do is surf the web and run word processing apps, plus maybe Quicken. How much computer do I need? Besides, I'd be compatible with all the other business lemmings.

So first off, the computer comes with Windows Vista, which I learned from my daughter's PC can't run with less than 1 GB of RAM, and even that's barely enough. It really needs 2 GB. My laptop came with 512 MB, which is barely enough to boot. Don't try to open a window. I expected that, and found a dirt-cheap 1 GB stick for less than $100. Cool. Well, the first stick failed, but MicroCenter swapped it for me with no hassles.

Oh yes, there's viruses and spyware in the PC world. I researched and bought a protection suite, BitDefender Pro. Well, I can't install the version I bought on Vista. Fortunately, there's no cost to upgrade.

Turns out my Brother MFC 420CN printer won't run on Vista yet, except using a Vista driver that only works over USB. So much for a networked printer. Brother promises to release new drivers someday.

I install Office 2007. It takes longer to install than an entire OS. It's very cool in layout. Posting to my blog freezes the computer though! That little feature was one of my main draws to the new Office.

Quicken doesn't easily port over from Mac to Windows versions either. Following some out-of-date instructions on the Quicken website, I tried to convert my Mac data files to Windows. Everything came up weird. But if I want to spend more, Quicken Data Services will do it for me. How lovely. Don't try to call them though. You'll spend an hour on the phone with a rep in Bangalore who doesn't have the language skills or computer knowledge to help, or the information and process to get you to the right people.

Oh, yeah! The Vista OS starts popping up with driver incompatibilities, installed apps launch the wrong apps from their shortcuts, Office won't launch from the Start Menu, Windows Explorer starts freezing up and restarting, and my display starts freaking out. I'm rebooting again and again for both installs and freezes.

It seems that you can't run the Inspiron 1501 on only 1.5 GB while running BitDefender, Office, and Firefox all at the same time. Sorry for being greedy! Loaded up, that PC runs slower than my old Mac with the current OS and only 384 MB of RAM.

The funny part is that my experience with Windows weirdness is exactly like when I supported it on the '95 and '98 versions. For all the hooplah, it's still the same old bloated, poorly conceived, poorly executed, cobbled together piece of crap it's always been.

Today I arranged to send back the Inspiron. I returned the RAM to MicroCenter. I sold most of the software to a friend. All in all, I've wasted a couple of days and a little less than $250 I won't get back. I was penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Soon I'm getting a new Mac, and I'm never leaving again.

Office 2007 Blogging Test

2007-03-15T07:24:00.001-05:00

This is a test. Lame, I know. I'm working off my new PC with Vista and Office 2007.

Analysis of "100 Even Less Useful Items"

2007-03-11T19:04:00.000-05:00

Not every item in the dragon's hoard is a gem-encrusted crown or a magical sword. Over the years, even the most discriminating monster or merchant acquires a large collection of strange and unusual items that are neither useful nor valuable, but instead have emotional significance. Whether they're front and center in the wizard's trophy room or swept into a corner of a goblin's den, the following hundred items can add a dash of the unexpected to an otherwise generic treasure trove, keeping players guessing and providing potential adventure hooks. Remember that there may be reasons why many of these seemingly worthless items haven't been discarded – reasons that could return to haunt their new owners.
– from Dungeon magazine, Issue 142, January 2007

Dungeon magazine is a publication for game organizers, or Dungeon Masters (DMs), of the famous game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Each issue is packed with articles that aid the DMs in developing better games. Any author submitting to Dungeon needs to be ready to solve the DMs' problems.

The title is intriguing to the target audience, and immediately sets the tone for what is primarily a whimsical list of other treasure items that might be found in a monster's hoard. The items - such as tankards of lard and twenty-foot-long hunting horns - are foolish and "even less useful", as the title promises. The "100" in the title promises an extensive list of, well, 100 items.

As a fan of alliteration, I might have proposed the title, "Dragon Junk: a Table of 100 Weird Items." Their title is fine, but mine is stronger on whimsy and makes it clear that a table (a common game device) is to follow. My title promises more.

In the first sentence, the authors make a bold and attractive claim that what we think we know about dragons' hoards isn't complete. Besides great treasures, what exactly is there? Lint? DMs want the answers, and the authors will provide – if the DMs just read a little further. That is a hook.

Where the authors (and editors) fall short is in creating too lengthy a first paragraph. While only four sentences, there are three major ideas – treasure hoards have odd items, "even less useful items" add color to a game, and odd items might be useful adventure hooks. The first two sentences form the first idea, and the latter two sentences are an idea each.

Not only does the lengthy first paragraph entangle the reader in too many ideas, it is visually intimidating on the page. In the three column format of the magazine, the paragraph is a heavy three-and-one-half inches in height with little white space to relieve the eye. Also, the visual heaviness could be relieved by breaking up some of the sentences.

A Painful Question About Writers Block

2007-03-09T16:56:00.000-06:00

During an asynchronous online discussion, my professor asked me how I handle writer's block.

Oh, this is a painful question.

I had six or seven really great months of writing. I'm not currently in a good period. The main difference is that during the good months I woke up and wrote every day. My goal was modest, 250 words, and I usually did at least 750 words. On the tough days, I was at least able to do a page. That consistency in habits helped much.

There's some old saying that an archer playing hits the target every time, the archer showing off misses sometimes, and the archer competing for money loses every time. When I'm really frozen up, I'm either one the latter two archers, or else I'm generally stressed from life issues.

The best solution is relaxation. I don't mean any deep Zen thing. I just forget about my writing goals - other than wordcount - and just write whatever. Often I write drivel. If I do that long enough, I'll get to something useful.

The other thing I'm learning is to relax in life generally. I try sometimes to be a type A personality. Unfortunately, I suck at it. I can be creative and get tons of things done during the day for a short time, but then I grind to halt like an engine out of oil. Anything creative or otherwise using brain is the first to stop. Nothing helps my ability write like lots of sleep, exercise and play.

My writing schedule is blown out right now from trying to be a type A. Part of it is we just put in tons of work getting our house ready to sell. I've managed to get rested up, but have yet to reestablish normal schedules for writing or anything else.

Why I Write

2007-03-05T18:06:00.000-06:00

Why do I write? When I was in high school, I had a drama teacher who told us, "don't be an actor unless you can't do anything else." As much as I enjoyed acting, I could easily see doing many other things, so I passed up an acting career without regret. Why suffer the rejection for a hobby?

Writing is another story. I've considered so many other careers, but this is the only one I can stomach. I can't do anything else. My head is a bubbling pot of thought that can only be cooled by a taffy-like extraction into text. Failure to extract leads to explosions.

I don't mean to sound negative. There is nothing else that makes me enjoy the day like writing. (Reading, sex, and dessert vie for second place.) A good writing experience is to be in harmony with the universe, like a cat wallowing in a sunbeam.

Primarily, I like to write about myself. It's a bit narcissistic. Following that, I like to write fantasy and short essays, particularly in blog format. It's my dream to publish fantasy novels and essay collections, and make money blogging.

I understand that much of publishing is a winner-take-all business, so I'm looking towards something more practical to pay the bills. Officially, I'm training to be a technical writer. I'm open to other ideas, like grant writing.

I'm hoping my "Writing for Publication" class will better prepare me for the business end of writing, and provide a good view into other areas of publication I haven't considered before.

The Latest

2007-02-26T06:00:00.001-06:00

It feels awkward to be writing a post on this long neglected blog.

I'll update ya'll, my gentle readers, on my progress in the writing career.

I got behind on writing from being burned out. Not burned out from writing so much as from doing everything. I get a little extreme in my life overcommitting and over-planning. Then I get burned out and need a respite. It's occurred to me that maybe it'd be better to be relaxed and more modest in my aims in the first place, and just go along at a gentle hum instead.

I've got a new writing "job" I'm quite excited about -- I'm going to write a column on Web 2.0 and it's implications for technical writing for my Technically Write, my local STC chapter's newsletter. I can tell you my first article is probably going to be on wikki and help menus.

School's going pretty well. I'm just about finished with my latest course, "Writing for the Web", which is mostly basic html. I'd like to learn more html sometime, but who knows when. So far I have a 100% average for all my coursework. Hmm, wouldn't graduating Summa Cum Laude be nice.... The next class is "Writing for Publication." It all just keeps cranking along.

I haven't mastered Dvorak typing yet. The idea was to just start typing everything using the new keyboard, now that I know it. Alas, I can't stand my slow speed. I'll need to practice more, I guess. I'm going to look for a new typing program at some point with a typing game. I wonder if I can find free one's online? Probably.

I guess that's it for now. It's not much, but that's all there is.

Dvorak's Disharmony

2007-02-09T06:09:00.000-06:00

For eventual productivity gains, I've started typing almost all the time by touch on a Dvorak keyboard layout. It's still painfully slow -- more than a quarter slower. Soon I'll be ripping the keyboard up, but not today. Argh! Did it suck this much when I was first learning to hunt and peck? I WILL PERSEVERE!

STC Rocks!

2007-02-08T20:43:00.000-06:00

I'm just home from my second STC meeting. My chapter, the Lone Star Community, are some of the warmest, most laid-back people I've met in a long time.

I'm looking forward to working with them for years to come.

Lame Post

2007-02-05T18:57:00.000-06:00

This is a lame post. I'm tired. I've been working hard, and sometimes it isn't easy to think of clever and meaningful comments on a daily basis.

Those successful pro-bloggers earn their money.

The Wisdom of OWLs

2007-02-01T06:39:00.000-06:00

OWL stands for "online writing lab." These are provided free-of-charge by a few of the big universities. The OWLs include tutorials on writing style, technique, and mechanics. Sometimes they include free help from student writing instructors. If you want to polish up your work, they're a great resource.

May favorite has to be the Purdue OWL. Mostly, I've used the Purdue site for mechanical reference: spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

I also noticed they have advice on resume creation. I'm going to take a gander at these soon to start building my resume and portfolio up.

Line Item Vetoes

2007-02-01T06:31:00.000-06:00

Yee-haw! Last night I finished a line-editing project for my local STC (Society for Technical Communicators) chapter. I must have put in over 10 hours in the last two weeks. I'm glad I don't that kind of work every day. Tedious, tedious, tedious! It was great experience, though. I've got some grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules down now that I'd been kind of wishy-washy on. There are a few mistakes I will never make again, I'm sure.

The particular project had contemporary technical terms in it such as file types and internet technologies. The spelling and capitalization of these terms is a problem. I'd like to find a reasonable style guide to refer to for these things... one that is "with it." At the bookstore, I saw a guide by Wired magazine. I believe their style guide ought to be far more up-to-date than some of the stuffier ones.

More Goal-Setting

2007-01-29T05:59:00.000-06:00

It's that magic time -- time to revise my goals. Since, I switched focus to technical writing, my daily routine was upset, and I just haven't been rockin' and rollin' like before.

First, it is my goal to write at least a page every morning, fiction or nonfiction, to get the old brain cells lubed up. Every morning I will also practice my typing software for a few minutes every morning until I get up to 25 words per minute or so in typing regular text. At that point I'll just switch to Dvorak touch-typing at all times.

I will continue, more regularly, to do my calisthenics every morning, and I'll keep building at the same steady pace.

Monthly, I'll offer an article to the LSC newsletter. I'll continue to do whatever volunteer work I reasonably can for the LSC in a timely and professional manner. I'll continue to work on my course work at Ellis during planned study times. I haven't yet decided what to work on during my extra time, since the coursework doesn't take too much time during the week.

I have other. more personal, goals, but I don't want to talk about them here on this blog. I'm sure you can understand. Some things are just not for the WWW to read.

Fiction is feeling a little iffy right now. Multitasking is difficult for me., and it seems hard to concentrate on building a tech writing career and work on fiction at the same time. I will still write stories when they pop out, but I don't think I can do it on purpose. Or maybe I can. I don't know. This is unresolved.

I do know I want to keep blogging.

Dammit, I just need to think more.

Best Economics Book Ever

2007-01-21T08:22:00.000-06:00

You've wanted to learn something about economics, but your college textbook was so dull. Maybe you passed the class, but still feel hopelessly confused. What exactly does the Federal Reserve do? How come money is still worth anything when there's inflation every year? How come insurance companies are charging more and more for health coverage, but no one is making any money, and no one can afford coverage anymore?

Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan is coming to rescue you. Using many, many examples from recent events and a friendly, rapid-fire prose style, Wheelan brings even the most econo-phobic into the beauty of the "dismal science." For the sake of sanity, he eschews all graphs and charts. Yes, even us liberal arts types can dig it. In fact, you'll come to see economic thinking as not only useful, but FUN, or my name isn't Orville Redenbacher.

Or as Wheelan himself says:

I've never liked how basic economics is taught - too dry, too mathematical, too detached from the real world. So several years ago I set out to write "economics for smart people who never studied economics." That really was our tagline until we realized there were even more people who had studied economics and couldn't remember any of it. Anyway, the end product, Naked Economics, was published in 2003 by W.W. Norton and now appears in seven languages. The Chicago Tribune described the book as "clear, concise, informative and (gasp) witty." Who says it has to be the "dismal science"?

I wish it was Christmas time again, because I'd buy this book for all the adults on my list!

Fiction or Non-Fiction?

2007-01-20T07:49:00.000-06:00

There are only so many productive hours in a day. That is a sad truth. Also, as a person I have limited ability to concentrate on different topics. Very limited.

Right now I'm very torn over whether or not to try and continue my fictional projects and writers groups. or just put all that on hold until I'm established and accustomed to technical writing in, I don't know, three years.

I'm fried, absolutely fried, from prepping for the CLEP test this last week. I know that much. I also know I haven't had much time for the last few weeks just to relax and read for fun. Also, I have class assignments and volunteer writing for the Lone-Star Community coming up. I've grabbed some time because I can hardly help myself, but still....

I guess that settles it: no more intentional fictional writing. If I write anything fictional, it'll just be for fun and subconscious release. I'm cool with that. The thing that makes me most sad is not being in a position to participate in the critiquing groups, I've started to make some friends there, and I always get joy from witnessing the creative processes of others. I just don't think I can hold up my end of the bargain.

Onward with new projects! I'm off to become the best tech writer I can be. But why do I have a pit in my stomach? Oh yeah, that's grief. My highest good is to earn a living as a writer, but fiction is just more fun.

For myself, my goal is to get up and write at least a page every day of something, just to keep lubed up. That's a goal I can achieve.

CLEP ROI

2007-01-19T18:56:00.000-06:00

DONE! I did the Principles of Microeconomics CLEP today and passed with room to spare. I only studied on my own for seven days for a total of maybe 13 hours. It's a review subject for me, granted, but it's been 15 years, and I hardly remembered the quantitative portions.

A three hour undergraduate course at Ellis College costs $1275 inclusively, plus an average $150 for books and materials. The fee for the CLEP at S.M.U. was $85. In addition, I spent $30 for practice tests. $1275+$150-$85-$30=$1310 saved, or about $100 per hour. It's like being a lawyer!

The there's also the time savings. Six weeks being bored out of my skull in an economics class is hardly appealing. Most schools suggests a student should be able to complete the requirements of a three credit hour class in a total of 120 hours. My study of the subject was, therefore, more than nine times as efficient.

Yup, I'm in Fat Cat City.

Economics of Homeschooling

2007-01-18T08:39:00.000-06:00

An article on The Common Room begins to address some of the economics considerations of homeschooling I've been thinking about....

In an inflammatory manner, Superdestroyer brought up some valid points about the economic costs of homeschooling, especially opportunity costs. But he or she failed to consider such things as utility and capital. These are difficult to measure, but essential to "pierce the veil of money," as Paul Samuelson would say.

Utility is the amount of value a person or group gets from a trade. It includes not only obvious financial benefit, but also intangibles such satisfaction or joy. Capital is not only financing and equipment, but includes such things as knowledge, talent, and skill.

People, as rational decision makers, attempt to maximize their utility from a trade at a given price. In other words, they'll buy as much as they can until it's not worth a penny more. If I'm hungry, I'll buy one Subway sandwich because I see the value, in dollars, of my utility as greater than the $6 it costs, but I won't buy a second sandwich at the same price because my utility, being full now, has dropped to less than $6

At some level families will consider the total of implicit opportunity costs and the explicit out-of-pocket expenses of having one parent at home with the kids (the usual homeschooling case) against the total utility of having the parent home. That total utility will include having someone home as a full-time homemaker, usually, as well as the psychic benefits of happier, healthier kids and family.

Families also consider the long term utility to the kids. In our family, we see a value in future utility for our kids, even if it's undetermined at this point. Beyond basic skills, we see human capital improvements for our kids in greater self-esteem, self-direction, social ability, opportunities to develop talents, and initiative. We see less opportunity costs to them in the real dollar marketplace than if they went to public school, as we believe it's state stunts the development of their human capital.

Healthier, more "together" people have the potential to earn more, if they wish, in the information age. Further, we believe skills are cheaper to acquire than character. A child raised with character and gumption can more cheaply acquire marketable skills than a child raised with a school-prescribed skill-set and stunted character can acquire an improved character or more marketable skills. At least, that's what we believe and gamble our lives and fortunes on.

But then again, all the research I've seen shows homeschooled kids as a group do better on standardized, academic tests than public school or private schooled children. This is regardless of the income level or educational level of the parents. What the research shows, essentially, is a no-brainer: kids learn more with individual attention and love. Duh!

Homeschooling is new in the post-industrial economy. Only time will tell at what quantity of homeschooled kids in society and at what total price, implicit and explicit, the market of society will find equilibrium. It won't be worth it to all families. Our society as a whole has yet to determine if taking parents out of the marketplace now is justified in increased output from the homeschooled later in life.

But one thing economics is extremely clear on is that a monopolies like state schools and the the N.E.A. (which are not natural monopolies like national defense) must be inherently inefficient with high deadweight costs for society. In other words, we all pay more overall for less education. Only with free competition of education can the free market find the right equilibrium to make the best use of the scarce resources we face in time, money, and material. Monopolies are to be avoided like the plague.

It might seem more fair to finance a standardized national education for all children, but that's only a seems. Like state monopolies in the old Soviet Union, the end result is rather than raising everyone up, they drag everyone down. The only fair part, I guess, is that more people get to share in the misery. Or to paraphrase Winston Churchill on democracy: The free market is the the worst form of economics, except for all the rest.

Plan Epsilon

2007-01-16T20:53:00.000-06:00

Economics rocks! Really. I've been prepping for this CLEP test, and I'd forgotten how much I like this subject.

Economics is one of the few studies that makes sense of the real behavior of real people. That's science, my friends. Graphs are groovy. Formulas are fabulous.

But then, my last job was basically management science. I get seeing life through mathematics. It's good to live in an ordered universe.

If the tech writing gig falls, maybe I'll take up economics. Or maybe I'll tech write economics....

Plagiarism, Murder, and the Good Old Days

2007-01-15T09:08:00.000-06:00

We've been having this conversation in my Career Success Seminar about cyber-plagiarism and how bad it is. There's been much tut-tutting about how the world is going to Hell in a handbasket. Here's my take on the thing....

I'm not convinced things are worse now than in the past. I just don't believe in an ethical golden age. If our ancestors were so much better than us, why did they have to make rules in the first place?

Take the issue of homicide. To watch the news, you'd think that murders just keep going up and up. But here's a link to historic trends from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. If they could add in unreported murders of minorities in the early parts of the century, things might even look a little more interesting.

And what would that lovely dip in the center look like if we could include wartime killings by American soldiers as homicides? I wouldn't from an ethical stance, but in basic terms of people killed by other people, it'd be a valid number and take out that rosy dip in the Ozzie and Harriet period. Is it inconceivable that young men's military duty during this period kept them otherwise occupied from committing homicide, defined as illegal killing of other people, on U.S. soil? Most homicides, after all, are committed by men between 15 and 30.

Statistics on homicides since the Middle Ages clearly show that despite our current unacceptable problems with homicide, especially in the U.S., the historic trend is positive.

Murders are easier to measure than cheating because you usually have a body. My point is that I'm not inclined to think the good old days were all that good. All those rules and social norms about cheating and copyrights and all that exist because people were getting exploited by cheaters in the past.

Technology has made some kinds of cheating easier, but the detection is also easier. When I was a kid in elementary - and I didn't know any better - I wrote my essays by paraphrasing books from the library. It'd have to be a wiley teacher with plenty of time on her hands to ferret that out. I'm sure that kind of plagiarism has been quite common for a long time, even among those who know the wrong they're doing.

My Ideal Life

2007-01-15T08:06:00.001-06:00

The year is 2020.

Now that the kids are grown and out of the house, Annette and I have moved to a small, energy efficient condo. Thanks to our extra principal payments over the years and just good luck in real estate, we own our condo outright. Between that and the kid's being on their own, our fixed expenses are very low. Because the condo is in downtown Dallas and my work requires little daily travel, we only have one car, further reducing our fixed costs. Medical insurance remains a problem, especially with my health issues from a lifetime of extra weight, but stage three of the Universal Medicare expansion is soon to be implemented, and health care will become more affordable and severed from employers finally.

I've found some success as a writer. Though I've had several books published, none has been a best seller in the winner-take-all entertainment market. No matter. I have several income streams from contract technical writing, my novels, blogging, and a bit of online teaching.

Because of the flexibility of my work and our limited financial obligations, we are able to leave town for vacation for several months of the year, working around Annette's schedule. Sometimes because of her schedule, I end up going out of town alone. For me it's easier: have laptop, will travel. I miss her. But it's good to sit out in the desert sometimes and just soak up the quiet. I much prefer it when she comes along. Her work makes her happy though, and I wouldn't take that away from her.

Thanks to the flexibility in my schedule, I'm able to watch Jorge, Andrea's son, sometimes during the day and take him to the zoo or whatever. That's great. Annette and I love to take him on vacation with us sometimes to the lake, though he usually wants his mom after a night or two.

We're not rich; don't be fooled. It's just that with careful planning, a modest lifestyle, and good career choices, we have the richness of time. That is the thing I most value. When I am employed, I'm working at something I enjoy, even if it's an imperfect joy on certain projects. I have lots of time left over to work on my fictional writing, some charity work, time with my family, time for long walks, time to read, and even time to just sit and be like a cat in a sunbeam. I'm also grateful that Annette finally feels able to do work that feeds her spirit more than her old employment. She seems more lively every morning.

Some of our friends have more than we do: nicer furniture, newer iAppliances, a better address. But I am rich in time for myself, my art, and the people I love. This is the good life.

Readable Economics Textbook

2007-01-13T12:26:00.000-06:00

Who'd have thunk it, eh? A readable economics textbook.

Getting ready for the CLEP test, I wandered over to the library and checked out out a copy of Economics by Paul Samuelson and William Nordhaus. The text is designed for a one year study, two courses, in micro and macro economics.

This book is readable. Comprehensible. Even enjoyable.

There's always an exception to every rule I guess.

Getting the CLEP

2007-01-12T16:09:00.000-06:00

Microeconomics. Ellis College requires all it's undergrads to get three credit hours in economics of one sort or another, usually microeconomics. It's my one remaining deficiency. Fortunately, I read widely on the subject many years ago, so the subject should just be a review for me. We'll see. I have one week to prove that statement.

CLEP has a microeconomics exam equivalent to the three hour course. But in order to transfer it to Ellis, I need to finish the CLEP by next Friday. This is a challenge in recall and cramming.

Looking over the material, I don't recall it as well as I supposed. But I have six weeks of boredom and $1200 in tuition on the line, so I'd better make it happen. I'm betting it's more a matter of re-familiarizing myself with terms. We will see. We will see.

STC Awards Banquet

2007-01-11T21:14:00.000-06:00

Tonight I went to the annual Awards Banquet of the Lone-Star Community chapter of the STC. These are people I'm very excited to be working with in the future. That future is much closer than it seems, since I'm going to get a mentor and start volunteering a.s.a.p.

The presentation of award winning projects was inspiring -- I've never seen so many good instructions and tutorials. In a world of sucky instructions, they were a light indeed. Can you imagine being inspired to write a good tutorial? I used to work at a helpdesk, and there is a great pleasure in being useful to people, in teaching them to use their tools.

The Crack of Doom

2007-01-10T20:11:00.001-06:00

Long I've borne this precious token
Until now. I'm nearly broken:
Appearing hale, yet stretched too thin,
Breathing still, hollow within.

Is it a present that was given,
Or a spoil that was taken?
Did I choose it? Did it choose me?
Or, was I called by one unseen?

Either way I hate it so,
Yet am loath to let it go.
I may cast it in the crack of doom,
Or, grasping tight, my lust resume.

This very question clouds my vision,
I cannot see the good decision.
Strength, now, is all but gone,
Although the quest is nearly done.

I am worn and weary of
This world. I need a love
Beyond remembered earthly joys,
And stand within this moment poised.

Even now I dream of the west,
Yearn to sail finally west.

The Days are Going By

2007-01-10T19:49:00.000-06:00

Wow! The days are going by and I've hardly blogged. I hereby renew my commitment to blog daily!

Things are pretty squared away with school now. My transcripts are in and worked over. Next term (in two weeks), I'm registered for Writing for the Web, which is exciting. I almost had to take microeconomics, but I wiggled a way to CLEP out of it.

I have to say that aside from my reservations about returning to school, Ellis College kicks butt. No lectures. Work at your own pace. Work on your own schedule. One subject at a time, quickly. Discussion with lively, interested students. Aside from paying tuition, that just about knocks out all my problems with college. I'm satisfied so far and excited about the future.

The courses are designed to take no more than 20 hours a week. With my Speedy Gonzalez pace of reading and writing, I'm sure I'll be able to complete the work far more quickly. Heck, the College Success Seminar (granted, much easier than a real class) is set up for three weeks, and I finished all but 20 minutes of work in six days, at two hours a day. Rockin'. That should leave me time for my real writing, which I'd feared would be on hold for a few years.

I'm a gettin' even faster, too. I bought a typing tutor called Key Advantage Typing. I'm learning to type properly on a Dvorak keyboard layout. Right now, my hunt-n-peck is 40 words per minute. When I can type properly, I'll be scary!

The next step seems to be coming up with a writing schedule for fantasy work. I have some ideas, but I think for now I'd better wait and see how it works when I get into my real course schedule. Besides, I have a CLEP to cram for!

Keepin On, Keeping On

2007-01-07T18:40:00.000-06:00

There isn't much brilliant or exciting to add here.

My intro seminar at Ellis College is going well. Exciting, in fact. The class format there is nicely organized, nicely indeed.

Next Thursday I'll be heading to the January meeting of the Lone-Star Community of the Society for Technical Communication, STC. It includes dinner!

I think I've figured out a way to at least write some fiction. That will be a blessing.

All for now.

Temporary Writing Goals

2007-01-04T06:05:00.000-06:00

Well, It's not certain how much time my classes are going to take yet. So all this provisional.

1. Work daily in my typing tutor software
2. Continue to do critiques with my writing groups
3. Do class work
4. Keep updating my blog daily

Started the Class

2007-01-04T06:04:00.000-06:00

I officially started my first course, College Success Seminar, yesterday. The online structure is great. I wished I'd been able to study and work this way in my previous college experience.

I'm In!

2007-01-03T10:24:00.001-06:00

Dear Alan,

Congratulations! The initial review of your application is complete and I am delighted to inform you that you have been conditionally admitted to a baccalaureate degree program at Ellis College of NYIT.

I will send you a letter confirming your acceptance upon receipt and review of your official transcript(s). All official transcripts must be received prior to registration for your third Ellis College course

Official transcripts differ from unofficial transcripts as follows:

Official transcripts must be requested from each institution of higher education previously attended. Educational records are protected by federal law and require the student's permission to be released.

Official transcripts must be sent directly from your former college to Ellis College of NYIT in a sealed envelope. Copies released to the student are not acceptable.

Students entering with 0 credits must provide proof of a high school diploma.

As part of the admissions process you have submitted a transcript request form for each school you have attended. The admissions office will process the request and process the forms on your behalf. Your official transcript(s) should be arriving in the Admissions Office shortly.

We are very pleased that you have chosen to pursue a bachelor's degree with Ellis College, and we are committed to helping you achieve your educational and career objectives. Please contact your admissions representative if you have any questions.

Starting College Today

2007-01-03T06:46:00.000-06:00

Well, I applied and turned in all paperwork yesterday to Ellis College. I should be starting my first class today working towards a B.A. in Technical Writing, or else a B.A. in Professional Writing, depending on what will work out faster.

This is scary as hell. Much money and time is involved, and I've never liked school much anyway. We'll see how it works out.

Sad

2007-01-02T06:38:00.000-06:00

No mincing words: I'm sad. Changing focus to technical writing is a reasonable decision. It's the right decision for my family as a whole.

But I'm sad. It's not what I want to be doing. I'd rather just be working on the novel, however slowly. All I want to do is write. I say that, but what I want to write is my dreams, not a dvd manual.

I want. I want. I want.

I'll probably have to work in some creative writing in my life just to keep sane. I know I do. Let's just see how all that goes, eh? Just see how it goes.

Shifting Direction

2007-01-01T07:32:00.000-06:00

I'm shifting focus in my writing career. Due to family and financial considerations, I'm going to spend the next 1-2 years completing my bachelors in technical writing. This is a big shift, and I'm not sure how it's all going to play out.

In the back of my mind, this plan was hatched some time ago. I have the idea of getting into a small, green business and being the go-to guy for all kinds of writing: proposals, manuals, white papers, marketing information, blogging and web content. It's a tall order. I may end up working at any company that'll pay me, but the idea must be pursued.

Why not do both now, fiction and technical writing? The answer is time. With my other responsibilities, I just don't feel I can serve two masters. I'm sad. Fiction is so enjoyable, even when the process is hard. Fantasy is my heart. But the needs of my wife and kids are of even higher value.

Someday my novels will be completed and published. I would rather take the direct route of writing novels until the novels get published. Simple. Effective. But as I said: family and financial considerations. In the meantime, I'll be earning a living writing, and continuing to build up strengths in the craft.

Once I'm established in the new profession - say 2-3 years from now - I'll return to writing fiction in my own time until the novel goals are achieved. In the short term, I'll still engage in small fiction writing projects when the itch strikes me.

I'm at a loss as to how to proceed in daily writing practice. It's time to start establishing new goals. Definitely, I want to learn to type properly for the sake of productivity. That's one thing I'll do. I also enjoy blogging and want to continue to learn that craft. I think I'll start some kind of blog about green energy companies, government and private programs, and the like in the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area. That'll be good practice and help me in finding the kind of job I want after graduation. For the next few weeks, I'll blog daily here about the process of shifting directions.

What about unschooling myself. I will, after all, be going to school. Isn't that a sellout? Maybe. I don't think I'll learn anything I couldn't learn without tuition and tests. In the 18th century, British officers used to have to buy their commissions. I look at the degree thing as buying my commission. I'd rather not, but family and financial considerations, you know. What is unschooling is that I know what I want, my preferred ways of getting it, and I'll make any process of accreditation my own.

What's Unschooling Got to Do with It?

2006-12-28T13:57:00.000-06:00

What's unschooling got to do with this blog? There aren't many mentions of the subject, after all.

Well, exactly! Everything posted on this blog and referred to on this blog is my natural drive to master writing. I am not dancing to any teacher's tune about how to approach the craft. Well, any other teacher than myself, that is.

And yet, I have many teachers: my Fiction 101 course I'm doing now, my writer friends, the example of other authors, how-to books, and the very practice of the craft.

I am learning because I want to learn: not to pass a course, get a degree, of gain anyone's approval; and I am doing it in the way my nose leads me. That is what unschooling is all about... at any age.

Analysis: The Hobbit, Ch 1

2006-12-28T13:30:00.000-06:00

According to Randy Ingermanson's Fiction 101 course, there are four pillars to fiction: plot, character, theme, and storyworld. I'll begin with the pillars in Chapter 1 of The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party," by J.R.R. Tolkein.

Pillars

1. Plot: Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, meets the famous Gandalf at his front door, has a tense conversation, and invites him to tea the next day. Gandalf inscribes a secret symbol on Bilbo's door. A group of 13 dwarfs arrive for tea along with Gandalf. The dwarfs have come to hire Bilbo Baggins as a burglar for their expedition to the Lonely Mountain to recover their treasure inheritance from the dragon, Smaug. Unbeknownst to Bilbo, Gandalf has recommended Bilbo as a burglar. The secret sign on the door was a symbol which translates as, "Burglar wants a good job, plenty of excitement and reasonable Reward." Despite his trepidation, Bilbo agrees to serve as burglar. The party will gain entrance to the Lonely Mountain using a map and key to a secret door into the Mountain that Thorin inherits from his father. The journey to the Lonely Mountain and the recovery of the treasure is to be the plot of the entire novel.

2. Characters: Tolkein introduces 15 characters in all, though only three have any depth: Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and Thorin Oakenshield. The other dozen dwarfs' characters are not revealed in this chapter; the sum of their description is their appearance and food preferences, and some of their reserve about Bilbo.

a. Bilbo Baggins is revealed as the hero of the story. Like most hobbits, he's a quiet, respectable sort. But he also has an adventurous, "Tookish" side, which the chapter makes quite plain is his task to embrace and develop during the adventurous journey to the Lonely Mountain.

b. Gandalf is a wizard and the instigator of many adventures. He is both Thorin's gadfly and Bilbo's for story. In appearance and role, he is the Odin of old legend.

c. Thorin Oakenshield is a leader of the dwarfs, the rightful King Under Mountain, and an arrogant S.O.B. One assumes even in the first chapter he will both gain his inheritance and be humbled.

3. Tolkein uses description in the chapter to reveal the storyworld as a mythical golden age, and somewhat English. He uses simple place names - i.e. The Hill and Long Lake - to further set the mythical tone. Elves, hobbits, wizards, dwarfs, goblins and dragons are introduced as known creatures in his world besides humans. He goes on at length about the pastoral beauty of The Shire as the peaceful cradle where the hero, Bilbo, is raised.

4. Tolkein's theme so far seems to be that heroism is potential in the simple Everyman, only waiting for a nudge from fate (or Gandalf) to bring it out.

Further Analysis

1. The story has an omniscient narrator who speaks in an intimate style, as if relating a story by the fireside. Tolkein means this to be a fun, child-like story.

2. The conflicts introduced are Bilbo vs. himself (The Tookish and Baggins side), Bilbo vs. the dwarfs (they doubt his ability as a burglar), the whole party vs. the dragon, the whole party vs. Gandalf's manipulations, and the whole party vs. the environment during the journey.

3. The first chapter is about 9% of the total text.

4. Including the poems as dialogue, the chapter is about 47% description and 53% dialogue. The start of the chapter is more heavily description to establish storyworld. Once characters are introduced fully, he relies more on dialogue - including poems/songs and monologues by Gandalf and Thorin, to establish backstory and plot.

5. Tolkein's narrator will intimately address the reader as if he as just asked a question. He appears to do this as a device to both make the story more warm, and to provide a logical jump to introduce more storyworld and backstory. Example,

Gandalf! If you had heard only a quarter of what I have heard about him, and I have very little of all there is to hear, you would be prepared for any sort of remarkable tale. Tales and adventures sprouted up all over the place wherever he went, in the most extraordinary fashion. He had not been down that day under The Hill for ages and ages, not since his friend the Old Took died, in fact, and the hobbits had almost forgotten what he looked like. He had been away over The Hill and across The Water on business of his own since they were all small hobbit-boys and hobbit-girls.

6. Copying Tolkein line by line, I'm not enthralled with his writing style. For one thing, most sentences of dialogue end in an exclamation mark. I suppose this is to create the exaggerated style his narrator would use for characterization in person, but it comes off as weak to me. I also think his monologues and descriptions are a bit long winded.

As per my post yesterday, I'll be moving on to a new book, Jeeves in the Morning, by P.G. Wodehouse.

Bye, Bye, Bilbo...

2006-12-27T17:24:00.000-06:00

I've finished typing up the first chapter of The Hobbit. During the process, I've discovered that Tolkein is not a great constructionist. He tells a great story, but his writing leaves something to be desired.

I'm going to switch my daily copying to something by P.G. Wodehouse, as his writing is impeccable, and his books are a good model for my book.

I will, of course, post up my analysis of The Hobbit's first chapter in the next day or two.

Character Goals and Conflict

2006-12-26T07:07:00.000-06:00

Continuing to work through Fiction 101, a writing course by Randy Ingermanson, I highly recommend.

Today I was covering characters -- understanding their motivations and goals. Of course, characters with conflicting goals, between each other or within themselves, make for great stories. But Randy points out a hierarchy of goals that's really struck me:

A Goal must be specific and concrete
A Goal with a deadline is a more powerful Goal
A Goal with a cost for failure is better
A Goal with a cost for success is even better

Considering my current writing project, my main character has a specific and concrete goal, but not a deadline or any costs. Well, he actually does have costs for success. Maybe I'm not so far off from a great story after all!

Book Review: Bird by Bird

2006-12-24T09:55:00.000-06:00

Bird by Bird. What the heck, exactly, does that mean? The enigmatic title of Ann Lamott's nonfiction guide for writers - perhaps devised to get your attention while browsing the bookstore aisles - is also a three word summary of the approach to writing she advises for writers humbled and anxious before the blank page.

...thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird."

Bird by Bird covers the standard instructions for new writers, i.e. - dialogue, plot, character, writing groups, publishing, etc. But what it really brings to the writer is perspective. Through numerous personal stories and omniscience into the ramblings of her own mind, Lamott assures you that you are not crazy, this is the process we all go through, and shows you the sensible way to muddle through and get the work done. Even more, she shows how the lessons of writing will make you a better person in life, not just on the page, hence the subtitle of the book, Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

This book is in the warm vein of Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg. Bird by Bird, though, has a depth that those books lack. It's almost as if Golberg's books, in trying to be all Zen and spiritual, are more reserved. Where Goldberg affects the presence of a wise, if introspective, teacher, Lamott is a solid and honest friend.

Movie Review: Eragon Sucks

2006-12-21T17:39:00.000-06:00

OK, this isn't a full, fancy movie review. Maybe I'll write one later.

Basically, Eragon, the movie, is a cheesy, poorly written, knock-off of every fantasy and hero movie you've ever seen. It pulls from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and others shamelessly. That would be fine, but it does so badly. Other than some cool special effects, including a great dragon, it's a complete waste of time. Even the battle scenes are boring.

My friend Milar saw the movie with me after reading the book . He swears the book is great, and that the movie barely even follows the book's plot at all.

Don't waste your time. It'll even cheese the kids, I bet.

The 2006 Weblog Awards

2006-12-20T06:23:00.000-06:00

The 2006 Weblog Award Winners, from 2006.weblogawards.org

Based on 526,974 votes cast in 45 categories over 8 days of voting in early December 2006, here are the winners of the of The 2006 Weblog Awards:

Categories
Best Blog	Daily Kos
Best New Blog	Lesbian Dad
Best Individual Blog	The Bleat (James Lileks)
Best Humor Blog	Sadly, No!
Best Comic Strip	Least I Could Do
Best Online Community	FARK
Best Liberal Blog	Think Progress
Best Conservative Blog	Little Green Footballs
Best Centrist Blog	The Moderate Voice

Topic Area Categories
Best Media Blog	The Raw Story
Best Technology Blog	Engadget
Best Sports Blog	Kissing Suzy Kolber
Best Military Blog	Blackfive
Best Law Blog	The Volokh Conspiracy
Best Business Blog	Club for Growth
Best LGBT Blog	Pam's House Blend
Best Parenting Blog	Breed 'Em And Weep
Best Educational Blog	Michael Bérubé
Best Science Blog	Pharyngula

Best Medical/Health Issues Blog	Respectful Insolence

Arts & Letters Categories
Best Photo Blog	Cute Overload
Best Culture Blog	Pop Candy
Best Diarist	Raymi The Minx (NSFW)
Best Gossip Blog	D-Listed
Best Music Blog	i guess i'm floating
Best Podcast	Slate Magazine Daily Podcast
Best Video Blog	Crooks & Liars
Video Of The Year	Diet Coke and Mentos

International Categories
Best Canadian Blog	Small Dead Animals
Best UK Blog	EU Referendum
Best European Blog (Non UK)	Retecool
Best Asian Blog	One Man Bandwidth
Best Middle East or Africa Blog	Rantings of a Sandmonkey
Best Australia or New Zealand Blog	All Men Are Liars
Best Latino, Caribbean, or South American Blog	Babalu

Nominations for The 2007 Weblog Awards will begin in September 2007, with voting at the end of October 2007, all leading up to the live presentation of The Weblog Awards at the Blog World & New Media Expo in Las Vegas in early November 2007.

Special thanks to all of the volunteers that help with The Weblog Awards. Notable among the many helpers:, Beth, Sadie, Phin, John, Jay, WBAustin, Charlie, Janette, CayuteKitt, Ang, Nathan, Matt, and Blue Star Chronicles. Thanks to all of you! We couldn't put on an event of this magnitude without their help.

Winners should send an e-mail to winners at weblogawards dot org to receive their customized winners logo (please indicate the size you require) and information on obtaining their free admission to the Blog World & New Media Expo. Please indicate the category you won and the name of your site.

Money or Fame?

2006-12-19T18:42:00.000-06:00

The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, a kid's show, was on TV this afternoon. I overheard my son watching while doing some work around the house. One of the characters became famous as an author, and she was getting all into the fame thing.

It got me thinking: do I care about fame? The answer is no. I've been reading about copywriting and ghostwriting, and I have to say I'd be quite happy to do them. In the end, I like writing and I like making money. I'm not so dedicated to my own art, though I'd certainly like that published as well.

Something with a strong entrepreneurial element is appealing to me. There are many types of writing that do that. It's a good life. Like the character, Rod Tidwell, in Jerry McGuire said, "Show me the money!"

Speak Your Truth

2006-12-17T21:02:00.000-06:00

My good friend Rayne gave a me a critique on my book review of Galapagos. I won't go into the details, but I will say they mostly came down to speaking with my own voice. Every mushy, confusing, wordy sentence was a result of trying to impress someone. Sometimes I get obsessed with all these rules and tricks of the trade in writing, but dishonesty is something technique won't fix. People can smell a liar. It's better to write fast and write true first, then clean things up.

Write What You Know

2006-12-17T06:02:00.000-06:00

"Write what you know." This is an annoying truism told to beginning writers again and again. For writers of speculative fiction like myself, it sounds flat-out stupid. And boring. Why would I want to write about high school or family Christmas's past when I can write about imaginary worlds with magic and aliens?

But today I'd like to expand your (and my) understanding of the concept. At a recent SciFi Fantasy convention, FenCon III, I heard Lawrence Watt-Evans describe plot as the interaction between the situation and the characters. (BTW, he gives great advice to new writers!) Now to make that work, don't you have to have a clear understanding of your world and its happenings? Don't you need to have an intimate knowledge of what makes your characters tick?

The novel I'm writing is a farcical tale. Think of the odd intersection of Terry Pratchett and P.G. Wodehouse with a lot of homo-erotic humor. At times, the dialogue and situations just bounce out of my hyperactive brain. But not always. Not today. Why? Wouldn't you think a light story based in witty dialogue and bad jokes would just come to me? Apparently not. I've come to see that I don't understand my world and my characters fully. Once I know these things, I should understand how they must react, and the rest will be typing and clever craftsmanship.

As much as I'd like to sit down and pour out my novel in an orgasmic gestalt, I'm not that kind of guy. My task now is research into my characters and my world. In the case of my book, that research is about mining my own imagination rather than the library. I have several months, perhaps, of questions to my subconscious about my world and characters. I have a great book, Checking on Culture by Lee Killough, that is an extensive inventory of details in world creation. I hope I can find something similar for characters. Randy Ingermanson suggests reading Stein on Writing for character building, and it may be the silver bullet I need.

Again, my fantasy is to sit down over one weekend (maybe two), and spin out my bestselling yarn. It is not to be. Before I can put in the awesome front door, Venetian tile, and granite countertops, this house of mine needs months of preparation in site surveying, foundation laying, plumbing, and framing. I am not a patient man, but I'd better learn to be.

Writers Block: The Causes

2006-12-16T10:27:00.000-06:00

OK, so what causes writer's block, and what can you do about it?

I had some this morning directly due to a standing conflict in my family. I imagine artists taking the turmoil of their lives and churning it over and over into great work. It doesn't work that way for me; I need to feel fairly safe and contented to be productive. So for that cause, dealing with conflicts directly gets me back to work.

Fatigue is another thing that blocks me off. In order to be productive, adequate sleep and relaxation time are essential. When I'm tired, my creativity and will to work leaves me.

Another cause I heard about from writers at a conference is money worries. These were midlist authors advising author wannabes not to quite their day jobs, that writing is an unstable source of income that hurts family life and drys up creativity.

Fear, anger, worry, and exhaustion are the enemies of the active writer, and indeed all of us.

Writers Block: Surviving the Day

2006-12-15T19:43:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning clenched in the teeth of horrific fear: writer's block. I could barely breath.

Still, the only thing to do was write. I asked for some guidance from "the powers that be" on what to do next. I realized I haven't said enough from the point of view of my main character, so I did that, and cranked out 450 words or so.

There's something else of interest I also discovered: the main character is a satire of my own young self. Now, writing books always talk about books coming out of your own self-exploration and suffering. But I thought that was only for serious books. Since I'm writing a farce, I didn't see that applying. I'm satirizing myself! Well, somebody's got to do it, so it better be me to avoid unpleasantry.

Book Review: Galapagos

2006-12-14T19:36:00.000-06:00

Our brains are just too big. In fact, they are an evolutionary disadvantage that contributed to humanity's near extinction. I have this on the expert authority of Leon Trout, a one million year old ghost and narrator of Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut.

Trout tells the tale of humanity's evolution from a planetary scourge to an isolated population of seal-like creatures on the fictional island of Santa Rosalia in the Galapagos islands over one million years. The story begins in 1986, when a luxury cruise ship, the Bahia de Darwin, is set to make its maiden voyage with a shipfull of celebrities, including Jackie O.

But then the world economic system fails, leaving only a small sample of the original passenger roster (not including Jackie O!) stuck in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil. It seems that money -- which human's big brains had imbued with imaginary value just months before -- becomes nearly worthless by an act of collective disbelief. Small countries like Ecuador find themselves worthless currency and unable to import foodstuffs. All is chaos as starving people riot in the city. Then war breaks out with Peru.

In the chaos, the further dues ex machina of human's big-brained stupidity results in eleven people escaping the city on the Bahia de Darwin: four original passengers, the ship's captain, and six girls, who themselves are the improbable surviving remnant of an Ecuadorian jungle tribe, the kanka-bonos. The Bahia de Darwin is shipwrecked on Santa Rosalia, and the survivors become the new Adams and Eves when a viral plague destroys humanity's reproductive ability on the mainland. Over the next million years, human brains devolve as maladapted for survival by fishing.

If there is a weakness in the book, it's that Leon Trout never lets us appreciate the good qualities of the other characters, or come to recognize their humanity in other than their folly. This makes sense with the message and the cynicism of the narrator, but some readers won't find this satisfying. This is a book for ideas and wit, not characters; it is a satirical dissection of people as a subject of scientific scrutiny in light of evolution.

Galapagos is a vortex of a novel that's nonlinear style of storytelling and strong central idea sucks the reader in and won't let go. The plot and theme are laid out in the first few pages; but the reader is drawn to see how exactly it all happens by one improbable coincidence after another. I read this book for the first time about 17 years ago, and it's still holds an honored place in my personal canon of literature.

Freelance Blogging: Get Hired To Blog And Earn Thousands A Month

2006-12-14T09:07:00.000-06:00

Blogging gives you a great way to learn some extra cash. You can even turn blogging into a full-time career, or a new business. Getting started as a freelance blogger is simple. All you need to do is create a blog, make a few blog posts (these are your work samples), and then look for blogging gigs.

Create a blog
If you don’t already have a blog, creating a blog is your first step. You can do this very quickly. Creating a new blog at blogger.com (which is owned by Google) only takes a minute or two. This is your “sample” blog. Think of this blog as your blogging portfolio.

Your blogging topic can be in any subject area that you choose, but give some thought to your potential clients - don’t make your blogging topic too personal. If you have expertise in a particular area like finance, technology or health, make this the subject area of your blog.

Write some blog posts
Now your blog has been created, it’s time to make some blog posts. Your entries are published in reverse chronological order, with the most recent entry first. Your first entry can be a brief statement (no more than 100 words) about the general topic of your blog.

For example, if your blog is about dieting, you could summarize the areas (recipes, weight lost tips, health tips) you intend to cover. Or your first post could be an introduction: tell your readers who you are, and why the topic of the blog concerns you. Or you can skip the idea of an introductory post altogether, and just jump into your topic.

Look for blogging gigs
Great - you’ve created two or more blog entries. Now it’s time to look for your first blog-job. Your first step is to write a blog post about your availability to blog. You can make this entry detailed, or extremely brief. If you wish, you can add a link to your online resume or CV.

Where do you find blogging jobs? You’ll find that several sites have already been set up to match bloggers with companies that want to hire them. Enter “blog jobs” into a search engine to find your initial leads.

You’ll also find companies looking for bloggers at out-sourcing venues like guru.com. However, be aware that on these sites, you’re competing against others for gigs - don’t be tempted to underbid others. Under-bidding is a bad idea because it’s terrible marketing. Once you set your price low, it’s hard to lift it. Have an awareness of what blogging is worth, and set your price appropriately. Companies which want bloggers don’t want the cheapest option - they want the best they can afford.

So there you have it: everything you need to know to get started as a freelance blogger today. Create a blog, make some entries, get a gig. Good luck with your blogging career. If you’re a born blogger, you can turn your freelance blogging into a full-time career.

Good luck, and happy blogging.

Resource:
You can publish this article on your own Web site if you wish. However, the copyright information and resource box must be included, with active hyperlinks.
Angela Booth is a veteran copywriter and blogger. Her ebook, Blogging For Dollars: How to become a career blogger — in your PJs, if you want, is available at http://www.abmagic.com/Blog/blogging.html You can visit the book’s blog at http://www.dollars2blog.com/blog/ Angela will show you how to turn a humble blog into a great career, or a lucrative business.

Writing Good Blogs

2006-12-14T07:41:00.000-06:00

Blogger Dennis A. Mahoney offers this article on quality writing for blogs. Key among his advice is to: tell stories, be funny, be bold, and compel your readers to return again and again.

Showing Storyworld

2006-12-13T18:55:00.000-06:00

I've been following Randy Ingermanson's Fiction 101 course. Today I was reading on developing my story world. Great stuff. He sums up presenting your world in the following pithy list of commandments. They all make sense when you really think about what makes a story fun to read.

Thou shalt know the requirements for StoryWorld for thy genre
Thou shalt not begin thy story with description
Thou shalt reveal thy StoryWorld as thy Characters experience it
Thou shalt not leap into omniscient viewpoint to describe thy StoryWorld
Thou shalt reveal thy StoryWorld as the Plot requires it

Plan Addendum

2006-12-12T19:08:00.000-06:00

I've added the following goal to my plan for the next few months:

Write one book review a week for this blog, and possible publication.

Great Fiction to Model the Blovel On

2006-12-10T19:10:00.000-06:00

Today I was re-reading one of my favorite books, Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is a great model for a blovel: he writes short novels in short sections, usually a page or less, and constantly reintroduces his characters and plot points.

I read an old interview with Vonnegut where he says he strives to write short books so that men will read them. (I've read that 90% of fiction is read by women, men typically sticking to things like Tom Clancy.) His writing style in Galapagos seems addressed to those concerns, and makes it perfect for the drop-in Internet reader.

Writer's Block: Barely Made the 250 Today

2006-12-10T18:52:00.000-06:00

Family problems and some other things wearing me down. I woke up this morning and couldn't think of a damned thing to write. Writers block.

Came home tonight after D&D and made myself do it. It wasn't pretty, but I did it.

Let tomorrow be better! I miss having fun with my work.

Read to Write: Writing Book Reviews

2006-12-09T07:59:00.000-06:00

Sara E. Polsky has written a useful, and short, guide to writing professional book reviews, "Read to Write: Writing Book Reviews." You have to scroll down in the newsletter a bit.

If you want to explore this money-making possibility as I do, the article is highly recommended. The website it's on, WritingForDollars.com, looks interesting as well.

Starting Fiction 101

2006-12-09T05:53:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited. Today I've started Randy Ingermanson's Fiction 101 course.

The format of html slides with linked in audio lectures is well organized. I'm also looking forward to his explaination of using writing conferences for networking.

According to Randy's materials, I'm a Sophomore -- and that makes me 2-3 years off from being published, as an average. Oi! I may be more of a Freshman, I don't know. Either way, there's lots of work to go.

Learning by Copying

2006-12-08T21:21:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine studying Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison for his Sophomore Composition class tells me that it was Ellison who learned the craft by copying other writers, including Hemingway and Melville. So, that's where my idea came from, though who originally told me I can't recall. I can't find corroboration with a casual Googling.

Invisible Man is considered one of the greatest books of the 20th century, so I guess the method works.

Thinking About the Future

2006-12-08T19:52:00.000-06:00

Learning more about the economics of midlist publishing, I see there's a long lead time for novels and not much profit. Therefore, it behooves me to plan on other sources of income as well. Given that I only want to write for a living -- I'll make other compromises when I need to make them -- I'm seriously considering getting into blogging.

I'd like to do some blogs on fantasy publishing, fantasy and erotica book reviews, blovels, internet marketing, and a few other things. Some might have income potential, and they would definitely help me learn the business. I'm also considering doing blogging for other people, freelance assignments paying about $50-$100 a week for a 4-5 posts, and more for more elaborate gigs.

Just thinking.

Self-Publishing

2006-12-07T18:02:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's post, my mind has been spinning on the idea of self-publishing.

Here's an informative article on the subject.

It seems like a lot of work to self-publish AND author a work. But the little entrepreneur in me is excited. I think down the road I'll find some balance between traditional publishing and blogging.

A Writer Who Believes in His Work

2006-12-06T19:21:00.000-06:00

I caught this article in the Dallas Observer about African immigrant and author, Alasan Mansaray. Not only did he write a favorably reviewed book, A Haunting Heritage: An African Saga in America, he's self-published it and is selling it himself. Why not? Most writers eschew this path - understandably considering the effort, risk, and stigma - but you have to admire the man's pluck.

There's a new movie coming out, Eragon, based on the book of the same name by Christopher Paolini, the first in his Inheritance Trilogy. Paolini wrote Eragon when he was 15, and self-published it with his family, hocking it at fairs and other events until it caught the notice of a "real" publisher, Alfred A. Knopf.

I've heard a similar story with a blog published novel, a blovel, where the author built readership online, self-published the dead tree copy, and then cashed in with the big houses on reprints. I can't recall the name.

I'm not eager to take on that much myself. But the lesson I take from all that is: don't take no for an answer. If you have a book, a great book, you believe in, get that story told by whatever means you see fit, without reference to what's merely customary.

Writer's Block 12/06/06

2006-12-06T05:40:00.000-06:00

Hello Gentle Reader,

I'd rather not be writing this morning. The wife and I stayed up late having a tense discussion, as married couples are wont to do from time to time. While it was time well spent for our marriage, I am sleep deprived and emotionally exhausted this morning.

Nonetheless, I write at least a page in the novel, 250 words, every day no matter what. So, here's mud in your eye!

Thank you for your support.

P.S. - I went on to whip out 280 words. I may even do more later.

New Writer Marketing Site

2006-12-06T05:29:00.000-06:00

Randy Ingermanson of AdvancedFictionWriting.com is launching a new marketing website for writers and others in publishing: MadGeniusMarketing.com. It's due for launch after the new year.

I highly recommend his free e-zine, Advanced Fiction Writing E-Zine. I've been successfully using his Snowflake Method for novel outlining, and his other advice is sound as well.

Here's his blurb:

Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 6000 readers, every month. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com. Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.

Possible Publishers

2006-12-05T19:05:00.000-06:00

Part of the writing racket is knowing the market. Since I'm writing a fantasy farce reminiscent of Terry Pratchett, Robert Asprin, and A. Lee Martinez, I decided to look at who's publishing them. Based on that, I've comprised the following list:

Ace
Tor
Harper Collins
Meisha Merlin Publishing

Further details to come....

Review: Bachelors Anonymous by P.G. Wodehouse

2006-12-04T07:49:00.000-06:00

Bachelors Anonymous by P.G. Wodehouse is the farcical tale of a five-time loser in marriage and big Hollywood producer, Ivor Llwellyn, who seeks aid from his lawyer and Bachelors Anonymous (patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous) fellow, Ephraim Trout, in avoiding that first dinner that leads to a marriage.

Llewellyn heads to London on business where there is no fellowship of B.A. to protect him, so he hires a kind of conscience and bodyguard, the boxer and playwright, Joe Pickering, to keep him away from entanglements with the marriage-minded sex. But, alas, young Joe has gone head-over-heels in love with heiress Sally Fitch. Llewellyn and Trout, lately arrived in London, determine to save young Joe from himself, seeing in him a nascent B.A. fellow. Complicating things is Miss Fitch's pursuit by ne'er do well Sir Jaklyn Warner, himself the fiancee of the ambitious flat foot Daphne Dolby. Events twirl and whirl to Wodehous's masterful conduction to many happy matches in the end, including B.A. staunch, Trout. Only Mr. Llewellyn escapes marriage, though he is being hotly pursued by the domineering diva, Vera Dalrymple.

The book is a hoot of a night's entertainment overall. If I have any complaint, it's that Wodehouse's control of the American/Hollywood dialect seems forced.

Quote from Henry Miller

2006-12-03T15:16:00.000-06:00

Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heartache when we read those linewritten by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there. -- Henry Miller

I got this quote from my friend, Donna. Googling reveals it may be from Miller's book, Sexus.

Writer's Block: Writing Daily No Matter What

2006-12-03T05:54:00.000-06:00

Last night I got a grande decaf at Starbucks. Or, at least, it was supposed to be a decaf. Now, I don't drink caffeine normally, so this has had me up all night buzzing. I'm all discombobulated and tired now. Even so, I just sat down and wrote 419 rushed words of character development for my novel. And I even got some great new conflict ideas for the plot in the process, making for time very well spent. I write at least a page, 250 words, a day, every day, NO MATTER WHAT!

Starting on The Hobbit....

2006-12-02T11:48:00.000-06:00

Hooray! I just started copying The Hobbit. For today, I managed to type up the contents. Only 273 pages to go....

Plan for Next Six Months

2006-12-02T11:12:00.000-06:00

My plan for developing writing skills for the next, oh, 6 months or so are as follows:

1. Write at least one new page, 250 words, every morning on my current manuscript until completed.
2. Write two critiques per week, one for Critters.org, and the other for my closed "Professional Authors" writing group.
3. Write one book review a week for this blog, and possible publication.
4. Read according to my own erratic genius, including plenty of classics, fantasy, writing how-to, and professional writing texts.
5. Copy at least one page per day of The Hobbit to study and absorb a master. I'll write a summary and commentary after each chapter.
6. Attend ConDFW in February, rubbing elbows and attending seminars.
7. And, of course, updating this blog with my plans, thoughts, and discoveries.

Summary: On Writing

2006-12-02T09:30:00.000-06:00

Summary: On Writing, by Stephen King.

Writing is telepathy, writer to reader.

Vocabulary: “Put vocabulary on the top shelf of your toolbox and don’t make any conscious effort to improve it.” Don’t dress up your writing either.

Grammar:

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White <-- READ, KNOW!!
Warriner’s English Gramer and Composition, (endcovers summarize)

1. Avoid the passive voice
a ”The meeting will be held at seven o’clock.” Yuck.
b. “The meeting’s at seven.” Ding ding ding!

2. “The adverb is not your friend.”
a. Stick with ‘said’ in dialogue attribution. (see Larry McMurty novels.)

3. Possessives always end in ‘s, even when the word ends in s.

The paragraph is the basic unit of storytelling and should be brief, light, and natural to move the story along.

Habits 1: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”

Habits 2: “I suggest a thousand words a day, and because I’m feeling magnanimous, I’ll also suggest that you can take one day a week off, at least to begin with. No more; you’ll lose the urgency and immediacy of your story if you do.” And shut the door.

Write the truth.

Plot: “In my view, stors and novels consist of three parts: narration, which moves the story from point A to point B and finally to point Z; description, which creates sensory reality for the reader; and dialogue, which brings characters to life through their speech.... You may wonder where plot is in all this. The answer – my answer, anyway – is nowhere... because I believe plotting and the sponteneity of creation aren’t compatible.”

Description 1: “For me, good description usually consists of a few well-chosen details that will stand for everything else. In most cases, these will be the first ones that come to mind.”

Description 2: “The key to Good description begins with clear seeing and ends with clear writing, the kind of writing that employs fresh images and simple vocabulary.”

Dialogue: “As with all other aspects of fiction, the key to writing dialogue is honesty. And if you are honest about the words coming out of your character’s mouth’s, you’ll find that you’ve let yourself in for a fair amount of criticism.”

Characterization: “Everything I’ve said about dialogue applies to building characters in fiction. The job boils down to two things: paying attention to how the real people behave around you, and then telling the truth about what you see.”

“Symbolism (and the other adornments, too) does serve a useful purpose, though.... It can serve as a focusing device for both you and your reader, helping to create a more unified and pleasing work... you’ll see if symbolism, or the potential for it, exists. If it doesn’t. leave well enough alone. If it does however ... go for it. Enhance it. You’re a monkey if you don’t.”

Theme: “starting with the questions and thematic concerns is recipe for bad fiction. Good fiction always begins with story and progesses to theme; it almost never begins with theme and progresses to story.... But once your basic story is on paper, you need to think about what it means and enrich your following drafts with your conclusions. To do less is to rob your work (and eventually your readers) of the vision that makes each tale you write uniquely your own.”

Rewriting: Write the first draft “closed door.” Wait six weeks to rewrite “open door”. Get reviews from the trusted. Polish.

Who?: Write to please your Ideal reader.

Starting as a Professional: Read the professional magazines, (i.e.- Writer, and study the Writer’s Market). Focus on your potential magazines and submit based on intimate knowledge. Know the market. Look for an agent before you’re desperate to publish and talk to several; they are looking for new up-and-comers. Watch out for skunks. Submit a professional manuscript with good cover letter. Know the market.

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